Our School
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is what we do as a community to promote the welfare of individuals and protect them from harm such as, but not limited to, abuse, neglect, and sexual exploitation.
CNS follows the procedures set out by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and take account of guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) and the document Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023
The school's first responsibility is to keep all children safe and we can only do this with your full support and cooperation. If you have any concerns about the wellbeing or safety of any child in our care, please contact the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead immediately:
Mrs Lymer - Designated Safeguarding Lead elymer@cardinalnewmanschool.net
Mrs Fay - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Bradshaw - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Miss Daly - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Hutcheson Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr Forni - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs McGrath - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr Brown – Safeguarding Administrator and Team Operator
Our Safeguarding Governor is Dee Drennan, if you would like to contact her about any areas of safeguarding within the school, please do so by contacting ddrennan@stcat.co.uk
Parents / carers can find more details on how we keep children and young people safe in our child protection and safeguarding policy.
Safeguarding Policy
STCAT-Safeguarding-children-policy-and-child-protection-procedure-2023-24-v2.pdf
KCSIE 2023
Keeping children safe in education 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Working Together to Safeguard Children
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Luton Safeguarding Online Referral
Safeguarding children (luton.gov.uk)
Central Beds Safeguarding Online Referral
Child protection - safeguarding children and young people | Central Bedfordshire Council
CNS Child Protection & Safeguarding Procedures for Visitors
SG Visitor Leaflet 2023 EDITED OCTOBER.pptx
Prevent Duty Guidance
Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Students
Our RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) curriculum, assembly and form time learning programme robustly covers the required topics to help support our students in being able to understand and identify the nature of a variety of safeguarding topics. We also use professional outside agencies who we work with regularly to support and educate those in need via year group assemblies and smaller intervention groups.
It is important to remember that parents/carers are key figures in helping their children cope with the physical and emotional aspects of growing up. Our teaching should be complementary and supportive of the role of the parents/carers of our students. However, should you have any safeguarding concerns we request that you contact our safeguarding team.
You can also fill in this online form.
Staff
All staff receive regular updated training throughout the year.
Our senior Safeguarding team have all completed ‘Safeguarding for Designated Staff training’, which is renewed every two years.
- Annual safeguarding foundation and PREVENT training for all staff.
- Induction sessions for new staff
- Annual refreshers on contextual issues
- Training about specific topics on Professional Development Days
- Regular updates in staff briefings/newsletters.
Operation Encompass
Domestic Abuse Notification
Domestic abuse is often a hidden crime that is not reported to the police. Therefore, data held by the police can only provide a partial picture of the actual level of domestic abuse experienced. Many cases will not enter the criminal justice process as they are not reported to the police. Our students can find themselves victims of living in households of domestic abuse.
At CNS, we are working in partnership with Luton Borough Council and Bedfordshire Police to identify and provide support to pupils who have experienced domestic abuse in their home. Nationally this scheme is called Operation Encompass. On receipt of any information from the Police, the designated safeguard lead will decide on the appropriate support the child needs, this could be silent or overt.
If you yourself are a victim of domestic abuse or are concerned about someone who is, please contact the Police or use these details below:
Useful contact numbers:
0300 300 8585 - Ask for the Freedom programme
Useful websites:
https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/gender-violence/domestic-violence-and-abuse-getting-help/
https://www.refuge.org.uk/get-help-now/phone-the-helpline/
Missing Person Notification
Operation Encompass is the reporting tool sending the relevant information to schools, before midday of the next school day when a child or young person has been reported missing to the police, whether that is by yourself or respective guardian.
This will enable CNS (as professional safeguarding partner) to be made aware of the missing incident and be in a position to support the child should they still make their way into school. As a professional partner CNS are also able to complete a ‘safeguarding check’ on the child.
Working with others
As a school, we are committed to working with other agencies where appropriate, in order to safeguard young people.
This includes working closely with:
- Luton Children Safeguarding Board
- Bedfordshire Police
- Luton Virtual School
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Useful websites and local organisations
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has a comprehensive website for all aspects of safeguarding. The answers to most questions and concerns can be found on this site.
CHUMS
CHUMS Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Service for Children and Young People provides therapeutic support in a variety of ways.
Its unique service model ensures that they support your whole family wherever possible. CHUMS recognise that parent and carers sometimes need some help too in supporting their children when there is a mental health or emotional wellbeing difficulty. All the group programmes offer a facilitated parent/carer group alongside the children and young people’s groups.
Child Line
Childline is here to help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through.
Offering refuge, outreach, drop-in, freedom programme. Women’s Aid in Luton is a voluntary organisation supporting women and children who fall victim to domestic abuse. Offer support and guidance to women and children from all backgrounds and circumstances. For some, this will just be someone to listen and for others, this will be to offer them complete support to break away and start again. This may be through our helpline or even through one of our drop-in support groups.
www.youthscape.co.uk/ys-in-luton
Working with young people who are in care or leaving care, those who are disengaging with the education system and who are at risk of becoming NEET, or those who are struggling with a range of social and emotional issues. Youthscape’s approach in Luton involves delivering mentoring and therapeutic group work, specific courses, projects, art installations, alternative qualifications and detached work, a regular drop-in cafe, residentials and Summer Camp. Each year Youthscape work in depth with over 400 of Luton's most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, and more widely with a further 8,000.
relatebedsandluton.org.uk/learn-more
With over 60 years of experience Relate Bedfordshire and Luton continues to help people strengthen their relationships and pick up the pieces and start over again, as well as supporting couples, young people and families before things reach crisis point.
The services can support your relationships through all the stages of your life; from being a child, through to your teenage years, becoming a couple, a parent, a grandparent and retiring into old age. Relate aim to build and strengthen your relationships, not just provide a crisis service.
Cardinal Newman were awarded the Safeguarding Initiative Award by the Safeguarding Alliance. Please click below to view the certificate.
Reporting Harmful Content
The RHC button is an asset of SWGfL, a charity working internationally to ensure all benefit from technology, free from harm.
The button has been developed to offer anyone living in the UK a simple and convenient mechanism for gaining access to reporting routes for commonly used social networking sites, gaming platforms, apps and streaming services alongside trusted online safety advice, help and support. It also provides access to an online mechanism for reporting online harm to the RHC service for those over the age of 13 where an intial report has been made to industry but no action has been taken. RHC will review content in line with a sites' community standards and act in a mediatory capacity where content goes against these.
Children under 13 years of age are encouraged to tell an adult that they trust about what has happened and to ask for their help in reporting this going through our how we can help resource together.
RHC also have advice and links to reporting routes for other online harms people may come across or face, such as impersonation, privacy violations and intimate image abuse.
The RHC button provides a gateway to the RHC reporting pages, an area of the RHC website offering:
-
links to reporting routes on commonly used sites for 8 types of online harm
-
help, advice and support on what to do if experiencing or witnessing harm online
-
signposting to industry partners reporting forms and the ability to reportlegal but harmful content directly to RHC for further investigation
Reporting to RHC
Reports can be made 24/7 through the online reporting forms and helpline practitioners will review and respond to reports within 72 hours between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday.
Reports can be made to RHC by anyone over the age of 13. SWGfL operates 3 helplines and to be sure you're getting the right support take a look at the Helpline flowchart to find out who can best support you.