Safeguarding at Blisworth Community Primary School
A whole-school culture of vigilance, care, family help and partnership
Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do
Every child has the right to feel safe, valued, listened to and protected. Our safeguarding culture is rooted in vigilance, professional curiosity, respectful relationships and decisive action. We work to ensure that children receive the right help at the right time and are able to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
Our commitment to safeguarding
At Blisworth Community Primary School, we are committed to maintaining a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment in which every child is protected and able to be the best they can be. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Staff, governors, volunteers, pupils, parents, carers and visitors all have an important role in recognising concerns, sharing information and acting in the best interests of children.
Our approach extends beyond child protection. It includes children’s physical and mental health, emotional wellbeing, attendance, inclusion, online safety, positive relationships and access to early help. We maintain the attitude that ‘it could happen here’, listen carefully to children’s voices and act promptly when something does not feel right.
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads
We have five members of staff trained as Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs):
- Miss Danielle Warren, Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Miss Leah Jenkins
- Mrs Louise Cooke
- Mrs Sarah Price
- Mrs Katie Law
The team provides trained safeguarding leadership and ensures that concerns are considered, recorded and acted upon without delay. Deputy DSLs are trained to the same standard as the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Reporting a safeguarding concern
If any parent, carer or visitor has a safeguarding concern regarding a child at school, please contact one of our DSLs as soon as possible during school hours. Please do not assume that someone else will act. We all have a duty of care towards children.
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH): As a community member, contact MASH on 0300 126 7000 (Option 1) if you have concerns about a child or family. Concerns may be shared anonymously. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Report a concern or request support through Northamptonshire Children’s Trust
Protective Behaviours within our PSHE and RSHE curriculum
Why Protective Behaviours?
As part of our universal provision for all children, we have introduced Protective Behaviours as a practical, down-to-earth approach to personal safety and wellbeing. The programme teaches children how to feel safe, talk about their feelings and recognise safe and unsafe feelings. It supports an adventurous approach to life that allows children to enjoy fun and excitement without violence or fear.
Protective Behaviours helps children recognise and trust their intuitive feelings, often described as Early Warning Signs, and develop a range of strategies for self-protection. It is embedded within our wider PSHE, RSHE and safeguarding curriculum, helping pupils develop the knowledge, language and confidence to seek help when needed.
The programme focuses on two key themes:
- We all have the right to feel safe all of the time.
- We can talk with someone about anything, even if it feels awful or small.
All children take part in whole-class sessions specifically tailored to meet the needs of each year group, from Foundation Stage to Year 6. The themes are revisited throughout the year so that safeguarding language, trusted adults and help-seeking strategies remain familiar and accessible.
If you have any questions, please speak to your child’s class teacher, who will be happy to explain more about the programme. Individual Protective Behaviours sessions are also available for some children as part of our targeted provision and are delivered by a trained member of school staff.
Protective Behaviours information for families
Working with partner agencies
Safeguarding is most effective when schools, families and professionals work together. We work with local partners to identify need early, coordinate support and help children and families access the right service at the right time. Depending on a child’s needs, this may include consultation, referral, assessment, direct support or coordinated multi-agency planning.
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust
Provides children’s social care services across Northamptonshire, including safeguarding assessment, child protection, family support and statutory social care services for children and families.
Visit the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust website
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
Receives safeguarding concerns and supports multi-agency information sharing and decision-making so that risks can be assessed and the most appropriate response identified.
Visit the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) website
School Nursing Team
The 0 to 19 service offers health advice and support for school-aged children, young people and families, including physical health, emotional wellbeing, healthy lifestyles and safeguarding-related needs.
Visit the School Nursing Team website
HARPS: Hospital and Outreach Education
Supports children and young people whose medical or health needs affect their access to education, working with schools and families to support continued learning and reintegration where appropriate.
Visit the HARPS: Hospital and Outreach Education website
CAMHS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Provides specialist mental health assessment and support for children and young people with significant emotional, behavioural or mental health needs.
Visit the CAMHS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services website
Service Six
A local charity supporting children, young people and families through wellbeing services, emotional support, counselling, youth work and family programmes.
Towcester Family Hub
A welcoming local access point for families seeking information, advice and practical support. The hub brings family services together and can help parents and carers connect with support relating to parenting, early development, health and wellbeing, SEND, relationships, community activities and wider family needs. We particularly encourage families to explore the hub as an early source of guidance and connection to local services, whether a concern feels significant or simply needs a helpful conversation.
Visit the Towcester Family Hub website
A collaborative, child-centred approach
Through strong leadership, rigorous procedures, preventative education and effective partnership working, we strive to ensure that safeguarding is visible, understood and consistently enacted across our school. Children are taught that their voice matters, that they can speak to a trusted adult and that concerns will be taken seriously.
At Blisworth Community Primary School, safeguarding is not simply a policy. It is a culture lived by our whole community, every day.
Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL)
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