Safeguarding at Orchard Meadow

Safeguarding Statement

Orchard Meadow Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, which can be viewed here.

Please click here for the Appendix to the Safeguarding Policy (March 2021) with key Covid-19 changes to the school's safeguarding policy.

The government has launced a new website which gives parents, teachers and school leaders practical advice on protecting children against extremism and radicalisation. Educate Against Hate.

Pupil Voice

Capturing how pupil feel and any worries they may have is really important to us. We regularly use pupil voice surveys and pupil conferencing to evaluate what we do, particularly when it comes to pupil well-being. The latest survey was conducted earlier this term (headline findings below).

We use 'Zones of Regulation' in every classroom too as part of our Family Meetings, which helps pupils who are worried or upset express how they are feeling.

• 93% of pupils said they feel safe at school.
• 90% of pupils said they felt excited to be back at school, having returned, compared with 75% before the start of the new school year.

Pupil Voice survey October 2020

• 91% of parents said they felt that their child was safe in school.

Parent survey (Edurio) November 2020

Daily Pledge:

Our commitment to keeping everyone safe is reinforced daily through our pledge, which is part of Family Meetings. Teachers remind pupils that: 'it is my job to keep you safe' and they answer: 'it is our job to keep it that way'. This helps to create a culture of shared responsibility for everyone's safety.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead for Orchard Meadow is William Power (Headteacher).

All of our Deputy DSLs have received DSL training and form part of our wider Safeguarding team, which works together to ensure pupils ar Orchard Meadow are kept safe:

You may also find the following links useful for further information:

Contact details for Local Authority Designated Officer

Concerns about a child 

Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board

NSPCC Is your child ready to be left alone? 

Safeguarding is everyones responsibility - if you concerns for a child's welfare you can report to the NSPCC

More useful resources:

Talk Pants

A resource to support conversations about how to stay safe from sexual abuse, from the NSPCC.

Talk PANTS helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried.

Please click here​ to view this resource. The video, below, is a fun way to help your child remember the TALK PANTS rules.

Stranger Danger

Please see resources (right) from Safety4Kids on how support your child to stay safe in the community, especially if they are in Year 5/6 and able to walk to or from school alone.

It is important that pupils do not feel afraid and have the confidence to do the right thing if they are approached by a stranger.

Introducing Ollee – a virtual friend!

Ollee is a digital friend for children aged 8-11, created by Parent Zone and funded by BBC Children in Need’s A Million & Me initiative, which aims to make a difference to children’s emotional wellbeing.

It’s designed to help children reflect on how they feel and to process their experiences with the support and help of their parents and carers.  There are a range of scenarios that can be explored together.

Children can choose an emotion that matches how they feel about it: happy, angry, sad, confused, frustrated, stressed or worried. They can next choose from a list of topics – for instance, a child who was worried about school might be able to select ‘I haven’t done my homework’ as the cause of their worry. 

You can more information and download the Ollee app here: https://parentzone.org.uk/Ollee