Safeguarding
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT A CHILD?
Suffolk Children Safeguarding Board
Telephone Numbers
Children’s Services: 0808 800 4005
Suffolk Police: 01473 613500
IN AN EMERGENCY DIAL 999
The school is committed to promoting the Health and Welfare of all pupils.
We are required by law to follow procedures laid down by Suffolk Children Safeguarding Board if we see signs which suggest that one of our pupils may have been abused.
Use of the procedures in this way is an obligation placed on the school by legislation and in no way infers that the Parent / Carer is being accused of wrong-doing.
We have four Safeguarding Officers at our school. Please contact one of them if you have any concerns.
Designated Safeguarding Lead– Mrs Sue Blakeley (Headteacher)
Deputy Safeguarding Lead– Mrs Chris White
Alternate Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Kerri Conway
Alternate Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Tanara Smith
Alternate Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Kiri Wyatt (2024-2025)
Safeguarding Governor – Emily Burbridge
Our safeguarding policy can be accessed here:Policies
Please contact our safeguarding leads to discuss the early help we can give to support the children and their families. sueblakeley@stlouisacademy.co.uk or chriswhite@stlouiscatholicacademy.co.uk Tel: 01638 662 719
Examples of some of our Early Help Offer in school are detailed below.
Please also visit our e-safety page https://www.stlouisacademy.co.uk/e-safety
Child Abuse
It may be helpful to parents to know that Headteachers are required to report any obvious or suspected cases of child abuse – which include non-accidental injury, severe physical neglect, emotional abuse and/or sexual abuse. This procedure is intended to protect children at risk and school are encouraged to take the attitude that where there are grounds for suspicion it is better to be safe than sorry.
This does mean that the Head of School may risk upsetting some parents by reporting a case, which on investigation proves unfounded. In such circumstances, it is hoped that parents, appreciating how difficult it is for Heads to carry out this delicate responsibility, would accept that the Head of School was acting in what were believed to be the child’s best interests.
Photography
The school would like to reassure parents regarding the sensitivity of photographing children. Children may be photographed from time to time as part of normal school activity including by the local press. Any photographs taken by members of staff on trips etc. will be kept in school. The permission of the school Governors is required for any parents wishing to video school productions.
Occasionally, we may take photographs of the children/young people at our school. We may use these images in our schools prospectus or in other printed publications that we produce, as well as on our website or on project display boards at our school. We may also make video or web cam recordings for school-to-school conferences, monitoring or other educational use. Where a child’s photograph is used publicly, we will never use their name alongside the photograph.
Prevent Duty
From 1 July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
This duty is known as the Prevent duty.
All teaching staff at St. Louis Academy have undertaken Prevent duty awareness training in order to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified.
(Reference: The Prevent Duty, Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers, DfE, June 2015)
