Chiltern Wood School is committed to safeguarding the welfare of young people.  The school has its own robust safeguarding procedures.  If you have a concern about the welfare of a child who attends the school, please contact one of the named safeguarding officers on 01494 532621:

Wendy Taylor, Deputy Headteacher (Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Rachel Chapman, Headteacher

Una-Lynne Mackey, Deputy Headteacher (Downley site)

Su Holland, Learning Mentor

Jane Beldon, Class Teacher

Hannah Goldsmith, Assistant Headteacher (Cressex site)

 

Statement to parents

At this school, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they communicate to us or tell us. Our aim is for children to enjoy their time as pupils in this school. We want to work in partnership with you to help your child achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution.

To promote a safe environment for pupils, our selection and recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteers’ suitability, including checks with the Disclosure and Barring Services, as recommended by Buckinghamshire County Council in line with current legislation.

In accordance with our responsibilities under section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002, and in line with “Keeping Children Safe in Education“, we have a Designated Safeguarding Lead for Child Protection (Wendy Taylor).  She is supported by Una-Lynne Mackey (Downley site).  All designated persons are members of the leadership team, and has received appropriate training for this role.  It is the DSL’s responsibility to ensure all staff in contact with children receives child protection awareness training on a regular basis.

There are occasions when our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies.  Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents, there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised for the protection of a child.

On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under S47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without parents’ knowledge. This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk of harm. To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.

The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Partnership  https://www.buckssafeguarding.org.uk/childrenpartnership, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to Wendy Taylor or your child’s class teacher. The Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy can be found on the Chiltern Wood School website.