Keeping Children Safe is Everyone's Responsibility
Safeguarding is our priority at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School. All school staff have Level 1 training annually, along with termly refresher training. In addition, we have a team of staff who are trained to Level 3 in Safeguarding.
Mrs Thornthwaite is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). She is always available to speak to anyone who is concerned about a child, and can be contacted on 01900 606050.
Our Safeguarding Team
Reporting a concern
If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm, you must call the Police urgently on999.
You can also ring the Safeguarding Hub on 0333 240 1727 to seek advice or speak to a Social Worker to report a concern.
For more information and resources, you can also visit the Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership website.
Early Help
School can support families experiencing difficulties through a system called Early Help (see the leaflet in the documents section at the bottom of this page for further information), where professionals support children and their families through regular meetings. For further information contact Mrs Thornthwaite on 01900 606050 or at lthornthwaite@stgregorys.cumbria.sch.uk
Kidsafe
We are a Kidsafe Registered School.
Throughout the year, children take part regularly in sessions to learn about how to keep themselves safe and well. These sessions are carefully tailored to meet the needs of each year group across school.
With the help of our puppet, KS the Monkey, the Kidsafe programmes are uniquely designed to help children take an active role in deciding how they themselves can recognise and protect themselves from all forms of abuse. The overall aim of the sessions is to protect, educate and inform children, empowering them without shattering their innocence.
Check to weekly bulletin to find out when you’re child will betaking part in Kidsafe and what they will be learning about.
For more information visit the website: www.kidsafeuk.co.uk
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse. Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening. The information is given in strict confidence to a school’s Key Adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.
You can find an Operation Encompass Letter to Parents in the documents section at the bottom of this page.
Prevent
The Prevent duty became law in 2015, and it relates to the Counter Terrorism and Security Act. It places the responsibility on all schools to have regard for preventing children being drawn into terrorism or extremist views.
At St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, we protect the children in our care by being alert to any reason for concern in the child’s life at home or elsewhere. We promote British values embed this throughout our curriculum, focusing on Mutual Respect, Tolerance, Democracy. Liberty and the Rule of Law. If you are worried about an organisation or suspect extremism, please call the Prevent helpline on 0800 789321 or email prevent@cumbria.police.uk.
National Online Safety Mobile App
Children are spending more time than ever online. As adults, we need to do everything we can to keep them safe in the digital world. But with new apps, games and platforms emerging every day, how can you stay in the know?
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School is a member of National Online Safety, who have created a new mobile app to download for free.
With all online safety knowledge available at your fingertips, the NOS app empowers parents and teachers to understand and address online safeguarding risks – any time, anywhere.The world’s most comprehensive online safety app, it’s packed with insightful courses, explainer videos, webinars and guides on topics that will help you protect the kids you care about when they’re online.
Safety Weeks
Throughout the year we hold three ‘Safety Weeks’ where children learn about a specific element of keeping safe . These take place in November, February and June and coincide with Road Safety & Anti-Bullying Week in November, Internet Safety in February and Child Safety Week in June.
During the ‘Safety Weeks’ children have their Kidsafe sessions and this year we are introducing First Aid for children in Years 1-6.
Check out Mrs McAllister’s weekly bulletin to find out when each safety week is and what the children will be learning about so you can discuss this with your child.
St Gregory’s took part in Road Safety Week in November 2024. During this week all classes learned about road safety heroes and some of us practised being a road safety hero by taking a walk in the local area. We had a visit from the PCSO’s who talked to us about keeping safe on the roads and had a competition in school for the best road safety hero designs. You can see some images from Road Safety Week in the gallery below.
