Safeguarding at St Christopher's

Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education 

(Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special 

Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and 

Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and 

promote the welfare of children.

We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are 

respected and valued.

The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse, neglect and exploitation and will follow 

the Suffolk Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children 

receive appropriate and effective support and protection. 

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information 

which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, 

emotional or sexual abuse and exploitation. Parents/carers should know that records of 

safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school 

staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other 

agencies. 

Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental 

responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s 

Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may 

lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child 

about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, 

if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional 

gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.

Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 

contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that 

allows professionals to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that 

information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other 

services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young 

people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will 

be the paramount concern.

Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a 

child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed 

on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member 

of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated 

Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their 

responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children. 

Holding power

Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do 

what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding 

promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to 

“hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.

Our school Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is: Miss C Brown

Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead's (DDSL's) are Mr C Smith and Mrs A Warren.

To contact our DSL or DDSL's, please email: office@stcprimary.suffolk.sch.uk for the attention of our DSL or DDSL.

Please click below to view our current Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.