Information
General - Safeguarding

The responsibilities for schools in the area of child protection are laid down in the Children Act of 1989.

Because of their day to day contact with individual children during school terms, teachers and other school staff are particularly well placed and have been trained to observe outward signs of abuse, changes in behaviour or failure to develop.

All staff at school are aware of the need to alert Social Services when they believe a child has been a victim of abuse or is at risk of abuse.

Duty of Local Authority

Sometimes other people including professionals contact us because they are concerned about a child. We believe that all parents have a right to know the nature of any information we receive about their immediate family. We will always contact you to discuss information we receive and decide if there is any way of helping you if your child is in need or is at risk of harm. The same assessment process is used in such circumstances.

We have a duty to make enquiries about a child/young person's situation if we have reasonable cause to believe that he/she is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm.

We will not share some information with parents or carers if we believe that to do so would place a child or young person in their care at greater risk. In some circumstances it may not be possible to share information because of existing criminal investigations by the police.

We expect that in most circumstances, other professionals will have already shared their concerns with you before they refer to us.

Children's social care services works closely with other agencies such as health, schools, police, probation and housing in planning and providing services. We also work alongside various voluntary agencies that already contribute valuable services in response to the needs of the local community. Most important to us is working in partnership with you in helping you deal with the difficulties you and your family may be experiencing