At Our Lady and St Edward’s, the safety, well-being, and happiness of every child is our top priority. We are committed to creating an environment where children feel safe, supported, and able to thrive.
The school has robust policies and procedures in place to ensure the safeguarding of all pupils. Our staff are fully trained in safeguarding practices and are vigilant in protecting children from harm. Our weekly staff meetings ensure that pupil welfare is brought to the fore so that staff remain vigilant. We work as a team to acknowledge the needs of the child and to ensure that staff know how to respond if they have concerns. We work closely with external agencies to provide additional support when needed, ensuring that every child receives the help they require.
We believe that safeguarding is a shared responsibility. Parents and carers are encouraged to speak to the school whenever they feel that they or their child needs support or if they have any concerns. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Woods who is supported by two Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSL) Miss O’Donnell and Mrs Pickup. As a team we endeavour to support families with early help and appropriate referrals when needed. At times, it may be appropriate to conduct family meetings through the Early Help process where together we will identify needs and ways to support these needs.
Our safeguarding team can be contacted via our school office 01772 862305 or email bursar@ourlady-st-edwards.lancs.sch.uk
If you are worried about a child and you feel they are being abused, neglected or at risk of abuse/neglect, then you should contact one of the DSLs in school and/or make a safeguarding referral.
You can make a safeguarding referral by contacting Lancashire County Council's Children's Social Care by telephoning 0300 123 6720 (out of hours on 0300 123 6722).
If you believe a child is at risk of harm or has been harmed, you can also contact the Police on 101 or 999, depending on how immediate a response is required.
You can also contact:
NSPCC helpline - 0808 800 5000
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/nspcc-helpline/
Together, we can ensure that every child at Our Lady and St Edward’s is happy, safe, and well.