Safeguarding and Child Protection

Providing a safe and secure environment, in which each young person and member of our community can thrive, is a key priority in St. Mary’s.

Our Safeguarding Team ensures that any concern of a safeguarding or child protection nature is appropriately addressed so that our pupils remain safe and receive any additional support they may need.

We accept our duty of care for each pupil and strive to provide a safe, caring, positive and stimulating school environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of each individual child. The safety and welfare of pupils is of paramount importance. Child Protection is the shared responsibility of all school staff, including volunteers.

In order to safeguard our students, we have the following measures in place:

• There is one Designated Teacher for Child Protection and three Deputy Designated Teachers for Child Protection within the school;
• All members of staff, teaching and teaching support, undertake training in Child Protection on an annual basis;
• All members of staff, teaching and teaching support, are aware of the signs and indicators of abuse;
• All members of staff, teaching and teaching support, are aware of the procedures to be followed if a pupil discloses information of an alarming nature or if they have a concern about the safety or welfare of a pupil;
• All pupils receive a Safeguarding and Child Protection Information Leaflet at the beginning of each year and are made aware that they will be listened to by a member of staff if they wish to discuss any matter of concern;
• All parents/guardians receive a Safeguarding and Child Protection Information Leaflet at the beginning of each year;
• A Safeguarding and Child Protection poster is displayed in all classrooms throughout the school;
• As part of the recruitment process, all members of staff, teaching and teaching support, including volunteers, are vetted through Access NI prior to commencing work within the school or engaging with pupils;
• Monitoring procedures are in place for pupils known or thought to be at risk of harm;
• We work in partnership with other agencies, including the PSNI and Social Services, to monitor the welfare and safety of pupils known or thought to be at risk of harm;
• Pupils are not allowed to use mobile phones or any other products with text/digital facilities during the school day;
• Pupils receive information and guidance on e-Safety.