Skip to content

View navigation

Red Kite Learning Trust
iStock_70488931_LARGE (Medium)

Parents/Carers

Safeguarding

Oatlands Juniors - Playtime - 2023 (5)Oatlands Junior School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children. We expect everyone who comes into contact with children, their families and carers to share this commitment in safeguarding our children.

  • We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support children, families and staff at school.  
  • We ensure that all staff, volunteers and governors receive appropriate training, guidance and support to undertake the effective safeguarding of children.
  • We believe that an open and honest partnership with our families is of great importance. Problems at home often manifest themselves in school and vice- versa. Communication is vital so that we can support the child concerned.  Please let us know if events at home might affect a child’s behaviour and emotional well-being in school.

In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals should make sure their approach is child centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.

All staff have read Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024. This document can be accessed here:

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2024

We also comply with:

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

Oatlands Junior School will follow NYSCP multi-agency procedures. They have been developed as a framework for services working in child safeguarding within North Yorkshire. They reflect relevant legislation, guidance and the local context in North Yorkshire. Professionals that are or may be involved in the protection of children need to have a working knowledge of these procedures and to refer to relevant sections as required which can be found through the following link:

NYSCP procedures

Oatlands Junior School will follow NYSCP Practice Guidance. This has been agreed as a framework for multi-agency working in child protection across North Yorkshire. It reflects the relevant national legislation, current guidance and local context in North Yorkshire. Professionals that are or may be involved in the safeguarding of children need to have a working knowledge of these documents and to refer to relevant sections as needed. This can be found through the following link:

NYSCP guidance

It is everyone’s job to safeguard children. Please let the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher or a senior leader in school know, if you have any concerns about any child.

If you are unable to contact any of these members of staff, please call Children and Families' Service on 0300 1312131. 

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Mrs E Scarth

Mrs Scarth

Headteacher, Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead and Prevent Lead

Andrew Morley

Mr A Morley

Deputy Headteacher, Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead and Online Safety Lead

Mrs McNerney

Mrs McNerney

Assistant Headteacher, Inclusion Lead, Y3 Leader, 3 Owls, Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead, Designated Teacher for Looked After/Previously Looked After Children

Mrs R Coyne

Mrs Coyne

Year 5 Lead and Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead

Miss E Mansfield

Ms E Mansfield

Year 4 Lead and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs T Morales-Macias

Ms T Morales-Maclas

Learning Mentor and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs C Fretwell

Mrs C Fretwell

Senior Mental Health Leader and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Online Safety: Filtering and Monitoring

The school’s filtering and monitoring service provides a filter for children, staff and visitors preventing them from accessing potentially harmful online content. As outlined in the statutory guidance, KCSiE (2023-24) and the Red Kite Learning Trust (RKLT) Safeguarding policy, schools are required to do ‘all they reasonably can to limit children’s exposure to the above risks from the school’s IT system’. We apply an international standard filtering software through our provider, Talk Straight, to all online activity via the school’s network on school owned desktop PC’s and 1:1 devices.

The Talk Straight filtering package is compliant with the Internet Watch Foundation’s URL blocked list and the Home Office Terrorism Block watch list. Practically, this means that over 240,000 websites are restricted from access and this list is updated daily. Web filtering blocks access to potentially harmful online material by categorising online content using key terminology and targeted words e.g. pornography, gaming, gambling and social media.

We ask that all children and parents sign and abide by the school’s Online Acceptable Use Policy, which provides a clear set of protocols and expectations for the use of 1:1 devices both inside and outside of the school setting. The following disclaimer is published by the UK Safer Internet Centre: “It is important to recognise that no filtering systems can be 100% effective and needs to be supported with good teaching and learning practice and effective monitoring”. Schools need to “be careful that “over-blocking” does not lead to unreasonable restrictions as to what children can be taught with regards to online teaching and safeguarding.”

Monitoring of children’s online activity is strengthened through the addition of a daily electronic Prevent report. This will alert designated school staff if there has been an access attempt to a filtered website through the school’s network and allow them to investigate further.

In addition to centralised filtering, all schools retain the autonomy to identify specific websites that they wish to additionally filter from both children and staff usage. It is the responsibility of the DSL, in conjunction with the nominated Online Safety lead, to ensure that this is communicated with the RKLT’s IT team.

What does the Prevent duty mean for schools?

The Prevent Duty is about ensuring that appropriate support is available for individuals who may demonstrate vulnerabilities to radicalisation. This is an extension of the safeguarding process in the same way that schools help to safeguard young people from child sexual exploitation, drugs, and other forms of harm.

At Oatlands Juniors we build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British Values and enabling them to challenge extremist views. It is important to emphasise that the Prevent duty is not intended to stop pupils debating controversial issues. On the contrary, school provides a safe space in which children and staff can understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments. 

OJS PREVENT- Risk Assessment

Andrew Morley

Mr Morley

Deputy Headteacher

Online Safety Lead

Mrs E Scarth

Mrs Scarth

Headteacher

Prevent Duty Lead


Working with other agencies

We have close links with a number of agencies based in the Harrogate area. We have strong working relationships with social care and the members of the health service. The Headteacher is the designated person responsible for child protection. If an issue is raised of a child protection nature, the adults concerned will usually be informed depending upon the nature of the referral. However, in some cases direct contact might be made with social services.  

We recognise that all families can have times of crisis and might need the support of professionals. We encourage our families to let us know if they are experiencing difficulties and we will do our best to put them in contact with the relevant agency. Referral can be made for many different reasons and support provided in order to prevent issues from escalating. If you feel you would like their help, please contact the Headteacher. 


What should you do if your child has a problem?

A small problem to an adult can seem enormous to a child, and can often be quickly sorted out. Therefore, it is important that a child tells someone who can do something about it. Please make sure that your child knows that we do listen and there are several options if your child feels uncomfortable about approaching a specific person. We have ‘Need to Talk’ posters around school, reminding children of these options.  Similarly, as a parent, if you feel there are any problems please don’t let them develop - do come and talk to us sooner rather than later. 

The advice I would give to new children is that you can tell somebody anything, if you have a worry.

Evie, Year 3 

Need to Talk jpeg

Need to Talk jpeg

Oatlands Junior School is part of Red Kite Learning Trust, a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7523507, registered office address: Red Kite Office, Pannal Ash Road, Harrogate, HG2 9PH

Oatlands Junior School uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For optimal performance please accept cookies. For more information please visit our cookies policy.

Accept and close