Safeguarding
'No stone is left unturned to ensure that pupils are safe. The pastoral team offer excellent levels of care to vulnerable families and work well with outside agencies. This ensures that the needs of families in difficult circumstances are dealt with efficiently. All staff are aware that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.'
Ofsted February 2019
St Michael's takes the safeguarding of children very seriously. The safety and well-being of our children is our key responsibility. We have strict rules on recruitment of staff and ensure that all adults that work with us are vetted through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The school follows safer recruitment procedures for all new appointments supported by the HR team at Halton Borough Council. Relevant staff and governors have attended safer recruitment training. All staff have electronic photo identification which are worn at all times.
We teach our children about how to stay safe both in person and online. If you have any concerns about the safety of a child, please speak to a member of the safeguarding team, Mr Loughran (Designated Safeguarding Lead), Miss Davies or Stef Lockley (Deputy Safeguarding Lead) Alternatively, if your concerns are about the use of digital media, you can report incidents to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre.
The staff and Governing Board of St Michael's place the highest priority on their responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils, in accordance with section 175 of the Education Act 2002. All staff attend annual refresher training to ensure the school operates a culture of continuous safeguarding and awareness.
The Governing Board and staff are committed to providing a safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of pupils. All reasonable measures are taken to ensure that the risks of harm to pupils’ welfare are minimised.
St Michael's has robust policies in place for ensuring the wellbeing of our children. These policies underpin our practice and values shared by our staff. All policies are available from the school office and the Child Protection / Safeguarding policy is available on the school website.
The school operates a strict policy on visitors to the school. All visitors are signed in electronically and are accompanied by a member of staff. Visitors to the school have their DBS and ID checked. This also applies to visiting professionals and supply staff.
Our safeguarding statement is evident around the school for adults and there are child-friendly posters in each classroom to remind children who they can confide in at any time.
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mr Loughran
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads: Miss Davies and Stef Lockley
At St Michael's we are committed to the Operation Encompass Scheme. This aims to safeguard children and parents who are at risk of domestic violence.