At Barons Court Primary School and Nursery safeguarding of all of our children is paramount and we are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all of our children. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and as a school we implement a range of initiatives in school to promote our children, staff and families well-being and happiness so that everyone has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential. Children within our school know how to seek support and feel that they are listened to with supportive action taken by staff within our school. Safeguarding at Barons Court is about ensuring that everyone is safe from harm and that we all feel safe in our environment – so if you are ever concerned about the safety or well-being of someone within our school community please talk to one of the school’s Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs). The safeguarding team within our school is:
Mrs Jones - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Ali - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Robinson - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Dane - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr Thornton - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Miss Marsom - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Turner - Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Docherty - Safeguarding Governor
Within our school all staff and Governors are trained annually on our safeguarding procedures and are fully aware of the key documentation to promote safeguarding within our school, such as the school’s Safeguarding Policy and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ which can be found on the 'Policies' page of our school website. We also actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism and have a range of policies and procedures in place which enhance our contribution to safeguarding within our school.
Working in Partnership
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about pupils are discussed with parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a discussion would be contrary to the child’s welfare. We work hard to ensure highly effective and productive professional relationships with external partners to ensure the best interests of each learner. Leaders work strategically with services such as Children's Services, Health Services and the Police to support our learners. During the academic year 2022-2023 we are working with local partners to prevent against County Lines and will implement workshops to ensure that our pupils, parents and staff are fully aware of any dangers facing them within our local community. Safeguarding is also woven into our curriculum through our PSHE lessons, computing lessons, assemblies and through special events and external visitors.
We have exceptionally strong relationships with our families and have a detailed, in-depth knowledge about our community to ensure that our support and actions are proactive, prompt and in line with what our children and families need.
Evaluating our Work
The Senior Leadership Team meet weekly to review the safeguarding work of our school with a focus on process, practice and performance. We are open to scrutiny by our partners and share practice and ideas with other schools. Our Safeguarding Governor has a strong, experienced professional background which ensures rigour around questioning practice and impact. Our safeguarding practice and process are agenda items on our termly Full Governing Body meetings.
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care at Barons Court is a great strength of ours and we aim for everyone involved within our school community to feel well supported. We believe that excellent pastoral support focuses on nurturing the individual needs of each child and our open door policy ensures that all members of our school community feel listened to. We aim to build trusting and empathic relationships with all our pupils and their families. Together our whole school team works with children so they can lead fulfilling and balanced lives at school and beyond. All of our staff model to children how to look after themselves and others; encouraging them to seek help, support or advice whenever they need it. Our pastoral care underpins personal development and we know from experience that with outstanding pastoral care, children feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because they feel valued and cared for.
Our Approach to Pastoral Care
We believe that our children need to feel safe, happy, valued and respected to achieve their full potential. Our commitment to achieving this runs through all strands of school life:
Our Programmes of Support
As a school we work closely with all of our families and we would encourage families to share any worries they may have as working together works exceptionally well to support the children. We have close links with a range of support agencies and we are able to signpost parents should they need support, an example of this being the school nursing team who can meet with families and support with any health concerns. We fully involve families with support programmes through our Team Around the Child and Family approach which ensures that we are all supporting and doing everything we can to help. We are also able to support parents to access a wide range of services and groups in the local area. Some of the services offer practical help with such things as housing or financial advice, some offer contact points or groups to join with others of a similar interest or need.
We also provide a range of bespoke pastoral programmes and these sessions are designed to support children who are experiencing needs which impact on them emotionally. Each programme is chosen, designed and implemented to meet the individual needs of the child in partnership with our families. Our current pastoral programmes include:
Barons Court Primary School and Nursery are proud to support the 'Fly High Billie' charity which is based in Australia. Billie showed the values we instil in our children at Barons Court. She was Bold in her choices, Ambitious in her thinking, Resilient in her extracurricular activities, Open towards others, Nurturing with her words and an impressively Successful horse rider. She had a passion for writing and animals, and this passion lives on in the charitable work her mother has set up in her honour. With a play on her name, Billie's legacy has become one of kindness and through the 'b kinder' initiative, 'flyhighbillie' is having a positive impact on children across our school community.
At Barons Court, we are working on the 'b kinder' initiative through teaching our children empathy and kindness using Billie's workbooks. Year 6 have been looking at 'Hope: The Bigger Picture'. Year 1 have been looking at 'Hope: Sunflowers and Rainbows'. The activities in these books provide an opportunity for children to explore the unique, positive, interactive tangible learning tools that address what it means to be kind. After hearing about Billie's story and completing the workbooks themselves, the Year 6 children have been inspired to create 'Billie's Bench', a buddy bench area situated in the playground honouring Billie's memory and as a subtle message to help children make friends and care for one another. Year 6 have adorned it with cosy items and books about friendship. We believe kindness and empathy are pivotal tools in children's social, emotional and personal development and prepare children for the wider world. We hope you will join us on this journey of kindness as the programme develops throughout the year.