Eastwood  Primary School and Nursery is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and as such, our school aims to create the safest environment within which every child has the opportunity to strive and reach their full potential.  All staff are trained annually on Safeguarding procedures and are made aware of important documentation including the School's Safeguarding Policy and 'Keeping Children Safe in Education'. We actively support the Government's Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.

We recognise the importance of us ensuring our children know how to seek support, feel that they will be listened to and appropriate action taken.  Safeguarding is about ensuring that everyone is safe from harm and that we all feel safe in our environment.
 
We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be viewed in the Legal section of our website.
 
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 our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.
 
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Debbie Bolton Smith

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Perman, Mrs Read, Miss Baker, Miss Duff, Mrs Christie and Miss Grover. 

Designated Looked After Children (LAC) Lead: Mrs Kingham

Safeguarding Governors: John Coyle and Emma Blakemore

Child Protection is the concern of everybody living in Southend. If you are concerned that a child is being abused or neglected, or that they may be at risk of harm, you should contact:

The First Contact Team 01702 215007 during office hours,

Emergency Duty Team  0845 606 1212 out of hours, or

Essex Police in an emergency on 999

NSPCC Child  Protection  Helpline: 0808 800 5000

We work hard to ensure highly effective and productive professional relationships with a range of external agencies to ensure that all learners and their families are provided with the right level of support. Both the Senior Leadership Team and the Pastoral Team, work strategically with services such as Children's Services, Health Services and the Police to support all our learners. 

We pride ourselves in developing and maintaining exceptionally strong partnerships with our families. We have in-depth knowledge about our community, and ensure that our support and actions are proactive, prompt and in line with what our children and families need.

Our Safeguarding Governors have a 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

Members of the Pastoral Team play an active role in supporting our families  and children. They support and work alongside families  in addressing pastoral concerns that impact the families' well-being and development.

This can include  

• Parenting classes 
• Referrals to outside agencies
• Signposting parents to community services and support groups
• Support with attendance 
• 1:1 support for individual children   

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 are discussed with a parent/carer first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.

The school works in partnership with Early Help and Family Support. This is a service provided by the Local Authority, which supports children and families, regardless of age, with the assistance they require as soon as needs present themselves, to prevent escalation and more intensive support later on. 

Members of the Pastoral Team: 

Mrs Bolton-Smith: Designated Safeguarding Lead and Head of Pastoral

Mrs Perman: Headteacher

Mrs Kingham: Designated Lead for Looked-After Children (LAC), SENCO, 

Mrs Hayden- Attendance Lead

Whilst lots of parents/carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life we are very mindful of our duty of care towards all our children. We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images.

Any photographs or videos taken by parents/carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet including social networking sites. This is emphasised before concerts and shows and where practical a record of parents/carers and relatives taking photographs or videos is made.