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Safeguarding

‘The school is a welcoming and caring community. The school fosters positive relationships with pupils. This helps pupils to develop their self-esteem. Pupils feel happy and safe here.’ 

OFSTED 2025

  The Safeguarding Team

Safeguarding and Child Protection at Saint Bede's

Our Catholic Ethos

As a Catholic School within the Diocese of Lancaster, we are committed to recognising and respecting the uniqueness of everyone in our community. We seek to reflect the true Christian values proclaimed in the Gospel and provide a caring environment where young people grow as balanced individuals morally, intellectually, and spiritually so they can participate fully in the real world.

 

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

We accept our statutory responsibilities for safeguarding and child protection. All staff and Governors complete annual training to stay informed of key updates in the Department for Education’s Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance. Additional resources are shared in the staff area, and regular updates are issued through our monthly Safeguarding Bulletin.

Safeguarding is the responsibility of every member of staff, but to coordinate responses effectively, we have identified staff with key responsibilities (see below). In certain circumstances, we are legally required to report concerns about children who may have been abused or are at risk of harm to the relevant authorities. We work closely with Lancashire’s Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership (CSAP) and the Local Authority’s School Safeguarding Officers.

 

Operation Encompass

Saint Bede’s is an Operation Encompass school. This is a partnership between the police and schools.

One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.

As a school we have ensured that the DSL and DDSLs have been trained in Operation Encompass procedures. These ‘Key Adults’ receive the information and can then share it with relevant staff who may have contact with the child and/or children during the school day. This timely information sharing enables appropriate support to be provided for the child/ren.

 

Prevent

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing and violent groups, to name but a few. The Prevent strategy is not just about discussing extremism itself, it is also about teaching our pupils values such as tolerance and mutual respect, which form part of the British Values.

 

Reporting Concerns

If you have any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child, please speak to a member of the school’s safeguarding team immediately.

You can also contact:

  • Lancashire Children's Social Care:
    • 0300 123 6720 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm)
    • 0300 123 6722 (Out of hours)
  • Police on 101

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call the Police on 999.

For more information, visit the Lancashire Safeguarding website.

 

Guidance and Help for Parents

  • CEOP  If you have been a victim of online abuse or you're worried about somebody else 
  • Bullying.co.uk What to do if you're being bullied on a social network
  • Childline Online safety guide
  • NSPCC The UK's leading children’s charity
  • MIND The Mental Health Charity
  • Young Minds Children and Young Peoples mental health charity

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy - For more information on this, please refer to the school policies section on the ‘about us’ tab.

 

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