Safeguarding
Safeguarding Statement
Mersey Park Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the health, safety and well-being of every pupil. We expect all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment.
We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection – Safeguarding Policy, which can be viewed here.
We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. Pupils are made aware that they can talk to any adult in school if they have any concerns. All staff are trained in Safeguarding annually, including the signs and indicators that a child may be being harmed or at risk of harm and the procedure to record and report any pupil disclosures.
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 parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. We are also an Operation Encompass school (see more details below).
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs R Tootell (Deputy Headteacher). Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Mrs M Thomas (Headteacher), Ms L White (Assistant Headteacher) Mrs Eccles (Assistant Headteacher) and Mrs C Hardy (Home School Liaison Officer). The Governor with responsibility for safeguarding in our school in Mrs Y Nolan.
If you have any concerns about a child who attends Mersey Park Primary School, please contact a member of the Safeguarding Team. Alternatively contact the NSPCC through their website: NSPCC – Reporting Abuse.
Meet the Safeguarding Team:
Mrs R Eccles Ms L White
Assistant Headteacher Assistant Headteaher
Please take the time to read our policies and do not hesitate to contact Mrs Tootell (Safeguarding Officer) should you have any questions.
The Child Protection – Safeguarding Policy and the Appendix to the Child Protection – Safeguarding Policy can be viewed here.
The Safer Recruitment Policy can be viewed here.
School follows the guidance set out in the following documents in order to keep all of our pupils safe:
Keeping Children Safe in Education – a link to the document is available here.
Working Together to Safeguard Children – a link to the document is available here.
To view our Safeguarding Termly Overview please click here.
We hold Safeguarding as a top priority – the following documents demonstrate the level of work completed in school to ensure we are Keeping Children Safe at Mersey Park in all areas of school life:
In conjunction with Merseyside Police, Mersey Park Primary School is involved in an initiative called Operation Encompass. The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in, heard, or witnessed a domestic abuse incident. Following such an incident, children can arrive at school distressed, upset, worried and unprepared. Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff (called key adults) are made aware early enough to support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe and included. At Mersey Park Primary School our key adults are Mrs Tootell (deputy headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead) and Mrs Hardy (Home/School Liaison Officer and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead). This is a valuable initiative that means we can continue to support and help children and families within our school community when they need it most. You can find out more by visiting www.operationencompass.org or by contacting one of our key adults.
Cherish: Wirral’s Multi-agency Neglect Strategy 2023-26 can be found here. Staff have completed training looking at what children need to thrive.
Please follow this link for the Stop Abuse Together Campaign.
If you would like more information about Stopping Child Exploitation please click here to read a leaflet from Pace (Parents against Child Exploitation)
We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. Click here if you would like to read more about this.
If you would like guidance about Online Safety please click here (Wirral Safeguarding Children Board).
Click on the follow links for our e-safety pages:
Click here for guidance about how to have Simple conversations to help keep your child safe (NSPCC).