Safeguarding

The aim of Walkington School’s safeguarding policy is to create a safe and supportive environment, ensuring children are safe at school and at home.

Everyone has a shared objective to help keep children and young people safe by contributing to:

  • Providing a safe environment for children and young people to learn and develop in our school setting.
  • Identifying children and young people who are suffering or likely to suffer significiant harm.
  • Taking appropriate action with the aim of making sure they are kept safe both at home and in our school.

All those in positions of responsibility have completed training to ensure they are aware of how to maintain safe and supportive environments for all. This involves identification of concerns, appropriate reporting mechanisms and action to prevent harm (which may require external, independent organisations and bodies).

Meet our safeguarding team:

  • Mr Chris Bullough
    Designated Safeguarding Lead

  • Mrs Rebecca Pearson
    Deputy Safeguarding Lead

  • Mr Nigel Penton
    Designated Safeguarding Governor

Everyone takes personal responsibility on a daily basis to ensure children are kept safe.

We do this by:

  • Meeting Health and Safety standards
  • DBS checking all staff, students, governors and volunteers
  • Keeping essential training up to date (paediatric first aid, food safety, safeguarding etc)
  • Securing our site, including data protection
  • Liaising with outside agencies – Health Visitors, Social Care, SEN Services
  • Meeting our Prevent Duty requirements

Please see our policies page for our relevant Safeguarding policies.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school’s trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child’s day better and giving them a better tomorrow.

Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.

A link to the Operation Encompass website is given below:

https://www.operationencompass.org/

“Adults give pupils
opportunities to share ideas and challenge their own thinking and this helps them to articulate their opinions with confidence.”

Ofsted comments

“The school’s welcoming and caring ethos is central to its work in raising standards for
pupils.”

Ofsted comments

“Pupils behave well and are polite, articulate and respectful.”

Ofsted comments

“Parents and carers who offered their views to inspectors were overwhelmingly positive about the experiences of their children.”

Ofsted comments

“The school is a calm, orderly and purposeful place for pupils to make the most of their learning.”

Ofsted comments

“Governors are ambitious for the school. They challenge and support leaders effectively.”

Ofsted comments

“Pupils listen to the opinions of others and are keen to offer their views considerately and respectfully.”

Ofsted comments

“Older pupils develop a good understanding of what they read. Leaders promote a love of reading and pupils say the school provides them with high-quality texts.”

Ofsted comments

“Leaders are well trained and use their knowledge of special educational needs to identify specific requirements at an early stage and provide timely support.”

Ofsted comments

“Learning in early years gets off to a good start. As a result of effective teaching and provision, children progress well from their starting points.”

Ofsted comments

“Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan interesting tasks that engage
pupils.”

Ofsted comments

“Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and
are clear about priorities and plans for improvement.”

Ofsted comments

“The profile of sport has been raised and more pupils now compete in sporting
activities.”

Ofsted comments

“Teachers plan interesting activities that motivate the pupils. Staff ensure that all pupils are valued and included in learning.”

Ofsted comments

“The broad curriculum provides a wide range of enriching experiences for pupils.”

Ofsted comments

“In all key stages, pupils are now making good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.”

Ofsted comments

“By the end of Year 6, outcomes are high in reading and writing. In reading, they are
particularly high.”

Ofsted comments

“Effective safeguarding procedures are in place. All staff have a clear understanding of how to keep pupils safe.”

Ofsted comments

“Improvements in the teaching of mathematics have helped to increase pupils’ progress and improve pupils’ ability to solve mathematical
problems.”

Ofsted comments

“The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.”

Ofsted comments

“The passionate and effective leadership of senior leaders and the commitment of the staff have sustained the good quality of education at the school.”

Ofsted comments

“From the moment pupils enter the school each day, they are greeted with respect and a genuine sense of care from the adults in the building.”

Ofsted comments

“The quality of teaching at Walkington Primary is underpinned by warm and caring
relationships between staff and pupils.”

Ofsted comments

“Good teaching through early years and in key stage 1 ensures that the proportion of pupils passing the Year 1 phonics screening check is consistently above average.”

Ofsted comments

“Staff welcome the professional development they receive and say that this makes a real difference to the quality of their teaching.”

Ofsted comments

“Exciting activities, such as visits to places of worship, generate high levels of
interest and curiosity about the themes that pupils are studying.”

Ofsted comments

“In mathematics lessons, resources are used well to enable pupils to visualise abstract ideas and to get a more secure understanding of number.”

Ofsted comments

“Staff encourage pupils to be resilient and take risks. Pupils know it is all right to get things wrong and that this is part of the process of learning.”

Ofsted comments

“The teaching of reading is good. There is a consistent approach to the teaching of
phonics.”

Ofsted comments