Safe Guard/Child Protection

Safe Guard and Child Protection Policy

Policy Revised By	HSO	Policy Reviewed By	Child protection officers	CEHS/ SG 2022-23
Date of Review	01/04/2022	Approved by	Principal
Academic year	2022-23	Next Review	25-03-2023

Rationale

The health, safety and well-being of all our children, staff, parents and all the possible members are of paramount importance to all who work in our school. Our children have the right to be safe, respect and equality regardless of age, gender, race, culture or disability. They have a right to be safe in our school.

All staff employed at CEHS must report suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect whenever the staff member has reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering abuse or neglect. Reporting and follow up of all suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect will proceed in accordance with administrative regulations and procedures included in this policy.

Aim and Objectives

To ensure safe, healthy and fully inclusive school learning environment for all the staff, students and other all possible members in the premises.

To raise awareness and identify responsibility in reporting possible cases of abuse; through clear reporting and communicating procedures.

To ensure effective incident reporting, identifying the potential hazards and fixing effectively to prevent its reoccurrence.

Student, staff and Parent awareness sessions and CPDs to make an effective system of understanding, planning, implementing and reviewing the current procedures.

DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEADERS

Governor with Safeguarding Responsibilities – Mr. Sharafudeen Thanikatt, The Principal

Mr. Qaisar Altaf – HSO

Mr.Valentine – Kindergarten

Ms.Archana Balan – Grades 1 to Grade 5

Ms.Shabana Amin – Grade 6 to Grade 12 (Girls)

Mr.Irshad K -Grade 6 to Grade 12 (Boys)

When to be concerned

Staff should be concerned if a student:

Has any injury which is not typical of the bumps and scrapes normally associated with the child ’s activities
Regularly has unexplained injuries
Frequently has injuries even when apparently reasonable explanations are given
Offers confused or conflicting explanations about how injuries were sustained
Exhibits significant changes in behavior, performance or attitude
Indulges in sexual behavior which is unusually explicit and/or inappropriate to his or her age

Discloses an experience in which he or she may have been harmed.

School Environment

It is essential to keep the school environment including the school buildings, premises, classrooms, playgrounds, laboratories, computer rooms, libraries, toilets, drinking water facilities, school buses, transport area and the surroundings safe and secure. Also, the students must be safe from the following abuses from our school environment.

- Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is the deliberate physical injury to a child or the willful neglectful failure to prevent physical injury or suffering. This may include hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, kneel down, standing outside or inside the classroom, standing with hands up, drowning, suffocating, confinement to a room, or inappropriately giving drugs to control behavior.

- Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may involve causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some levels of emotional abuse are involved in all types of ill-treatment of a child, though it may occur alone. Shouting, mentioning student’s special needs in public, comments about their ability level in public and being rude will expose children to emotional abuse.

- Sexual Abuse & Exploitation

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children looking at, or the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

- Neglect

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s physical, emotional, and/or psychological needs, likely to result in significant harm. It may involve failing to provide adequate support, care, and not considering students concerns and complaints on time.

- At risk of abuse

These are situations where children may not have been abused, but where social and medical assessments indicate a high degree of risk that they might be abused in the future. This may include situations where another child in the household has been abused, or where there is a known abuser.

We give special consideration to children who

Have special educational needs or disabilities
Are young carers
May experience discrimination due to their race, ethnicity, religion, gender identification or sexuality
Have English as an additional language – EAL
Are known to be living in difficult situations – for example, temporary accommodation or where there are issues such as substance abuse or domestic violence
Are at risk – sexual exploitation, forced marriage, or radicalization
Are asylum seekers
Chronic illness students

We want all our children to achieve their full potential by

Being as physically and mentally healthy as possible; experiencing good quality education opportunities with mutual respect and being equally treated ; living in a safe and inclusive environment;
Learning and working in a safe environment; experiencing emotional wellbeing;
Feeling loved and valued;
Receiving support from a network of reliable and affectionate relationships; learning to look after themselves;
Coping with everyday living;
Having a sense of identity and a positive image of themselves; developing their confidence and their interpersonal skills;

General Whole School Responsibilities

Where possible, if the Principal or designated senior staff member is unavailable, responsibility may be delegated to our Physical Education team.
All members of the school staff have a responsibility to identify and report suspected abuse and to ensure the safety and well-being of the pupils in the school. In doing so, they should seek advice and support as required from the concerned CPO.
All staff are expected to provide a safe and inclusive environment in which children can develop the confidence to voice ideas, feelings and opinions. Children should be treated with mutual respect and equality within a framework of agreed and understood behaviors.

All school staff is expected to:

Be aware of signs and symptoms of abuse
Report concerns to the Designated Class Teachers as appropriate
Keep clear, dated, factual and confidential records of child protection concerns and complaints etc.

Principal will

Comply with the provisions of this policy and to protect students from any abuse and neglect in school. The policy should meet the minimum requirements of good guidance and support for all students, staff and other members in the school.
Ensure that procedures to prevent situations that could lead to the abuse or neglect of students are in place and understood by all school staff and leaders.
Ensure the supervision of students at all times while in school’s care.
Gain views from students and parents regarding security and protection within the school.
Immediately report any case of potential abuse and/or neglect of students as stated by this policy.
Ensure that all staff and administrators targeted for student protection training are fully attended and participate in all training sessions.
Conduct orientation sessions for parents/guardians upon student registration or enrollment and at the start of every school year to promote this policy and to inform them of their roles and responsibilities, and their rights and duties.
Ensure that there is priority emphasis within the school on the protection of the students and for taking immediate actions when there is suspicion of cases of student abuse or neglect.
Ensure that students can safely report their concerns about abuse and/or neglect without fear of retribution or punishment.
Ensure that staff and others can safely report their concerns about the potential exposure of any student to abuse and/or neglect without fear of retribution or punishment.
Maintain students? records and ensure confidentiality of open and closed cases.
Immediately suspend any staff member who is suspected of an offence involving student abuse and/or neglect on a temporary basis until the suspicion is adjudicated.

HSO and CPO

Ensure that the school has a strong in place which is consistent with KHDA & Dubai Child Protection Procedures, and is readily accessible to all members of staff, both teaching and non-teaching
Ensure that the implementation and effectiveness of the policy and any associated polices e.g. bullying are reviewed annually by it becoming a priority item on the governing body’s agenda with information also being provided on training, the number of incidents and cases (without details or names).
Consider, with supervisors and designated child protection officers, the place of child protection in the school curriculum
Ensure that designated and other staff has the opportunity to attend appropriate training
Liaise with the Designated Child Protection Officer with responsibility for Child Protection in relation to any allegations of child abuse
To arrange specific training sessions for staff, students and parents
To make follow up of child protect cases with Child Protection Officer, staff, students and parents for effective enquiry and decisions.
To educate and train school leaders on child protection and safeguarding management in school, etc.

Administration and Transport Manager will

Ensure school buses keeps an accurate central record system for maintenance and safety procedures
Ensure school portal attendance and punching system of students transport attendance is effectively functioning and monitoring.
Ensure safety and security of students in school and school buses
Ensures that CCTV cameras? are regularly checked to monitor staff and students behaviors in school and buses
Ensure that drivers and bus conductors behave properly with all students while traveling to school, etc.
Ensures students safety and security, when students are going in school transport to colleges, universities, schools and executions etc.
Ensures that First Aid boxes are available in all departments in school and buses etc.
Ensures to report the identified cases through CCTV and transport staff to the school counselors and clinic doctors for intervention.

Clinic Doctor will

Ensure identification of hit and run cases in school
Conduct examinations and detailed assessments of identified cases
Prepare health profiles of child protection cases
Ensure early identification of physical and sexual abuse cases
Ensure that relevant information obtained in the course of their duties is communicated to the Child Protection & Inclusion Officer ? Types of injuries, attendance and frequency are recorded.
Ensure identification of hit and run cases in school
Conduct examinations and detailed assessments of identified cases
Prepare health profiles of child protection cases
Requested to provide physical treatment and emotional support after a child has been abused

Child abuse can leave deep emotional scars and the School Doctor or Nurse should recognize these and help to develop a rehabilitation plan in liaison with the Child Protection Officer and other appropriate staff in the case management team.
Give proper medical treatment to the child protection cases
Make referrals to the external agencies with the permission from Child Protection & Inclusion Officer, Governor or Principal.
In some cases, the child may have to take medication as a result of the abuse. The School Doctor or Nurse should ensure that all standards and procedures for administering medications in the school setting are met.
Required to conduct an examination if there are physical injuries and write an initial report about the child’s physical and emotional condition

Class Teacher will

In maximum cases, the first person to raise a concern is class teacher. They will collect detailed, accurate, secure written records of concerns & complaints, and then liaise with designated safeguarding staff.

Class Teacher’s role towards creating awareness among students about:

Safe touch and unsafe touch.
Strategies for defense mechanism.
Keeping other staff informed about the immediate safety measures for child protection and safeguarding issues.
Avoid use of “Not in use” rooms in the school.
Learn to say “NO? when it seems to be very uncomfortable.
Effective use of the complaint box.

School Counselor will

Provide positive encouragement to the child.
Support the student’s emotional well-being.
Any harm to the student will be reported to the Child Protection Officer and relevant information will be shared.
Liaise with family members determine how best to promote the child’s safety both at school and home.
Conduct regular counseling sessions for the student who is abused.
To improve the positive thinking and self-esteem of the abused student, etc.

The Responsibilities of Security Staff

The Security staff undertakes to be vigilant and adhere to the procedures governing the access, detailed record-keeping, provision of a visitor’s pass to be worn for ease of identification and monitoring of visitors in the school.

Procedures

- The teacher should inform the concerned CPO as soon as possible, and in writing within the same school hours, if there is reasonable cause to believe that abuse is occurring.
- Where there is reasonable belief that the CPO is the perpetrator of the abuse, the teacher should report to the Principal (if not the CPO), or to the Director – Administration.
- The CPO will take initial steps to gather information regarding the reported incident. At this stage he/she will:
  
  1. To inform to the section supervisor and to the Principal about the incident. Supervisor will inform to the parent.
  2. Interview staff members as necessary and document information pertaining to the case.
  3. Consult with school personnel to review the child’s history in the school.

The CPO will then form a school-based response team to address the report.

The response team may include:

1. Counsellor
2. School doctor and/or nurse
3. The student’s teacher,
4. Other teachers or professional individuals as the CPO sees fit.

In all cases, follow up activities are to be conducted in a manner that ensures that information is documented factually and that strict confidentiality is maintained.

Storage of any report of abuse should be separate with a clear protocol for access and not included in the student’s main file.

Based on acquired information a plan of action should be developed to assist the child and family. Actions that may take place may include:

1. Discussions between the child and the CPO in order to gain more information.
2. In-class observations of the child by the teacher, counselor, or administrator.
3. Meetings with the family to present the school’s concerns.
4. Referral of the student and family to external professional counseling if needed.
5. Further consultation with the school counsellor for finalizing the action plan.
Subsequent to a substantiated case of child abuse or neglect, the following actions may take place:

1. The concerned CPO will maintain contact with the child and family to provide support and guidance as appropriate.
2. The CPO will provide the child’s teachers with on-going support, and provide strategies for the teacher to use.
3. The CPO will maintain contact with outside therapists, in order to update the therapist about the progress of the child in school, and to keep the school informed about the progress of any therapy where this is appropriate.
4. The CPO will liaise with the Counselor, School Doctor, Learning Support Coordinator and/or other staff to facilitate support of treatment and rehabilitation programs and develop programs to help prevent future abuses.
5. The School Principal refers the case to the management for any further action.

Resources

The school is responsible for providing appropriate resources and staff training to support the policy.

Documentation

All documentation of any investigation should be kept in the child’s school confidential records file.

Dealing with disclosure

If a student discloses that he or she has been harmed in some way, the member of staff should:

Listen to what is being said without displaying shock or disbelief
Accept what is being said
Allow the child to talk freely, i.e. to tell the story in their own words
Ask open questions rather than leading questions
Reassure the child but not make promises that it might not be possible to keep
Not promise confidentiality, as it might be necessary to refer the case to the appropriate authority

Reassure the student that what has happened is not their fault
Stress that it was the right thing to tell someone
Be a supportive listener but do not push for additional details since this can jeopardize future interviews
Not make the child repeat the disclosure to a third party
Not criticize or excuse the perpetrator
Not make direct contact with the alleged perpetrator (even if it is a parent or caregiver)

Confidentiality

The school will not disclose who has reported an abuse concern in order to protect the staff involved. The school will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the staff member who has reported an abuse concern does not suffer harassment or penalty.

This policy will be reviewed annually and particularly at times of significant legislative change or change in service delivery

This policy will be reviewed annually and particularly at times of significant legislative change or change in service delivery