If you are worried about a Child?

Mrs S MacKenzie-Skea is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) is Mrs S Colliass.  However, you can speak directly to them or ANY adult that works in school.

Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs C Doodson.

Alternatively, you can contact the Central Bedfordshire's Access and Referral Hub directly:

Central Bedfordshire Access and Referral Hub on 0300 300 8585 (during their office hours)

Office hours: 08.45 until 17.20 Monday to Thursday and 08:45 until 16:20 on a Friday.
 

If you urgently need help outside office hours you can contact Social Care Emergency Duty Team on 0300 300 8123.

Email: cs.accessandreferral@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
 

Bedfordshire Police on 101 or in an emergency 999.
 

NSPCC 0808 800 5000

Child Protection and Child in Need Procedures

Our priority is your child’s welfare. There may be occasions when our concern about your child means that we must consult with other agencies even before we contact you. The Bedfordshire Area Child Protection Committee has laid down the procedures we follow.

Child Protection Referral

Section 47 (1) of the Children Act 1989 gives the local authority a duty to investigate when it is suspected or found that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. The local authority will then make enquiries from other agencies to enable them to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.

Child in Need Referral

There may be other circumstances (which are not to do with child protection, but more related to meeting children’s needs) when we feel that you and your family may benefit from some support from other agencies i.e. social services.

Before we can do this, we will need to seek your permission. We will then complete documentation relating to a common assessment framework. This will enable the appropriate services to support.

As a school we have a statutory duty to assist social services department acting on behalf of children in need or enquiring into allegations of child abuse. As well as this statutory duty we have a pastoral responsibility towards our pupils and we recognise that pupils have a fundamental right to be protected from harm. Children cannot learn effectively unless they feel safe and secure. We therefore have a child protection policy, which reflects both our statutory duty and our pastoral responsibilities.  If we have a concern that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse, we have a duty to refer this to social services. In making any referral, the school is not making any judgement for example about individual parents or carers. It is for social services to decide whether there should be an investigation.

Security

As you will appreciate, security is a high priority in all schools. For the safety of the children we operate the following precautions:
 

Visitors may gain access via the main school entrance and are asked to report to the office and sign a visitors’ book whereupon they are given a visitor’s badge to wear. They are required to sign out on leaving the building. No visitor is allowed to be unaccompanied in school without a full DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service Check). 

No child will be allowed to leave the school premises with anyone other than an adult with parental responsibility or an appropriate representative of that adult where prior notification has been provided to the school office or class teacher.

​More Information...

The Policy section of our website has all our policies including those relating to safeguarding. 

Please read our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy for the full details of how we keep children safe in school, a copy can be found at the bottom of this page.

The LADO (also known in Central Bedfordshire as the Allegations Manager) oversees investigations into allegations and concerns against adults who work with children and young people in both a paid and voluntary capacity. 

If you have concerns about the conduct and behaviour of someone working with children and young people you can contact Central Bedfordshire’s LADO as follows:

Local Authority Designated Officer

Tel:     0300 300 8142 

Bedfordshire Domestic Abuse Partnership (BDAP) Support Hub Scheme

Studham Village CE Academy is part of the BDAP Support Hub Scheme and provides a safe area in our building that enables someone experiencing domestic abuse or needing to access other specialist support, to be able to make a confidential call or use the internet safely to get help or support.

Please see the documents and link below for further information.