Safeguarding, Safety & Wellbeing

Our primary duty towards the children is to ensure they are safe and cared for. This covers the whole spectrum of issues from ensuring they get prompt treatment if they fall over and graze their knee on the playground, to dealing with the very serious issue of child abuse. We have policies, procedures and practices in place to deal with these eventualities. Please see the sections below for more details.

Several of our policies relating to these areas can be downloaded at the foot of this page.

CHILD PROTECTION

The whole school community has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of our children. This means we have a Child Protection Policy and Procedures in place. All staff members, including our volunteers and supply staff, ensure they are aware of our procedures and what they should do if they suspect that a child is at risk of abuse. 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 endeavour to ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with their parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that this is not in the child’s best interests.

Our Designated Person for Child Protection is the Headteacher - Claire Makelis. 

The Deputy Designated Person is the Assistant headteacher - Emma Nicholls.

Contact details:

Tel : 01752 408966           email: cmakelis@pomphlett.plymouth.sch.uk

The Governor resposible for safeguarding is  Mrs Sam Smith

email: ssmith@pomphlett.plymouth.sch.uk

The named person responsible for the Prevent Duty is Mrs Claire Makelis

The designated person for Looked After Children is Mrs Claire Makelis

If you're worried about a child or young person or think they're being abused, even if you're unsure, call 01752 668000 or email gateway@plymouth.gov.uk or outside of normal working hours call Plymouth Out of Hours Service on 01752 346984. 

FIRST AID

Simple injuries in school are dealt with in the first instance by the schools first aiders who have the support of the School Nurses, so far as advice and training are concerned. We do not administer pain killers. If a child receives a blow to the head, then it is the policy of the school to contact the parent. The effects of delayed concussion can often be minimised by a parent being able to keep an eye on their child. If we feel a child needs urgent treatment, we will seek other medical attention. The qualified first aiders on the staff are:

Donna Adams (Nursery Manager)

Nicola Alford (TA)

Claire Baker (TA)

Mandy Baker (TA)

Laura Biggs (TA)

Ellena Bridson (TA)

Maddie Brown (TA)

Helen Burrows (PSA)

Alena Clark (MTA)

Ema Gale (Office Administrator)

Marie Howard (TA)

Catherine Jones (TA)

Terry Maltby (MTA)

Linda Maskelyne (MTA)

Rebecca McGill (MTA)

Mrs Carly Norman-Ball (TA)
Mrs Liz Reilly (TA)

Sharron Sheather (TA)

Lindsey Sullivan (MTA)

Gary Thomas (Site Manager)

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

If your child has a common childhood infectious disease please keep him/her at home until the danger of spreading the infection has passed.  With the more common diseases, this in effect means exclusion from school for at least the period shown, though longer may be necessary:

MEDICINES IN SCHOOL

If your child is fit enough to be in school but needs to continue a course of medicine prescribed by the doctor, you must complete a Medicines Form available at the Office or in the "Forms and Letters" page of the Parents section of this website. Full details regarding the administering of medicines can be found on the form. Please note that medicines that are not prescribed by a doctor cannot be administered at all.

THE  SCHOOL NURSE SERVICE

The service at present is suffering severe cutbacks, and no longer provides regular visits to school. The telephone number for school nurses for the Plymstock locality is (01752) 434118.

HEADLICE

In common with many schools, headlice present a recurrent problem.  We feel that it can be minimised by the following actions:

• Inspect your child’s hair regularly, and immediately if they complain of an itchy scalp.           
• If you discover headlice - inform the school immediately.
• We will sensitively inform all parents of children in that class.
• Take your child to your GP.  They will then advise and prescribe.
• If your child has long hair we strongly advise you to ensure that they come to school with it tied back. It lessens the chances of infestation considerably.

PACKED LUNCH CONTAINERS

Children should not bring in canned fizzy drinks and/or drinks in glass containers. Also, the use of an insulated lunchbox will reduce the likelihood of a packed lunch ‘going off,’ particularly in warm weather.

NECKLACES AND EARRINGS

These can cause serious injury in the playground and therefore should not be worn in school and particularly not in games and PE. activities.  If your child has pierced ears, then only studs are permitted.  We also discourage the wearing of rings.

Our school is part of Operation Encompass which is a national scheme that operates jointly between schools and police forces.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has experienced domestic abuse.

As a school we have ensured that a member of our staff, (Designated Safeguarding Lead) known as a Key Adult, has been trained in the Operation Encompass procedures allowing us to then use the information that has been shared, in confidence, to support the child/ren in our care. 

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 identifies children who experience domestic abuse as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.