SAFEGUARDING
safeguarding at newman college
Your child’s safety and wellbeing is very important to us. Our learners regularly receive guidance and support in school about how to keep themselves safe but we recognise that sometimes, as parents and carers, you may also wish to seek advice or support regarding an issue which is affecting your child. This section of our school website will signpost you to resources and information that you may find helpful on a range of issues that affect our young people.
The team responsible for safeguarding
If you wish to make contact with the Safeguarding team, please click here and fill in the form.
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Mr G Potts – Head Teacher & DSL Miss H Pickavance: Assistant Head Teacher / DSL
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Mrs R Ashworth – Deputy DSL Mrs M Sweeney – Senior Pastoral Lead & Deputy DSL
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Mrs J Greenwood – Safeguarding Assistant
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If you need advice or support regarding any safeguarding concerns relating to your child, please ring the school office and a member of the safeguarding team will contact as soon as they are available.
What to do if you are concerned about a child:
If you are concerned that a child may be at risk of harm, you can report this in the following ways:
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Contact school
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Contact the local authority children’s safeguarding teams (see below for more details)
If you are seriously concerned about the safety or well-being of a child and believe that they may be at risk of immediate harm, don't hesitate to ring 999 and report your concerns directly to the police.
How to report a concern directly to the Oldham Children’s Services
Click here to report: Report child abuse | Report child abuse | Oldham Council
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If you suspect a child or young person is being abused, then you will be listened to and believed. The first step is to make a child protection referral.
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Contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and ask to speak to the Duty Officer:
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Phone: on 0161 770 7777
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Email: child.mash@oldham.gov.uk
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Use the Safeguarding referral form
For urgent concerns outside office hours, you can call the Emergency Duty Team:
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Phone: 0161 770 6936
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or the Police on 101 (999 in emergencies).
If you suspect a child might be being abused but are not 100% sure, it is still best to make the call.
Information you will be asked to provide
The more factual information that you can give about the child and its situation, the more speedily and efficiently Children's Social Care or the police will be able to deal with your referral.
The types of information you will be asked for include:
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Names and date of birth of the child, carers or any other family members
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Address and phone number of the child
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Day time address and phone number for parents/carers
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Ethnic origin, religion and cultural background of the child, its family or carers.
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Details of immediate or impending danger to the child
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Details of any previous concerns or any relevant background information
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The reason for your referral (including a description of any injuries observed, allegations made, discussions with the child or other person, details of any witnesses and dates/times/places of alleged incidents).
You might also be asked for your opinion about how the child and family will react to the referral, and any factors which may place the child or others at further risk (for example where there is domestic abuse).
If you do not have all this information, contact us anyway. If you have concerns for a child, it is always safest to let us know.
STATUTORY GUIDANCE
Keeping children safe in education
Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment can be found by clicking on the following link:
Keeping children safe in education 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
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Working together to safeguard children
Statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children can be found by clicking on the following link:
Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Prevent
Statutory Guidance on the Prevent Duty which aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism can be found by clicking on the following link:
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Guidance for Young People
Resource Hub | Safeguarding Resource Hub
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Guidance for Parents and Carers
Resource Hub | Safeguarding Resource Hub
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Operation Encompass
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Newman College supports Operation Encompass, a police led initiative which has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school and may have an impact on a child attending school the following day.
All schools in the Oldham local authority are supporting Operation Encompass which is now being adopted by many police forces and schools around the UK. Our key adults at Newman RC College are Mrs R Ashworth and Mrs J Greenwood. Please be aware that any information shared with school will be dealt with confidentially and sensitively and with the best interests of the child or young person in mind. For more information, please visit www.operationencompass.org.
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