Safeguarding
IFtL Trust Offices
Registered at Fairfields Primary School
Apollo Avenue, Fairfields,
Milton Keynes, MK11 4BA
01908 533283
Welcome to our safeguarding page
Safeguarding is everybody's business. IFtL is committed to ensuring that all our children and young people are safe and feel safe. The right to be safe for any member of the IFtL community is non-negotiable and paramount. Safeguarding and child protection is crucial and we are fully committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all our children and staff. IFtL and all the schools within the Trust must fully adhere to all safeguarding and child protection legislation, policy and procedures at all times and under any circumstances.
Any concerns at a Trust level will be referred to Victoria Blackmore IFtL Head of Safeguarding, Health, Children & Families or Sarah Bennett (CEO) and to the relevant designated safeguarding officers within each school for concerns pertinent to children within the school. IFtL fully adheres to all Safeguarding and child protection legislation and MKSCB requirements, including the Milton Keynes Whistleblowing Policy and procedures.
Below you will find information and useful documents. If you have any queries please use the Contact us page.
Across IFtL we all follow the trust-wide Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy - the current version can be found on our policies page and each school also has its own Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy specific to its contextual safeguarding information and to directly meet the needs of their community and Local Authority. School-specific policies can be found on each school website.
In line with legislation and requirements, all IFtL staff trust-wide, including all core and executive team staff, ITT staff, school staff, governors/trustees and volunteers are required to read and understand the importance of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) - part one and annex A - document as a minimum requirement.
All staff receive regular training which includes KCSIE updates and must sign the IFtL signing agreement form (found in a tab further below on this page) to confirm they have received and read this document.
- This includes PTA if registered as a charity.
The Keeping Children Safe in Education updated September 2023 full document and part one and annex A documents can be downloaded here:
Keeping children safe in education - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Safeguarding, Child and Adult Protection
Highlights that “all practitioners working in these organisations and agencies who are working with children and their families are subject to the same safeguarding responsibilities, whether paid or volunteer”.
The guidance also highlights that: ”charity trustees are responsible for ensuring that those benefiting from, or working with, their charity, are not harmed in any way through contact with it”. This includes PTA if registered as a charity
Please click on the below links for more information:
What staff have a duty to refer
What is an effective culture of safeguarding and what are the signs of successful safeguarding
Please see the 'Specific and Current Safeguarding issues' below for more information.
The following Safeguarding issues are all considered to be child Protection issues and should be referred immediately to the most relevant agency. The issues featured below are linked to guidance and local procedures which can be found on the Milton Keynes Together Board website at: www.mktogether.co.uk
Some members of our communities hold beliefs that may be common within particular cultures but which are against the law of England. Milton Keynes/Northamptonshire does not condone practices that are illegal and which are harmful to children. Examples of particular practices are:
Forced Marriage
Milton Keynes/Northamptonshire does not support the idea of forcing someone to marry without their consent.
Under-age Marriage
In England, a young person cannot legally marry until they are 16 years old (without the consent of their parents or carers) nor have sexual relationships.
Genital Mutilation / Female Circumcision
This is against the law yet for some communities it is considered a religious act and cultural requirement. It is illegal for someone to arrange for a child to go abroad with the intention of having her circumcised. If any of the above areas of concern is brought to our attention, we will report those concerns to the appropriate agency in order to prevent this form of abuse from taking place.
Ritualistic Abuse
Some faiths believe that spirits and demons can possess people (including children). What should never be considered is the use of any physical or psychological violence to get rid of the possessing spirit. This is abusive and will result in the criminal conviction of those using this form of abuse even if the intention is to help the child.
Children Missing Education
“Basic to safeguarding children is to ensure their attendance at school.” (OFSTED 2002). Children are best protected by regularly attending a school where they will be safe from harm and where there are professionals to monitor their well-being. At IFtL, we will encourage the full attendance of all of our children at school. Where we have concerns that a child is missing education because of suspected abuse, we will liaise with the appropriate agency including the Education Attendance Service to effectively manage the risks and to prevent abuse from taking place.
Sexually Active under Eighteen years old
It is acknowledged by those working with young people that most young people under the age of 18 will have an interest in sex and sexual relationships. The Protocol for Sexually Active Young People under 18 years old has been designed to assist those working with children and young people to identify where these relationships may be abusive, and the children and young people may need the provision of protection or additional services. At IFtL we will ensure our policy for managing this issue links to the available protocol.
Safeguarding Disabled Children
Disabled children have exactly the same human rights to be safe from abuse and neglect, to be protected from harm and to achieve the Every Child Matters outcomes as non-disabled children.
Disabled children do however require additional action. This is because they experience greater risks and ‘created vulnerability’ as a result of negative attitudes about disabled children and unequal access to services and resources, and because they may have additional needs relating to physical, sensory, cognitive and/ or communication impairment (Safeguarding Children, DCSF, July 2009) IFtL will ensure that our disabled children are listen too and responded to appropriately where they have concerns regarding abuse. In order to do this we will ensure that our staff and volunteers receive the relevant training to raise awareness and have access to specialist staff in the event they have concerns regarding the abuse of a child.
Safer Recruitment & Selection
It is a requirement for all agencies to ensure that all staff recruited to work with children and young people are properly selected and checked. At IFtL, we will ensure that we have a member on every recruitment panel who has received the appropriate recruitment and selection training. That all of our staff are appropriately qualified and have the relevant employment history and checks to ensure they are safe to work with children in compliance with the Key Safeguarding Employment Standards.
Honour Based Violence
Honour based violence is a crime or incident, which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community. It is important to be alert to signs of distress and indications such as self-harm, absence from school and truancy, infections resulting from female genital mutilation, isolation from peers, being monitored by family, not participating in school activities, unreasonable restrictions at home. Where it is suspected that a child/young person is at risk form Honour based violence. IFtL will report those concerns to the appropriate agency in order to prevent this form of abuse from taking place.
Trafficked Children
Child trafficking involves moving children across or within national or international borders for the purposes of exploitation. Exploitation includes children being used for sex work, domestic work, restaurant/ sweatshop, drug dealing, shoplifting and benefit fraud. Where IFtL is made aware of a child is suspected of or actually being trafficked/exploited, we will report our concerns to the appropriate agency.
Domestic Abuse
The Government defines domestic abuse as “Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality”.
Staff need to understand what is required of them if children are members of the household where domestic abuse is known or suspected to be taking place. Our policy includes action to be taken regarding referrals to the Police and Children and Young People’s Services and any action to be taken where a member of staff is the alleged perpetrator or victim of domestic abuse. At IFtL, we will follow our safeguarding policy and report any suspected concerns regarding Domestic Abuse to the relevant agency.
Private Fostering
Private fostering is an arrangement made between the parent and the private foster carer, who then becomes responsible for caring for the child in such a way as to safeguard and promote his/her welfare.
A privately fostered child means a child under the age of 16 (18 if a disabled child) who is cared for and provided with accommodation by someone other than:
- A parent.
- A person who is not a parent but has parental responsibility.
- A close relative.
- A Local Authority.
for more than 28 days and where the care is intended to continue. It is a statutory duty for us at IFtL to inform the Local Authority where we are made aware of a child or young person who may be subject to private fostering arrangements.
For additional information about the following click on the links below:
The above list is not exhaustive and as new policy guidance and legislation develop within the remit of Safeguarding we will review and update our policies and procedures as appropriate and in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board, MK Together Board and Local Authority.
Child Exploitation & Online Safety
Children and young people can be exploited and suffer bullying through their use of modern technology such as the internet, mobile phones and social networking sites. In order to minimize the potential risks to our children and young people, IFtL will ensure that we have in place appropriate measures such as security filtering, and an acceptable use policy linked to our Online Safety policy. We will ensure that staff are aware of how not to compromise their position of trust in or outside of the school and are aware of the dangers associated with social networking sites.
Our Online Safety policy will clearly state that mobile phone or electronic communications with a student at our school is not acceptable other than for approved school business e.g. coursework, mentoring. Where it is suspected that a child is at risk from internet abuse or cyberbullying we will report our concerns to the appropriate agency.
iNEQE - ONLINE SAFEGUARDING TRAINING
INTERNET MATTERS EXPLAINING THE RISKS
NSPCC GUIDE TO APPS, GAMES AND SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
THINK U KNOW - EDUCATION PROGRAMME THAT PROTECTS CHILDREN BOTH ONLINE AND OFFLINE
POTENTIAL RISKS ONLINE
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- Minecraft
- Fortnite
- Roblox
- Kik
- You Tube
- Whisper
- Houseparty
- Wish
- Wink
- Hoop
Milton Keynes Together Board
Keeping Children Safe is Everybody’s Business; MKTB works with partner agencies in Milton Keynes to protect children and young people from harm. The MKTB agrees on how local services and professionals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
If you are worried about a child or Young Person in Milton Keynes please contact our Multi-Agency Referral Hub (MASH) on 01908 253169/253170 for advice or to make a referral, 9am – 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am – 4.30pm Friday. Our out of hours Emergency Social work team can be contacted on 01908 265545.
MILTON KEYNES
MK Together Safeguarding Partnership
Milton Keynes Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
MASH 01908 253169 or 253170
Milton Keynes Council Safeguarding Children
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Designated Officer (DO) - Designated Officer prior to submitting a referral please e-mail your query to:
ASmith@childrenfirstnorthamptonshire.co.uk
CYork@childrenfirstnorthamptonshire.co.uk
Designated Officer Administrator -01604 364031
Designated Officer Andy Smith - 01604 367862
Designated Officer Christine York – 01604 362633
LADOReferral@northamptonshire.gov.uk
Joint Police and Children’s Social Care Protocol for Dealing with Children Missing from Care
Northampton Safeguarding Children Partnership
• Telephone: 07872 148334
• Email: nscp@northamptonshire.gov.uk
Police: 999
Police non-urgent: 101
When should I use 101?
You should call 101 to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response. For example, if:
- Your car has been stolen
- Your property has been damaged
- You suspect drug use or dealing in your neighbourhood
Or to:
- Give the police information about crime in your area
- Speak to the police about a general enquiry
You should always call 999 when it is an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.
To view all our policies - click here