Safeguarding and Child Protection

It is very important to us that all children at Forest Primary School are safe and happy.  As a school we take our resonsibility for safeguarding very seriously. 

The Children Law (Guernsey and Alderney) 2008 states that all States Departments have a duty to work together and share information to ensure that children and young people get the services they require. This is also essential to protect children and young people from suffering harm, abuse or neglect and to prevent them from offending.

All island schools are required to comply with the Interagency Guidelines on Child Protection. These may be located at http://www.iscp.gg/

The guidelines emphasise that everyone has an important part to play in preventing the abuse of children, and in responding to situations where they think that a child may be suffering, or at risk of suffering from serious harm.

Therefore if we have concerns about a child or believe that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer serious harm then the School Child Protection Officer (SCPO)  will make enquiries to the Multi-Agency Support Hub (MASH) using the MASH enquiry form

Any concerns raised by members of staff in the school will be reported to the Headteacher and SCPO, who will contact HSC colleagues as appropriate.

At Forest Primary School the Child Protection Officers are:

Mrs Paula Sullivan

Miss Emma King

Digital Technologies have become integral to the lives of children and young people, both within schools and outside schools. These technologies are powerful tools, which open up new opportunities for everyone. They can stimulate discussion, promote creativity and increase awareness of context to promote effective learning. They can also be used to directly facilitate learning opportunities across the curriculum. Young people should have an entitlement to safe access to these digital technologies. 

Children have safe internet access in school through careful monitoring, ‘Acceptable Use’ agreements and safety awareness lessons. Teachers and parents/carers can minimise the risks to the children by knowing what they are using the internet for and about the dangers they may face. Some of the dangers include:

• Access to illegal, harmful or inappropriate images and other content
• Unauthorised access to, the loss of or the sharing of personal information
• The risk of being subject to grooming by those with whom they make contact on the internet
• The sharing or distribution of personal images without an individual’s consent or knowledge
• Inappropriate communication or contact with others, including strangers
• Cyber-bullying
• Access to unsuitable video or internet games
• An inability to evaluate the quality, accuracy and relevance of information on the internet
• Illegal downloading of music or video files
• Copyright infringement and plagiarism
• Excessive use, impacting on the social and emotional development and learning of a young person

The school aims to work in partnership with parents through raising awareness and teaching to safeguard children from these dangers.

If you require any further details or have any questions about the above, please contact the school directly via phone, email, letter or Seesaw. Alternatively, come into school and speak to one of our members of staff.

The acceptable use policies have been written to ensure:

• That young people will be responsible users and stay safe while using the internet and other technologies for educational, personal and recreational use  
• That school systems and users are protected from accidental or deliberate misuse that could put the security of the systems at risk 
• That users have good access to digital technologies to enhance their learning and will, in return, expect the pupils to agree to be responsible users  
• That parents and carers are fully aware of their children’s use of ICT and measures taken to ensure their safety.