Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedures

Date of last Review: September 2026

Date of next Review: Sept 2027

This policy can be downloaded as a hard copy by clicking below:

Safeguarding Policy 2026

Introduction

The governors and staff at Golborne and Maxilla Nursery School fully recognise their responsibility for safeguarding children. We recognise that all staff, including volunteers, have a full and active part to play in protecting children from harm. Our role includes providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge and protect children from maltreatment.

The health, safety and well-being of all our children is of paramount importance to all the adults who work in the school. Our children have the right to be safe, regardless of age, gender, race, culture or disability.

The governors and staff believe that our school should provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child.

The atmosphere within the school encourages all children to make decisions for themselves. Our teaching of personal, social and emotional development helps to develop appropriate attitudes in our children and makes them aware of the impact of their decisions on others. We also teach them how to recognise different risks in different situations and how to behave in response to them.

We understand ‘Safeguarding’ to mean that we will take all reasonable measures to ensure that the risk of harm to children’s welfare is minimised. We also understand that where we have any concerns about a child’s welfare, we should take all appropriate action to address those concerns by working in full partnership with other agencies. We have drawn on the experience and expertise of the school staff in shaping our safeguarding policy and will continue to provide opportunities for staff to contribute to the development of the policy.

All staff at our school believe that a range of other school policies are central to many aspects of our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, and this document should therefore be read in conjunction with our policies for: Attendance, Behaviour management, Health & Safety, Complaints policy and procedures, Guiding Principles and Equalities Policy, Whistleblowing policy, Code of conduct & Low-level concerns policy.

Golborne and Maxilla Nursery School understands that its work in safeguarding and protecting children must have regard for the national guidance issued by the Secretary of State and should be in line with local guidance and procedures. In line with the Government’s vision for all services for children and young people, and the Department for Education Statutory Guidance “Keeping children Safe in Education”,

September 2026.  Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy has due regard to relevant legislation. We ensure that all staff have read Part 1 of the guidance and that they understand that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is the responsibility of all staff at the school. We ensure that staff who have direct contact with children have also read Appendix A of the guidance.

We will ensure that our procedures for safeguarding children are compliant with the London Child Protection Procedures produced by the London Safeguarding Children Board. Those procedures have been adopted by the Tri-Borough Local Safeguarding Children Board and are available at https://londonsafeguardingchildrenprocedures.co.uk/

Legislation and Statutory Guidance

This policy is based on the Department for Education’s statutory guidance

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a9081309a177a1decf97b00/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2026.pdf and Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2026.pdf   and the https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintained-schools-governance-guide/maintained-schools-governance-guide We comply with this guidance and the arrangements agreed and published by our 3 local safeguarding partners.  We also follow:

• Section 175 of the Education Act 2002, which places a duty on schools and local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils.
• Keeping Children Safe in Education, DfE 2026.
• Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, 2026
• Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic British law.
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a798cf6ed915d042206950e/easy-read.pdf The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities The public sector equality duty ( PSED ) requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.
• http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/part/2/chapter/2/enacted The UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
• The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 set out what must be recorded on the single central record and the requirement for at least one person on a school interview/appointment panel to be trained in safer recruitment techniques.
• The Children Act 1989 (and 2004 amendment) provides a framework for the care and protection of children.
• Statutory framework for the Early Year’s Foundation Stage, effective 1^st September 2026 and Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding reforms 2026.
• Section 5B(11) of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, as inserted by section 74 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, places a statutory duty on teachers to report to the police where they discover that female genital mutilation (FGM) appears to have been carried out on a girl under 18.
• Statutory guidance on FGM, which sets out responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and supporting girls affected by FGM.
• The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 outlines when people with criminal convictions can work with children.
• Schedule 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 defines what ‘regulated activity’ is in relation to children.
• Statutory guidance on the Prevent duty, which explains schools’ duties under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 with respect to protecting people from the risk of radicalisation and extremism.
• The Childcare (Disqualification) and Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (referred to in this policy as the “2018 Childcare Disqualification Regulations”) and the Childcare Act 2006, which set out who is disqualified from working with children.
• This policy also meets requirements relating to safeguarding and welfare in the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.