Safeguarding children and young people means protecting them from abuse or neglect; it means creating an environment where children feel safe, supporting their learning and development.
It is the duty and responsibility of everyone to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. All staff, volunteers and regular visitors must have a good understanding of our safeguarding policies and practices.
Key policies can be found under Policies and Documents on our website, our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy can also be accessed here.
We are an Operation Encompass school, working in partnership with Dorset Police. Operation Encompass Letter to Parents safeguarding-encompass statement
If you have any concerns about the safety and welfare of a child you should report it. If you feel a child is at immediate risk of danger, the police should be contacted. Any direct concerns should be reported directly to 01305 228866 or via Dorset Council. Other concerns can be reported to the school via a dedicated email address (safeguarding@charmouth.dorset.sch.uk) which is accessed by the safeguarding leads (see safeguarding contacts).
If you have any concerns relating to domestic abuse, Dorset Council has a specific helpline as well as local support or please contact our safeguarding team (safeguarding@charmouth.dorset.sch.uk) for signposting to advice and support. You do not need to be alone.
The Local Authority must be informed if any child is in the care of someone who is not connected to the child for a period of 28 days or more; this is called private fostering. Please contact the school safeguarding team for support. More information on private fostering can be found here.
Online safety information, including links to useful websites, can be found on our online safety page.
Further links for additional support can be found via these websites: