Safeguarding

Children are always at the heart of everything that we do. St Laurence Church Junior School undertakes rigorous vetting, DBS checking and pre-employment checks on all adults working with children in school.

School will take action to ensure the safety of our pupils. In cases when we feel that a pupil may be subject to neglect, ill treatment or abuse we follow Birmingham Child Protection procedures and inform Children’s Services of our concerns. Our aim is to support families through following Birmingham's Right Help, Right Time guidance. 

We seek to ensure that our curriculum equips children with opportunities to develop their own skills and knowledge so that they can keep themselves safe. 

Safeguarding in the curriculum 

Safeguarding is covered in many of the lessons we teach in PSHE through the use of a scheme called Jigsaw.

In Year 3 we introduce the children to the concept of drugs and substance misuse in the “Healthy Me” unit taught in half term 4. They also learn about E-safety, how to stay safe online and who to go to for help.

Year 4 children build on what they learned in Year 3 about substance misuse and cover smoking and alcohol topics.

In the “Relationships” unit taught in half term 5, Year 5 children mainly focus on online communities, what are our rights and responsibilities online, online gaming and gambling. They think through the possibility of reducing screen time and what internet safety rules could be. They also discuss the dangers of online grooming. Year 5 children learn about smoking, including vaping, alcohol and how it can be linked to anti-social behaviour.

In “Celebrating Difference,” Year 6 learn about disability. The “Healthy Me” topic covers a range of safeguarding topics such as how substances affect the body, exploitation, including “county lines” and gang culture, emotional and mental health and managing stress. Mental health worries and sources of support is also taught in the “Relationships” unit along with how to manage our feelings and taking responsibility with our technology use. Year 6 learn about sexting in “Changing Me” unit taught in the last half term.

Every year group learns about bullying when we mark Anti-Bullying Week each year in half term 2. The children learn about what bullying is, the different types of bullying and what to do if a child witnesses bullying. We have an Anti-Bullying homework focus at the end of Anti-Bullying Week which gives parents the opportunity to discuss bullying with their children at home.

We ensure that British Values is embedded in the children’s learning through lessons taught about democracy, having a voice, being a school citizen and being part of a class team. The children also learn about rules, rights and responsibilities at the beginning of year in “Being me in the world” unit. Each year we celebrate Parliament week and some Year 6 children have the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament.

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.

Birmingham Children's Safeguarding Partnership 

Parents have a responsibility to ensure that they help to safeguard their child. This website offers advice to parents.