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Child Protection

All Child Protection concerns need to be acted on immediately. If you are concerned that a child may be at risk or is actually suffering abuse, you should tell one of the Designated Safeguarding Teachers at Park View Primary School who are:

Danielle Owens – Headteacher

Lucy Hollyman- Deputy Headteacher

Grace Fletcher - SENCo

This page is for adults who would like more information or support around safeguarding issues for children and young people up to the age of 18.

Types and Signs of Abuse

Recognising Concerns, Signs and Indicators of Abuse

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. At our school, safeguarding encompasses all aspects of promoting children's welfare and keeping them safe, including child protection, online safety, bullying (including prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying), peer-on-peer abuse, racism, educational visits, intimate care, children absent from education, and mental health and wellbeing.

Children may be abused, neglected or exploited within their family, in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them, or increasingly through online technologies. Witnessing abuse can be as harmful to a child as experiencing it directly and may significantly affect their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

Abuse and neglect can be difficult to identify because children may display changes in behaviour or presentation for many reasons. Staff should maintain professional curiosity, be alert to indicators of abuse, neglect and exploitation, and always report and record concerns in accordance with school procedures. The presence of one or more indicators does not necessarily mean that abuse has occurred, but it should prompt further consideration and, where appropriate, consultation with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). 

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child (Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII)).

Possible indicators include:

• Unexplained injuries or injuries inconsistent with the explanation given.
• Frequent injuries or repeated attendance at medical services.
• Reluctance to change clothes or participate in physical activities.
• Fear of physical contact or of going home.
• Aggressive behaviour or extreme withdrawal.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such that it causes severe and adverse effects on the child's emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless, unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet another person's needs. It can include age or developmentally inappropriate expectations, overprotection, limiting opportunities to learn, preventing normal social interaction, serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children.

Children may also experience emotional abuse through seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of others, including experiencing the effects of domestic abuse.

Possible indicators include:

• Excessive clinginess or attention-seeking behaviour.
• Very low self-esteem or excessive self-criticism.
• Withdrawal, anxiety, fearfulness or emotional volatility.
• Lack of confidence or reluctance to try new experiences.
• Difficulties forming and maintaining relationships.
• Self-harm, eating disorders, or other risk-taking behaviours.
• Developmental delay, not explained by other factors.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse involves forcing, coercing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child understands what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative and non-penetrative acts, and may also include non-contact activities such as involving children in looking at, producing or sharing sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse, including online.

Possible indicators include:

• Direct or indirect disclosures.
• Sexualised behaviour, language, play or drawings that are inappropriate for the child's age.
• Genital soreness, pain, bleeding or injury.
• Sexually transmitted infections.
• Sudden changes in behaviour, mood or school performance.
• Reluctance to change clothes or participate in PE.
• Excessive use of online platforms accompanied by secrecy or distress.

Neglect

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child's health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance misuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

• Provide adequate food, clothing or shelter.
• Protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger.
• Ensure adequate supervision.
• Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.
• Meet a child's basic emotional needs.

Possible indicators include:

• Poor hygiene or persistent body odour.
• Inappropriate clothing for the weather conditions.
• Hunger or regular requests for food.
• Untreated medical or dental needs.
• Frequent lateness or poor attendance.
• Developmental delay.
• Tiredness, listlessness or poor concentration.
• Lack of emotional warmth, stimulation or attachment.

Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation

Staff should be aware that safeguarding concerns may also include child criminal exploitation (CCE), child sexual exploitation (CSE), domestic abuse, serious violence, online abuse, grooming, county lines activity, modern slavery, trafficking, harmful sexual behaviour, honour-based abuse (including female genital mutilation and forced marriage), radicalisation, and other forms of exploitation. Concerns about any of these issues should be reported to the DSL without delay. 

Remember if you have any concerns, contact one of the Designated Safeguarding Teachers:

Danielle Owens – Headteacher

Lucy Hollyman - Deputy Headteacher

Grace Fletcher - SENCo