Safeguarding
Keeping children safe is the number one priority of our school. Our school staff are regularly trained and updated in strategies to keep our whole community safe from a range of threats in both the real world and online environments. Our safeguarding policy (which can be viewed opposite) details all the ways we work to achieve this aim. Safeguarding children is everyone's responsibility and this page contains information about how parents and the wider community can work with us within this safeguarding duty.
Designated Safeguarding Leads and How to Report a Concern
If you have any concerns about the safety or well being of a child at our school, this can be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead. At Cossington this is the Head Teacher, Matt Yandell. If Mr Yandell is unavailable then concerns can be reported to the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. At Cossington this is the Deputy Head, Chris McHale. To report a concern you can book a face to face meeting via the office, call 01509 812565 or email dsl@cossington.leics.sch.uk . Alternately, you can fill in the form below.
You can also report concerns directly to Children's Services at the Local Authority via https://lrsb.org.uk/lrscp
E-Safety
The rapid development in technology is a positive in so many ways but also carries with it a range of threats for families to navigate. Our school is committed to keeping children safe when they are online and the technology we use as a school has a range of built in safety features. Our staff are well trained in Online Safety and our curriculum teaches children how to stay safe online. Please read our Online Safety Policy opposite for more information on how we do this in school.
We want parents to also be aware of how to keep children safe online when using technology at home and provide regular training and updates covering all aspects of E-Safety. Please look out for invitation to E-Safety events in school and look out for Mr McHales regular E-Safety advice and tips on the WEDUC App.
Operation Encompass
All Leicester Schools are part of a safeguarding initiative, which aims to improve outcomes for children and families affected by domestic violence and abuse.
This scheme has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that might have an impact on a child that attends their school. The approach, known as Operation Encompass is used in a number of other places across the UK and is run in partnership with Leicester City Council and Leicestershire Police.
All public agencies currently share information where there are safeguarding concerns or risk of harm to children and the Police currently share information on all incidents of domestic abuse in Leicester with Leicester City Council.
To further support the welfare of children this information sharing is being extended. During the school term our Designated Safeguarding Lead will now be informed when any domestic abuse incident has been reported to the police and one of our pupils was in the household. It will not give any details about the incident.
This has been introduced because domestic abuse in a household can have a big impact on children, even if they do not see what is happening.
This information will be used to ensure the school is able to provide appropriate support to our pupils. The information will remain confidential and only shared on a strictly need-to-know basis, for example with the class teacher. It will not be shared with any pupils.
If you would like to speak to someone in confidence about domestic abuse, call the Leicester, Leicestershire& Rutland Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0800 802 0028 or visit https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-community/emergencies-safety-and-crime/domestic-and-sexual-abuse/
We look to offer the best support possible for our pupils and believe that this scheme is going to be beneficial and supportive for all those involved.