Our Vision for Safeguarding at St Joseph's

At St Joseph’s, we are committed to creating a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment where every child feels valued, protected, and empowered to thrive. Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. We work in partnership with families, staff, and the wider community to ensure that all children are safeguarded from harm, supported in their well-being, and encouraged to grow with confidence and resilience. Through vigilance, compassion, and proactive education, we aim to foster a culture of safety, trust, and respect where every child’s voice is heard and their rights upheld.

Mini Police

We are proud to work in partnership with the local police through the Mini Police programme. Mini Police gives children the opportunity to learn about staying safe, being responsible citizens and making positive contributions to their community.

Through a range of engaging activities, pupils develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills while gaining a greater understanding of the role of the police and emergency services. The programme also helps children build confidence, promote respect for others and take pride in supporting their school and local community.

Our Mini Police officers act as positive role models, helping to promote our school values and encouraging everyone to make safe, responsible choices.

Operation Encompass

As a school, we are participating with Operation Encompass. This means that we work with Avon and Somerset Police to safeguard and support our students and families, including receiving Police reports relating to domestic abuse. For more information, please see the poster or visit the Operation Encompass website.

Our Safeguarding Statement

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This means that we have a Child Protection Policy and procedures in place.

Parents and carers are welcome to read the Policy. Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare. If a member of staff is concerned about a child's welfare, they will record their concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report to one of the DSL's as soon possible the same day.

If a member of staff has concerns which relate to the actions or behaviour of another member of staff (which suggest that s/he is unsuitable to work with children) then this will be reported to one of the DSL's in confidence, who will refer the matter to the Head of School (or the Chair of Governors if the concern relates to the Head of School ) who will consider what action to take. 

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL's) are:

Mrs Rhonda Williams - Safeguarding Lead 

Mrs Rebecca Suik - Deputy Safeguarding Lead / DesignatedTeacher 

Mrs K Dyer - Safeguarding Governor

All are contactable via the school office.

If you are visiting St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School  at anytime please read the information contained within this Safeguarding Information documents below prior to your visit.

Thank you

Safeguarding Information for Parents 

Alongside the advertised interactive Webinars for parents you can also access these links for useful and practical safeguarding advice/information.  A lot of these sites are in relation to online safety which is a massive issue for all young people who have uncensored access to the internet via phones and tablets etc.  We cannot stress enough how important it is to show an interest and be aware of what your child is accessing online via games/chat groups/tik tok etc .  If your child is being targeted please ensure you take screenshots - user names etc and report to the police and/or school.   

Safeguarding Policies

Policies relating to safeguarding can be found on our website https://www.st-josephs-burnham.co.uk/policy-documents/ or via the https://www.thedcet.com/key-information/policies/ website