Safeguarding is at the forefront of all that we do at PCHS&C

PCHS&C fully recognises the contribution we can make to protect children from harm and to support and promote the welfare of all children who are pupils at our school.

PCHS&C is committed to safeguarding and promoting the physical, mental and emotional welfare of every pupil. We implement a whole-school preventative approach to managing safeguarding concerns, ensuring that the wellbeing of pupils is at the forefront of all action taken. We recognise that no single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. If children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action

All aspects of wellbeing, including emotional health of our pupils is monitored by all staff. Everyone has their part to play at PCHS&C in promoting well-being and positive mental health within our community. There are particular staff who are well placed to provide support and guidance within their specific role and responsibilities.

• Designated Teacher for Children who are Looked After (and previously looked after) : Claire Endersby
• Designated Senior Mental Health Lead: Alison McConville
• Online Safety Lead : Claire Endersby (acting)
• SENDCO: Stephanie Curtis

For our pupils, well-being, positive mental health and promoting the welfare of all our young people falls within our wider safeguarding culture and any issues should be initially discussed with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Deputy DSLs. Within the staff team we have Mental Health First Aiders and a number of staff have trained as Mental Health Champions.

Whisper Button

Using the Whisper button is a good way to make us aware of issues before they escalate and that goes a long way in helping us maintain a safe environment for your child. This reporting service allows anyone to send a message confidentially where it will be received and dealt with appropriately. This message can be sent anonymously but you can also leave your details if you need a direct response. The whisper button can be found at the bottom right hand corner of our website and looks like this:

PCHS&C Early Help Offer

PCHS&C are committed to providing support to families as soon as the need emerges, at any point in a child’s life. Any pupil or family may benefit from early help and all staff are alert to the potential need. Staff at PCHS&C recognise that any professional can provide early help.

The Early Help offer at our school & college includes:

Alison McConville, Family Liaison Officer
Alison has worked in mainstream and special education as well as children’s social care for the last 29 years in various roles. She has been a Family Liaison Officer/Deputy DSL for the last 21 years, 15 years in a mainstream primary school and 6 years at PCHS&C. She is passionate about supporting parents/carers and their families. Alison is a Thrive Practitioner with a focus on family interventions as well as a Mental Health First Aider. She is trained in Drawing and Talking and Advanced Drawing and Talking. Alison has also completed Early help training, Graded Care profiling, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Emotionally socially Based School Avoidance (EBSA) . 

Special Needs School Nursing Team
The school nurses are available to support parents and young people at Children in Need / ‘best interest’ meetings. The nurses promote regular health messages and where necessary support families in making and accessing appointments with medical professionals.  In addition, advice is available on a range of health needs such as continence, dental health, sexual health, smoking cessation and healthy eating. 

HLTA for Neurodiversity
Carlie Gladstone is a HLTA for neurodiversity with responsibility for supporting those young people with autism and working across the whole school and college. She provides CYGNET training courses for parents, delivers small intervention groups and liaises with parents and professionals as appropriate. She is also trained as a Thrive practitioner.

Senior Learning Mentors
Karen Butcher & Amy Phillips will work in partnership with school colleagues to provide a personalised, whole family focused response to meeting the needs of identified children, young people and families. They will undertake direct work to overcome particular obstacles to learning. This person will advise and support staff in specialist areas within the school, support behaviour and co-ordinate interventions. They will provide extra support to pupils through knowledge of a range of activities and opportunities available to them e.g. Zones of Regulation, THRIVE Programme, Boxall Profile, Back pocketing, Cool Kids Cool Minds, Hidden Chimp, Text ED, Worry Box etc. 

Additional THRIVE Practioners
The Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher and PSHE Lead are all trained THRIVE practitioners. 

DSL & Deputy DSLs
Where consent has been gained, the DSL and Deputy DSLs take the lead on Early Help assessments. This may include liaising with and signposting to other agencies. The local early help process will be followed to help provide the right, effective support at the right time. Generally, they will lead on TAF meetings and will follow all local safeguarding processes. Where Early Help has not been successful in reducing risk and meeting unmet needs, they will refer to Children’s Social Care.

Working Well with Children and Families in Lancashire Part 1 & 2
Working Well with Children and Families in Lancashire Part 3

Prevent Strategy – Parent Information

Operation Encompass

In conjunction with Lancashire Police, PCHS&C is involved in a national initiative called “Operation Encompass”. The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in, heard or witnessed a domestic abuse incident. Following an incident, children may arrive at school distressed, upset, worried and unprepared.  Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff are made aware early enough to help and support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe and included. This is a valuable initiative that means we can help and support students and their families within our school when they need us most. You can find out more information by visiting the Operation Encompass Website or by contacting any of our safeguarding team at school.