Richmond Hill School
Child Protection and Safeguarding
Safeguarding Is Everyone's Business At Richmond Hill School
At Richmond Hill, we take our role in safeguarding very seriously as we believe all children have the right to feel and be safe.
The latest government guidance on safeguarding can be found here at
Keeping children safe in education - 2024
Working together to safeguard children - 2023
Our Aims
Whilst the prime focus of Richmond Hill School is to secure the best educational provision for the child, the school believes that the safety, welfare and care of children is paramount. We are therefore committed to the highest standards in protecting and safeguarding the children entrusted into our care at all times. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available in the policies section.
We ensure that arrangements are in place for:
• All reasonable measures to be taken to minimise the risks of harm to children’s welfare.
• All appropriate actions to be taken to address concerns about the welfare of a child, or children, working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies.
• All persons working at this school to be made aware of this policy.
We recognise that some children may be the victims of neglect, physical, sexual or emotional abuse. The staff of the school will often, by virtue of their day to day contact and knowledge of the children, be well placed to identify such abuse and offer support to children in need.
In order to protect our children, we aim to:
• Create an atmosphere where all our children can feel secure, valued and safe.
• Recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse.
• Respond quickly and effectively to cases of suspected abuse.
• Monitor and support children at risk.
• Work closely with parent/carers and support external agencies.
• Ensure that all adults within our school who work with children have been checked as to their suitability.
Richmond Hill School will support all children by:
• Promoting a caring, safe and positive environment within the school.
• Liaising and working together with all other support services and those agencies involved in the safeguarding of children.
• Notifying Social Care Services via the approved mechanisms as soon as there is a significant concern.
• Providing continued support to a child where there have been concerns, who leaves the school by ensuring that appropriate information is forwarded under confidential cover to the child’s new school.
You can contact the MASH team directly on the numbers below.
Social Care (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub MASH) 01582 547653
Emergency duty team (out of hours) 03003008123
Safeguarding Information For Visitors Visiting Richmond Hill School
All staff and visitors alike have a responsibility for safeguarding our pupils. To ensure this we ask the following:
- Provide the school with your DBS number, wear a school lanyard or badge so you can be identifiable
- Switch off your mobile phone/device and store it in your bag
- In the event you do need to use your mobile phone or camera-enabled device, please do so in an area that is not accessed by the children, this includes corridors. Such places could be in one of the offices or in the staff room.
- Do not take pictures, videos or sound recordings of any pupils unless you have sought permission from the school.
- If you are working with a child, please ensure the class teacher is aware of this, where you are working and approximately how long for
- If you have a concern about a child please pass this on to the child’s class teacher, who will then follow our safeguarding procedures. If they are not available, please speak with one of our Designated Safeguarding Officers
- If you have a concern about another adult in school, please ask to speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead.
- Always share concerns with school staff, no matter how small they may appear, and don’t keep them to yourself.
- If a child says, does or behaves in a way which you think could be a safeguarding concern, act as above, and if possible, write down what was said, or observed immediately.
- Please do not discuss things with the young person refer to the class teacher who will follow safeguarding procedures and who understand best how to communicate and support the young person and family.