Safeguarding and Child Protection
St. Andrew's Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.
We follow the procedures set out by our Child Protection Policy and take account of guidance issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (in particular Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education 2007).
School Safeguarding and Prevent Team
If you want to know more about our procedures or if there is something you are concerned about regarding a member of our school community, please contact any of the following people who can help.
Ben Arnell – Headteacher, Designated Safeguarding Lead
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Chris Parfitt, Family Support Worker, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
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Designated Officer:
The Designated Officer (formerly known as the Local Authority Designated Officer or LADO) should be informed of all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:
- Behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child;
- Possibly committed a criminal offence against children, or related to a child; or
- Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children, for example if their conduct falls within any of these categories of abuse:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Sexual
- Neglect
Allegations made against workers who are paid, unpaid, volunteer, agency, casual and self-employed as well as foster carers, and adoptive parents of children on Placement Orders should all be reported to the Designated Officer. This should be done within 24 hours of the incident.
If you have a concern about a member of staff in school, please contact the Headteacher, Ben Arnell, on
If your concern is about the Headteacher, please contact the Chair of Governors, Cathy Armstrong
If you have a concern about any adult who is working with children, you can also contact the Designated Officer (formerly known as the LADO) on and a Designated Officer will get back to you. Alternatively you can contact the Designated Officer for North Northamptonshire, Sian Edwards on 07738 636449 or for West Northamptonshire, Andy Smith on 07850 854309.
For urgent child safeguarding matters please contract MASH directly on 0300 126 7000.
Cause for Concern
Our first priority is of course your child’s welfare and school is required to take any reasonable action to ensure the safety of its pupils. However there may be occasions when we have reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse. We will ensure that our concerns about a child 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. In this case we are obliged to follow the Child Protection procedures established by the Northamptonshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub.
If you are worried about a child's safety please do not hesitate to contact any of the DSLs at school or contact the MASH team on 0300 126 3000 or visit https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/children-and-families
