At Stockton on the Forest School we have worked hard to establish a culture of safeguarding. Our children know that our priority is for them to feel safe and happy so we know we have created an environment where they can thrive and learn. 

We recognise that:

• The welfare of the child is paramount
• All children regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm and abuse.
• Working in partnership with children, young people and their parents, carers and other agencies, is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We work under the guidance of the Department for Education. Please see ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education – Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges Part One‘ and the school’s Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy, available on our Policies page. 

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Jo Collins (headteacher).

The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) is Andrew Mckenna.

Both safeguarding leads can be contacted via the school office - in person, by telephone 01904 400366 or via the school email address: stocktononforest.primary@york.gov.uk

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Whilst school is a safe place to be, all staff remain vigilant and operate a policy of 'it could happen here' as part of our robust safeguarding culture. All staff, governors, regular volunteers and staff from external agencies and volunteers undergo regular safeguarding training.

Safeguarding training examples:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education - annual
• City of York safeguarding training - annual
• Safeguarding Leads training
• Safer Recruitment
• First Aid
• Prevent (the name given to the training which aims to prevent young children becoming radicalised)
• Identifying Children at Risk of FGM
• Operation Encompass
• The school’s Code of Conduct
• Safeguarding policy

Anti-bullying

We want all children at Stockton on the Forest to feel safe, happy and ensure they are not subject to any bullying. Any instances of negative behaviour are dealt with quickly in line with our positive relationships and behaviour policy and monitored using our CPOMS records system. We encourage pupils to talk to us or their families so that issues can be swiftly addressed and we communicate effectively with families so that further support can be given at home. 

We teach and celebrate the importance of key values - kindness, respect, diversity and tolerance - in assemblies, PHSE, RE, and on themed days. We teach children the positive and negative impacts of behaviour choices through restorative practice such as Emotion Coaching, 'Zones of Regulation', ELSA groups and with the support of our Wellbeing team.

We are proud of our Kindness Ambassadors who share kindness messages from the school community in our celebration assembly and meet with the headteacher to consider how best to deal with anything reported in Barry the Anti-Bullying monster.

For more information see our Behaviour Policy (available on Our Policies page).

Preventing Radicalisation

 All staff and governors complete Prevent training in order to understand our responsibilities in protecting children from extremist and violent views. This training also supports us in promoting and teaching important values such as tolerance, respect and the celebration of diversity.

Operation Encompass

Our school is part of Operation Encompass which is a national scheme that operates jointly between schools and police forces.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has experienced domestic abuse.

Our headteacher, Jo Collins (Designated Safeguarding Lead) known as a Key Adult, has been trained in the Operation Encompass procedures allowing us to then use the information that has been shared, in confidence, to support the child/ren in our care. 

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 identifies children who experience domestic abuse as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.

Online Safety

In our modern world, technology helps us to learn and interact with one another, but, it also poses certain risks that we want to protect our children against.

For more information see our Online Safety Policy (available on Our Policies page) and the Online Safety section in our Parents tab as well as the Safety section in the Children's tab. 

External organisations

Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) (formally known as Children’s Front Door Service)

Independent Domestic Abuse Services