Castledawson Primary School recognises and takes seriously our responsibility to help protect pupils from abuse or the risk of abuse.

The following principles form the basis of our Child Protection Policy.
 

• It is a child’s right to feel safe at all times, to be heard, listened to and taken seriously.
• We have a pastoral responsibility towards the children in our care and should take all reasonable steps to ensure their welfare is safeguarded and their safety is preserved.
• In any incident the child’s welfare must be paramount, this overrides all other considerations.
• A proper balance must be struck between protecting children and respecting the rights and needs of parents and families; but where there is conflict the child’s interest must always come first. 

Procedures

If a parent has a concern about any aspect of their child's welfare they should contact their child's teacher or our designated teachers for Child Protection.  They are Mrs M McCusker (Designated Teacher) Mrs S Evans (Deputy Designated Teacher).

Our Safeguarding Team in Castledawson Primary School

Designated Teacher

Mrs M McCusker

Deputy Designated Teacher

Mrs S Evans

Online Safety Officer

Mrs J Nelson

Governor for Child Protection

Mrs R Hedley

Chair of Board of Governors

Mr M Johnston 

Preventative Curriculum 

In Castledawson Primary School we teach and promote a preventative curriculum to help off set any unwanted, negative experiences in school. As well as permeating our whole school ethos and the relationships at every level within our school, we want our children to be well equipped to deal with such experiences if they occur by ensuring they are well-informed and have already explored scenarios and feelings surrounding certain experiences.  

For example in..

·         Circletime

·         Assemblies

·         Through PDMU

·         Bucket Filling and Take 5 activities

·         Growth and Mindset

·         Conflict Resolution

·         Health and well-being activities – daily mile, active travel, exercise, active clubs, calming and breathing activities, nurturing events and strategies, bucket filling, feelings thermometer, Nurture in 5, sports activities

·         Knowing who they can talk to in school and keeping them safe

·         Celebrating and raising awareness e.g. Safer Internet Day, Safer Schools App, Anti-Bullying Week, Children’s Mental Health Week

·         School Values and promoting resilience

·         Inviting visitors into school about staying safe– PSNI, NSPCC etc and visits to RADAR and Translink Safety Bus

·         Listening to their views

·         Sharing with our parents