At Aston Clinton School, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. Our aim is for children to enjoy their time as pupils at Aston Clinton. We want to work in partnership with you to help your child achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution.

To promote a safe environment for pupils, our selection and recruitment policy includes suitability checks on all staff and regular volunteers, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks, as recommended by Buckinghamshire Council in accordance with current legislation.

In accordance with our responsibilities under Section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002, our Designated Person for Child Protection is Mrs Carol Macdonald,  Headteacher, and she has received appropriate training for this role. It is her responsibility to ensure that all staff in contact with children receive child protection awareness training on a regular basis.  Mrs Melissa Garraway, The SENCO; Mrs Katherine Cole, the Deputy Headteacher; Mrs Clare Benny, The Attendance Officer and Mrs Ali Astle, the Emotional Support Worker, are the Deputy Designated Persons.

There are occasions when our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies. Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised for the protection of a child. We also can be contacted by other agencies if there is information to be shared, such as the police through Operation Encompass.

On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without their parents’ knowledge. This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk. To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.

The procedures which we follow have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to the Headteacher, the Deputy Designated Persons or your child’s class teacher. The Policy can be found in the policies section of the website using the link below.