Pastoral Care and Safeguarding

Pastoral Care and Safeguarding at

Ashbrow School

Find out who our Designated Safeguarding Leads are in school.
Meet our Pastoral Team.
Find out about the pastoral support available in school.
See how to raise concerns about a child who you think may be at risk.
Read our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
Operation Encompass.
Find out about Early Support in school
- Early Help Assessments
- TAF Plans
- PACT Meetings

Designated Safeguarding Leads at Ashbrow School

Our Designated Safeguarding Leader is Mrs Louise Kent, our Head Teacher.

Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leaders are Mrs Ami Smitten (Deputy Head Teacher), Mrs Debbie Whitehead and Mrs Debbie Barclay.

Our Pastoral Team

Our safeguarding & pastoral team are on hand to support not only our pupils, but parents and carers too.

Mrs Debbie Whitehead – Senior Safeguarding Officer
Mrs Debbie Barclay - Safeguarding Officer

We offer a wide range of support and advice, as well as referrals to other agencies. We are based at Community House and can be reached during school hours, either by dropping in or telephoning the main school switchboard and choosing Option 3.

Our behaviour support and learning mentor teams are also a key part of our school. We have staff based in both KS1 and KS2 buildings who support our pupils in a number of key areas - both in and out of class - and also support with breakfast club and meet & greet.

The team develop strong relationships with all our children but particularly those who need additional support with their emotions. These might include regular 1-1 sessions, or staff might just be on hand when a child is struggling to stay in class and access their learning. These key staff become someone the child can feel safe with to share their emotions and talk about their difficulties.

Passing on concerns

Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at Ashbrow School – the safety of our pupils is our greatest priority at all times.

If you have concerns about an Ashbrow School pupil - this could involve worries about a child's physical or emotional well being or their safety - you can contact school during school hours on 01484 452128 and ask to speak to a member of the safeguarding team. During school closures and holidays, you can email us on safeguarding@ashbrowschool.org.uk letting us know your name and contact number and, if you feel appropriate, an indication of what your concerns are. A member of the safeguarding team will respond to your email as soon as possible.

During school holidays, there is a telephone number available for safeguarding concerns - please be aware that this is not switched on all the time but is checked regularly for messages. Again, please leave your contact details and your name when you leave a message or text.

Mrs Debbie Whitehead 07956 084504

If you would prefer to pass on your safeguarding concerns to Kirklees Children’s Social Care, please telephone 01484 456848 during office hours.

If you feel a child is in immediate danger, please telephone the police on 999.

Important Contacts

Role	Name	Contact details
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)	Louise Kent Head Teacher	louise.kent@ashbrowschool.org.uk School 01484 452128
Deputy DSL	Ami Smitten Deputy Head Teacher	ami.smitten@ashbrowschool.org.uk School 01484 452128
Other contactable DSL(s) and/or Deputy DSL(s)	Debbie Whitehead Senior Safeguarding Officer Debbie Barclay Safeguarding Officer	debbie.whitehead@ashbrowschool.org.uk School mobile 07956 084504 deborah.barclay@ashbrowschool.org.uk School mobile 07956 084613
Leadership team if DSL or Deputy DSL can't be on site	Katy Roche Assistant Head Teacher KS1	katy.roche@ashbrowschool.org.uk
Head Teacher	Louise Kent	louise.kent@ashbrowschool.org.uk
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO		LADO.cases@kirklees.gov.uk 01484 221126
Chair of Governors	Ken Gedman	ken.gedman@ashbrowschool.org.uk

School Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Ashbrow School Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy 2024-2025

Operation Encompass

As a school we participate in Operation Encompass, more information is available here and here

Visitors to School

We have a variety of visitors to school on a daily basis - some are here to support the smooth running of the school (for example our IT consultants or our school nurse). Some are in school to enrich the children's learning with special activities. ALL visitors are required to provide the school office with a copy of their DBS check before going into school. We ensure that all adults in school wear a lanyard/badge that reassures staff and children that they are safe to be in school. In certain cases, where a company may send several members of their team to Ashbrow on a regular basis, we ask for a 'letter of assurance' from them that confirms the company has safeguarding procedures in place and that they carry out DBS checks on all staff.

Early support in school

We work alongside parents and outside agencies to support when some additional help is needed. We refer to this as 'early support' and it can come in many shapes and forms. This often begins with an Early Support Assessment, where we capture how the family are doing in one assessment. This helps us identify what help is needed by the family and start the process of putting that support in place.

At times, parents may choose to receive that support through a TAF Plan - a Team Around the Family Plan. This process involves parents, school and any other professionals supporting the family and meet regularly to make sure that everyone is working as a team to help the family.

Early Support Assessments and TAF Plans are voluntary and parents can choose to end that support at any time.

You can find out more about Early Support and TAF Plans on the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Partnership website. There is also a very useful page of links for parents on this website, including information on parenting, NSPCC advice and information on services available.

PACT Meetings (Parent And Community House Team)

A PACT Meeting is a supportive meeting between parents/carers and the school’s Community House team. It forms part of our Early Help approach and is used when a child or family may benefit from some additional support or advice.

PACT Meetings give parents and school staff the opportunity to talk through concerns, share what is working well and agree support and next steps together. They are non-judgemental and focused on working in partnership with families.

The meeting may take the form of ‘parenting strategy support’, where guidance and support are provided for the parent(s) to support at home with behaviour.

Only parents/carers and school staff attend at this stage; no outside agencies are involved. Agreed actions are recorded and reviewed. If further support is needed, next steps will always be discussed with parents, which may include involving other agencies through a TAF Plan.

You can find out more about Early Support, Early Support Assessments and TAF Plans by downloading our useful leaflet. Translations in additional languages are available upon request.

Ashbrow School: Early Support - what is it and how can you access it? (English Version)

HUNGARIAN TRANSLATION

KURDISH (SORANI) TRANSLATION

LITHUANIAN TRANSLATION