Help us to make Somerville a safer school!
Please read our planned improvements to safeguarding which will take effect from Monday 19th September 2016.
We wish to improve the safeguarding of your child at Somerville Primary School whilst continuing the valued support of its parents and carers and the much improved communication and open door policy which we have developed over the last year.
By working in partnership we can continue to embed the supportive working environment whilst also ensuring the welfare and safety of your child.
Over the last year we have made numerous improvements in safeguarding across the whole school and developed rigorous protocols to ensure your child’s safety. To complete these improvements we have carried out further risk assessments. Hence we have decided to take measures to ensure that from next week we can enforce our safeguarding policy fully without any grey areas.
From Monday 19th September 2016 only school staff will be allowed on the main school playground in the morning. Parents and carers of children in Year 1 to Year 6 will be able to drop their children off at either of the three gates from 8.45am. The gates will be supervised by staff and we ask all parents and carers to leave their child to enter the playground and to be supervised by staff from this point. We have carried out a risk assessment of our safeguarding provision on the school playground during morning times and have concluded that supervision of children before school could be improved. By not allowing parents and carers onto the playground in the morning this will prevent the possibility of a number of safeguarding risks, not limited to; children leaving the playground of their own accord, unknown adults entering the playground without prior permission, parents and carers approaching and speaking to other children to settle issues, protecting children who are on child protection plans.
SCHOOL GATES WILL BE LOCKED AT 8.55am to allow the children to enter their classrooms. If you are late please enter school via the main school office entrance off Northbrook Road.
During wet weather children can be dropped off at the classroom and school entrance doors on the main school playground from 8.45am. All children on the playground will enter the school building.
At the end of the school day children will be collected by parents and carers from their respective classroom doors, as they are now, in a safe and supervised manner.
Staff will be available on the gate to supervise the entry of children onto the playground, where possible they will also be available to pass on messages to the class teacher. If your message for the class teacher is confidential or lengthy please speak to a member of staff in the main school office on Northbrook Road. The main role of the staff on the gates is to supervise children and ensure their safety in entering the school grounds.
All teaching staff will be available at the end of each school day to speak with parents and carers.
Foundation 2 parents will be able to access the Foundation 2 playground but will hand over their child to their child’s TA at the small gate leading to the classroom, ready to line up outside their classroom.
If you would like to pass a message on to the TA for the teacher, this is fine, but if you would prefer to speak to the class teacher please see them at the end of the school day.
The safety of all children at Somerville Primary School is our highest priority.
FAQs.
Why can't we drop off at classrooms like in the past? Previously children were being dropped off at the classroom, whilst some children continued to play on the playground, some waited with their parents and some children even entered the playground and then left to call for friends or visit the local shop. For staff to be able to supervise the classrooms and playground at the same time would be a challenge due to the number of staff it would require. It has therefore become apparent that the best solution would be to supervise the playground to ensure that ALL children are supervised safely rather than some children in the classroom, which would leave other children to their own devices on the playground. ALL children can then line up at the start of the school day together.
How is this different to when it rains? When it is raining most children sensibly enter the school building, there are normally only a very small minority of children who would wish to brave the elements of the British Weather. In those cases these children will be ushered into the school which would require only a small number of staff to ensure this happens as a 'mopping up' exercise.
My child is worried about being left on their own on the playground? Children will not be left on their own on the playground. As well as staff on the gates, other staff will be supervising children on the playground and at 8.50am ALL staff are required to be on the playground to supervise the children and ensure they are lined up on time at 8.55am. Children will also have the company of their classmates and an opportunity to talk to their friends and play before the start of the day. The staff supervision at the start of the day will be considerably greater supervision than during playtime and lunchtime breaks. Children are already used to being on the playground for approximately more than an hour each school day.
My child is going to be late as I have to drop off on both the main playground and the F2 playground, how can I prevent this? As one child is dropped off at the main playground gate you can rest assured that your child is supervised by a number of staff allowing you time to walk from the main playground gate to the Foundation 2 gate on Northbrook Road in good time.
Why can't I stay on the playground with my child until school starts? It would be extremely difficult on a daily basis to ensure each and every adult on the playground was there for legitimate reasons especially with the number of adults who may have responsibility for each child ie Mum, Dad, Auntie, Uncle, Grandparents.... etc. By ensuring no adults except school staff are visible on the playground this is reassuring for our children and ensures no risk from adults who should not be on the playground. It is also currently difficult to monitor the number of adults who currently leave the playground with another child in hand, without questioning the legitimacy behind each and every adult leaving with other children.
My child is safe on the playground because I keep hold of their hand and wait on the playground with them why should I have to be mindful of other children who are not with their parents? Somerville Primary School is about equality for all and we want to ensure that all children in the school are safe not just those children who have their parent wait with them on the playground.
What if I need to get a message to the classteacher in the morning? You can either give your child a note to pass onto the classteacher, email the school office with your message (In the subject line write the teacher or class name followed by your child's name). Or you may use the new quick message table at the front entrance where you can write your message and post it in the quick message box. All messages will be sent to classrooms to arrive shortly after registration. All staff will be available to meet with parents and carers after they have dismissed children at the end of the school day.