The school is committed to safeguarding all pupils and stakeholders. Safeguarding of our children is given the highest priority. As part of our safeguarding commitment, the school has recently undertaken an audit by an external consultant. The audit report highlights the school’s strong ‘safeguarding ethos and culture‘. The external audit also recognised that the ‘teaching of online safety and PREVENT across school is a real strength. The practitioners with responsibility for leading in these areas are passionate and driven to create the most meaningful and relatable opportunities for children to learn about these areas.’ The audit report concludes that ‘safeguarding provision at Cop Lane is exemplary’. Our latest Safeguarding and Child protection policy/ Low level concern policy can be read here.
Child Protection Policy 2025-2026
Low level concern policy – September 2025
Child on Child abuse policy September 2025
Our staff with responsibility for safeguarding are:
Main DSL
Mr Ian P. Ashmore (Headteacher)
Deputy DSLs
Mrs G. Barnes (Deputy Headteacher)
Mrs S. Hodgson (SLT)
Miss G. Westgarth (SENCo)
Our safeguarding link governor is Mr Chris Teague.
Training
All staff employed at Cop Lane C.E. Primary School undertake annual child protection training as well as refresher updates and additional training throughout the academic year. All employees also undertake PREVENT refresher training annually. Mr Lincoln (Vice Chair of Governors) and Mr Ashmore (Headteacher) have also completed Safer Recruitment training. The table below outlines the main safeguarding certifications.
|
Personnel |
Training |
| Mr I. Ashmore (Main DSL) | Safeguarding DSL training level 4 and 5, PREVENT lead training, Safer Recruitment trained/ Online safety lead/ Senior mental health lead |
| Mrs G. Barnes (Deputy DSL) | Safeguarding DSL training level 4 and 5, PREVENT training, safer recruitment trained |
| Mrs S. Hodgson (Deputy DSL) | Safeguarding DSL training level 4 and 5, PREVENT training |
| Miss G. Westgarth (Deputy DSL) | Safeguarding DSL training level 4 and 5 |
| Key Governors | Training |
| Mr C. Teague | Safeguarding link governor training provided by the Local Authority. |
| Miss E. Palmer | Safer Recruitment trained |
Our Early Help Offer
Cop Lane C.E. Primary School works to provide Early Help to those children and families in the school community with emerging needs, which may not be appropriate for Social Services intervention. Early help means providing support to our children and families as soon as a problem emerges at any point in a child’s life.
We understand how complicated family life can be. From time to time, there may be situations where you need some extra help and support. You can always come and talk to us.
Successful Early Help will mean:
| Children:
|
|
| Parents and Carers:
|
|
Useful Contacts
Families can sometimes need support from a wide range of agencies. We recognise that other agencies will be able to support children and families based on their specialised work. Therefore, our role is often to signpost families to the resources that will best support their needs.
Domestic Abuse = https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/your-health-and-wellbeing/domestic-abuse
MindsMatter = https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/Mindsmatter
Lancashire County Council Homelessness Services = https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/lancashire-insight/population-and-households/households-and-housing/homeless-households-in-priority-need/
Useful Documents
Keeping Children Safe In Education 2025 part 1
Working Together to Safeguard Children_2023
Guidance for Safer Working Practice – February 2022
If you would like further information about keeping your child safe, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has lots of advice and guidance. Please see the link below:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/
Additional guidance and sources of information about how to keep your child safe:
