St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.   

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy can be found here:

If you concerns about a child, please report them immediately to one of our Safeguarding team who can be contacted via the school office

Miss L.Marshall - Designated Safeguarding Lead (Principal)

Mrs N.Smith - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (Vice Principal)

Mrs A.Kaminski - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (Early Years Lead)

Never be afraid to reach out for help! 

"Give to those who ask, and don’t refuse those who wish to borrow from you." Matthew 5:42

All families and children will experience all sorts of challenges that they may need further support with. We recognise that parenting can be difficult and we are here to offer the support you need, when you need it. We have lots of support available for you to access, both internally within school and with the support of Sandwell. A adults, you may also experience times whereby you need your own personal support. We are always here to help and guide you.

The earlier you share your concerns, the easier it will be to put the right support mechanisms in place for you and your family.

At St Francis Xavier we work with a number of agencies to support our families, including the Early Help Assessment Team at Sandwell. Our team of internal staff are always here to support you and your children. You can make direct contact with us at any time, and we will never cast judgement on concerns raised.

Miss Marshall lmarshall@emmausmac.com (Principal, Designated safeguarding lead)

Mrs Smith nsmith@emmausmac.com (Vice Principal, Deputy Designated safeguarding lead)

Mrs Kaminski akaminski@emmausmac.com (EYFS Lead, Deputy Designated safeguarding lead)

You can also contact the Sandwell Early Help team directly on 0121 569 3100.

Some of the agencies we work with in school, who you, and/or school can contact include:

 Strengthening Families Service - Sandwell Children's Trust (sandwellchildrenstrust.org)

Family Information Service Hub | Triple P Parenting Programme in West Bromwich (sandwell.gov.uk)

Family Information Service Hub | Reflexions (sandwell.gov.uk)

There are also many other agencies within Sandwell, who we can signpost you to, or you can reach out to independently for support:

Home - Black Country Food Bank

Family Information Service Hub | Family Support (sandwell.gov.uk)

Home - Black Country Women's Aid

Family Information Service Hub | Respect - Men's domestic abuse advice line (sandwell.gov.uk)

Family Information Service Hub | Money, Welfare and Benefits (sandwell.gov.uk)

Sandwell Mental Health Liaison Service :: Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

healthysandwell.co.uk/talk/

Homeless or at risk of losing your home | Sandwell Council

How confident are you that you children are safe online?

Below you will find a number of links to websites that can help you and your family stay safe when using the internet. Our lessons within school will help children to understand the dangers associated with using the internet, but with your help, understanding and support, our children will be much more likely to put this into practice.    

At St. Francis Xavier we treat every day as an Internet Safety Day!

Children have more access than ever to the internet - through mobile phones, tablets, gaming, apps and social media. Easy access to a the internet brings huge advantages but with that come risks which we regularly talk to the children about through lessons and open conversations.  

Each year, there is a focus day to spotlight what children along with their families can do to ensure that they stay safe online.   The next Internet Safety Day is 11th February 2025

You can find our Online Safety Policy here:

Childnet has grouped potential online risks into the following 4 categories:

Conduct

Children need to be aware of the impact that their online activity can have on both themselves and other people, and the digital footprint that they create on the internet. It’s easy to feel anonymous online and it’s important that children are aware of who is able to view, and potentially share, the information that they may have posted. When using the internet, it’s important to keep personal information safe and not share it with strangers. Encourage your child to be respectful and responsible when communicating with others online, and to consider how what they share may reflect on them.

Content

Some online content is not suitable for children and may be hurtful or harmful. This is true for content accessed and viewed via social networks, online games, blogs and websites. It’s important for children to consider the reliability of online material and be aware that it might not be true or written with a bias. Children may need your help as they begin to assess content in this way. There can be legal consequences for using or downloading copyrighted content, without seeking the author’s permission.

Contact

It is important for children to realise that new friends made online may not be who they say they are and that once a friend is added to an online account, you may be sharing your personal information with them. Regularly reviewing friends lists and removing unwanted contacts is a useful step. Privacy settings online may also allow you to customise the information that each friend is able to access. If you have concerns that your child is, or has been, the subject of inappropriate sexual contact or approach by another person, it’s vital that you report it to the police via the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (www.ceop.police.uk).  This can be done through the link above. If your child is bullied online, this can also be reported online and offline. Reinforce with your child the importance of telling a trusted adult straight away if someone is bullying them or making them feel uncomfortable, or if one of their friends is being bullied online.

Commercialism

Young people’s privacy and enjoyment online can sometimes be affected by advertising and marketing schemes, which can also mean inadvertently spending money online, for example within apps. Encourage your child to keep their personal information private, learn how to block both pop ups and spam emails, turn off in-app purchasing on devices where possible, and use a family email address when filling in online forms. Make your child aware of scams that may seek to gain access to their accounts, and advise them to be wary in following links or opening attachments in emails that appear to be from organisations such as banks and service providers.

The Family Rights Group offers a confidential advice line and online discussion boards for parents and kinship carers. The website contains extensive free legal and practical advice and information, including films, as well as e-publications on the child welfare system.

St Francis Xavier Catholic School takes part in a project run jointly between schools and West Midlands Police. 

Operation Encompass is reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has been exposed to, or involved in, any domestic incident.

Operation Encompass ensures that a member of the school staff, known as a Key Adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the local authority and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in, or exposed to, a domestic abuse incident.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this to be extremely beneficial for all those involved

Prevent lead SFX: Miss L.Marshall (Principal, DSL)
Email:  lmarshall@emmausmac.com
Phone: 0121 274 5975

We actively support the Government's Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the
extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.

You can find further information on Prevent here:

Prevent Lead (Sandwell)
Name: Justin Nixon (Prevent Education Officer)
Email: justin_nixon@sandwell.gov.uk
Phone: 0121 569 2252 / 07790396643