Oakfield staff are strongly committed to the safeguarding of all children. Our safeguarding procedures are underpinned by 3 key principles:

• Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility; all staff, governors and volunteers play a full role in keeping our children safe and protecting them from abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns. All staff, governors and volunteers share a ‘it could happen here’ attitude and report all concerns.
• Oakfield operates a child-centred approach: a clear understanding of the needs, wishes, views and voices of children.
• The welfare of the child is paramount. 

In school, the Designated Safeguarding Lead is Matthew Thompson along with 4 Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads. Their role is to lead and co-ordinate safeguarding practices within school so that it complies with legislation, but more importantly, to ensure that children and families are supported to keep them safe. The role requires specific training which ensures effective systems are used in school which comply with legislation and ensure that children and families are supported to keep them safe.

We also have named safeguarding governors, Rachel Mason/Dan Crosland.
If you have concerns that a child is in immediate danger, you should contact Gateshead Children’s Services on 0191 4332653 (office hours: Monday – Thursday 9am – 5pm and Friday 9am – 4.30pm) or 0191 477 0844 (out of hours, at night, at weekends and bank holidays). If a parent/carer has a concern about the safety of others – children and adults – it is important that this is shared with school and, in particular, the designated leads. Even if the concern turns out not to be an issue, it is always better to have raised it

Operation Encompass

At Oakfield, we are an Operation Encompass school.
Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass ensures that there is a simple telephone call or notification to a school’s trained Designated Safeguarding Lead /Officer (known as key Adult) prior to the start of the next school day after an incident of police attended domestic abuse where there are children related to either of the adult parties involved.

Information is shared with a school’s Key Adult (Designated Safeguarding Lead or Officer) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident. This sharing of information enables appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.