Safeguarding at Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School
We firmly believe that Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
Safeguarding Statement
At Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School, we are committed to providing a nurturing, caring, and secure environment where every child feels valued, respected, and able to thrive. The safety and wellbeing of our pupils underpins everything we do, and we have the highest expectations for safeguarding across our whole school community.
We believe that children learn best when they feel safe and supported. We foster a culture of vigilance where all adults take responsibility for safeguarding and where children are encouraged to share their thoughts and concerns with trusted adults.
To ensure a safe environment for our pupils, we:
- Maintain a strong safeguarding culture in line with statutory guidance, including Keeping Children Safe in Education
- Ensure all staff and volunteers are well-trained, vigilant, and confident in recognising and responding to concerns
- Have clear procedures and experienced Designated Safeguarding Leads who act promptly and effectively
- Promote children’s wellbeing, resilience, and understanding of how to keep themselves safe
- Work in close partnership with families and external agencies to secure the best outcomes for every child
- Apply rigorous safer recruitment practices to ensure all adults working with children are suitable
How do we teach children to keep themselves safe
At Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School, safeguarding and personal development are at the heart of our curriculum. Through a nurturing and caring environment, alongside high expectations, we support children to develop the knowledge, confidence, and resilience they need to keep themselves safe and make positive choices.
We promote a strong culture of wellbeing through our mantra:
“I am kind, I am brave, I believe in myself.”
This underpins children’s confidence, independence, and sense of self-worth.
Children are supported to keep themselves safe through:
- Weekly Protective Behaviours assemblies, helping children to understand their feelings, recognise when something doesn’t feel right, and know how to respond
- Identifying trusted adults, ensuring children know who they can talk to in school and at home if they have a worry or concern
- ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support), developing children’s emotional literacy so they can express themselves clearly and manage their feelings effectively
- Carefully chosen, age-appropriate picture books for weekly assemblies which promote messages of care, tolerance, respect, and inclusion, supporting pupils’ understanding of the world
- Online safety teaching, reinforced through our simple message:
“Stop, Think, Share, Be Kind”, helping children begin to understand how to stay safe when using technology
Prevent
At Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School, we are committed to safeguarding children from all forms of harm, including radicalisation and extremism. Through our nurturing and caring environment, we promote kindness, respect, and inclusion, helping children to feel safe, valued, and able to share their thoughts and concerns.
We follow the Prevent Duty as part of our safeguarding responsibilities and ensure that staff are trained to recognise and respond to any concerns. In an age-appropriate way, we support children to develop confidence, resilience, and an understanding of the importance of treating others with respect.
Filtering and Monitoring
Filtering and monitoring in school
While your child is in school there will be times when they will be using information from the internet. Our school system has filters to reduce the risk of unwanted material being accessed by the children and internet use in school is always supervised.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 states that all schools should have appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place.
The web filtering that we use is provided through Safety.net which is a Hertfordshire County Council recommended supplier.
Accessing the internet at home
In school children learn about staying safe online and we encourage you to reinforce these messages at home. If your child has access to the internet at home, please have appropriate filters and supervision in place.
Please see our Internet Safety Page for more information
Operation Encompass
We are proud to be an Operation Encompass school and all of our staff have completed training.
Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school's trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.
Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child's day better and giving them a better tomorrow.
Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.
School Security
The safety and well-being of our children, staff, and visitors is our highest priority. We support the principles of Martyn’s Law (2025), which aims to improve safety and preparedness in public places.
We have taken practical steps to ensure our school remains a safe and secure environment:
- Secure entry systems and visitor sign-in procedures
- Staff training on safety, emergency awareness, and safeguarding
- Regular review of our risk assessments and safety plans
- Clear procedures for responding to emergencies
Important Documents
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025
If you do have a concern about a child please contact one of our Designated Senior Leads on 01442 211963 or email head@holtsmereinfants.herts.sch.uk
Designated Safeguarding Leads
Mrs Nicola O’Connell
Miss Safina Razzaque
If you think a child or young person may be in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise contact Hertfordshire Children’s Social Care on 0300 123 4043 or visit the NSPCC
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/report/
