'If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.' 

Alfie Kohn 

Designated Safeguarding Lead :  Emily McMillen (Headteacher)

Alternate Safeguarding Leads: Bex Starman (Deputy Headteacher)  Ben Powley (EYFS lead) Carrie Fisher (Family Support Worker)

Designated Looked After Children Teacher- Emily McMillen

Safeguarding Governor: David Finbow 

At Heartwood we have a strong culture of safeguarding in our school. 

This means that we have effective arrangements to:

• Always act in the best interests of children, pupils and students to protect them online and offline.
• Identify children, pupils and students who may need early help, and who are at risk of harm or have been harmed.
• This can include, but is not limited to, neglect, abuse (including by their peers), grooming or exploitation.  
• Secure the help that children, pupils and students need, and if required, referring in a timely way to those who have the expertise to help manage safe recruitment and allegations about adults who may be a risk to children, pupils, students and vulnerable adults.

Carrie Fisher

Family Support Worker

Introducing our Family Support Worker

 Carrie is available to support families with:

• behaviour at home
• mental health of children and parents
• finances
• routines and boundaries at home
• positive relationships 
• recovering from domestic violence 
• sign posting for support 
• a listening ear

Please contact her through her email familysupport@heartwood.norfolk.sch.uk

Domestic Violence

Domestic abuse goes beyond violent behaviour and physical abuse. It also includes any type of sexual, psychological and financial abuse and is about a range of coercive and controlling behaviours. It also includes ‘honour based violence’, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriages. Domestic abuse can happen in any relationship – regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or social class or income.

If you are being forced to change your behaviour because you are scared of your partner or your family member's reaction, it's likely that you are being abused.

If you need any support or advice please contact the school or follow the links below: 

Operation Encompass

At Heartwood CE VC Primary and Nursery School we are working in partnership with Norfolk Constabulary and Norfolk Children’s Services to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic violence in their household; this scheme is called Operation Encompass.

 In order to achieve this, Norfolk Children’s Advice and Duty Service will share police information of all domestic incidents where one of our pupils has been present with the Designated Safeguarding Lead(s). On receipt of any information, the Designated Safeguarding Lead will decide on the appropriate support the child requires, this could be silent or overt. All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with the ‘Norfolk Joint Agency Protocol for Domestic Abuse – Notifications to Schools’. We will record this information and store this information in accordance with the record keeping procedures outlined in this policy.