safeguarding and the curriculum
At Barnfields Primary School, safety always comes first. We know that safeguarding is multi-faceted, and our curriculum is designed to give children the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to keep themselves and others safe in a wide range of contexts.
Our ethos is rooted in care and trust. As Ofsted noted, “Staff take time to notice the things that matter to pupils. Adults take care to listen to their questions, comments or worries.” Children know that if they have a concern, they will always be listened to, respected, and supported by staff who know them well.
Values and Behaviour
Our five core values – Respect, Resilience, Responsibility, Reflection and Positivity – are at the heart of school life. These values, together with our behaviour policy and code of conduct, help children understand how to look after themselves and each other. As inspectors recognised, “The school’s five core values… are woven throughout its work.”
On the playground, children are reminded to follow these values outside the classroom, ensuring playtimes are safe, respectful and enjoyable for all. This creates an environment where pupils can thrive in their learning (Article 28 – the right to education) while also enjoying their right to relax and play (Article 31).
Assemblies and Curriculum
Our school assemblies focus on our values while also addressing wider issues such as anti-bullying, child-on-child abuse, online safety and respect for others (all at an age-appropiate level). Assemblies link directly to British Values and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through our Rights Respecting Schools approach, children explore important safeguarding issues such as protection from harm (Article 19), the right to a good standard of living (Article 27), and protection from exploitation (Articles 34–36).
Fortnightly First News assemblies give children opportunities to discuss national and global current affairs linked to safety and wellbeing. These have included conversations about children’s health and world events such as the conflict in Ukraine.
Our PSHE curriculum, taught through the Jigsaw programme, follows six themes: Being Me, Celebrating Differences, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships, and Changing Me. This supports children in developing confidence, resilience and empathy, while learning about staying safe in relation to mental health, relationships, consent and bullying. We also take part in the NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe programme to reinforce safeguarding messages.
Health, Wellbeing and Physical Safety
At Barnfields, we teach children that staying safe also means staying healthy – physically, mentally and emotionally. This is supported through both our PE and PSHE curriculum (Article 24) and enhanced by our after-school sporting opportunities, enjoyed by a high proportion of pupils.
Online Safety
In today’s world, online safety is a priority. As part of our Teach Computing curriculum, every year group takes part in regular lessons covering areas such as online identity, relationships, cyberbullying, managing information, privacy, security and digital rights. Each February, we celebrate Safer Internet Day as a whole school, reinforcing these messages in fun and practical ways.
Enrichment and Wider Curriculum
Our wider curriculum builds safety skills into real-life contexts. Children benefit from enrichment activities such as local area walks, swimming lessons, and Bikeability training to help them become “road safe” and confident in the wider world. Health and safety are also integral to subjects such as Design & Technology (e.g. food preparation) and Science (e.g. safe work with electricity).
We are proud of our pupil leadership roles (including our Junior Leadership Team, Ambassadors, Health and Safety Team and the Eco Committee ) which give children the chance to take responsibility and influence decisions about health, safety and wellbeing across the school.
Partnership and Safeguarding
Sometimes, to keep children safe, we may need to work in partnership with other agencies. Wherever possible, concerns are shared with parents and carers first, unless doing so would place the child at further risk.
We also actively support the Government’s Prevent Strategy, helping children to recognise and resist radicalisation or extremism.
Barnfields has a number of policies and procedures in place to support our safeguarding commitment, all of which can be found in the policies section of our website.
As Ofsted summed up: “From early years through to Year 6, staff are attentive to children’s interests, welfare and learning.” This reflects the heart of Barnfields – a school where safety, care and opportunity are at the centre of everything we do.