Travis St Lawrence CE Primary School

Safeguarding Lead: The Chair and Headteacher

Governance and statutory oversight of safeguarding lies with the trustees. The main trustee for safeguarding is James Dugmore. However, local boards are ‘our eyes and ears’, the protection of children is the core of this.  We invest in training to provide LSBs with more incredible skills in this area.  We cannot think of a more critical task for an LSB than bringing together their local community knowledge and knowledge of school practice to ensure that safeguarding is at the core of what we do.   The LSB has access to all relevant information, including the audits that DSAT complete centrally. The LSB always asks, “Do the audits reflect how the local community view safeguarding at the school?”

Members: All members

DSAT’s school improvement protocols mean a school has support visits throughout the academic year.  The Record of Visit will typically focus on the many positive elements we see, but the purpose is to identify areas where support is required.  These ROVs (Record of Visits) provide information that can assist the LSB in asking the right questions at LSB’s meetings.   LSBs can have data to be a better ‘critical friend’ influencing the outcome, not just reviewing it. The LSB is critical to asking the right questions about school progress, understanding the priorities, and ensuring the community’s needs are met. Feedback from LSBs has been very positive regarding the training we provide.  Good data is only meaningful when it is understood.  DSAT aims to ensure through training and coaching that LSBs understand the information to which they have access.  LSBs are not required to pass comments on classroom practice, judge teaching methods or assess the perceived quality of teaching.  DSAT expert practitioners will provide the LSB with this information where it is relevant to do so. At every LSB meeting, the group ask, “Is this school delivering positive progress for every pupil” asking, “Are relationships with the community and parents supporting this progress?”

Travis St Lawrence’s CE Primary School values parent engagement.  A DSAT Parental Survey has been launched across all schools, and the outcome of the parental questionnaire forms a discussion for the local board for local action.