Referrals

All staff at Tilstock CE Primary School are aware of the process for making referrals to the Safeguarding Lead within our school.  If staff notice any indicators of abuse / neglect / child on child abuse or signs that a child may be experiencing any safeguarding issue they record their concerns on CPOMS so that the safeguarding lead can be alerted.  CPOMS allows our school to quickly, easily and above all else securely record all of the information we have on a child in one place.  The chronology around a child is built automatically and trends are much easier to spot than they would be on bits of paper.

When a record of a safeguarding concern is passed to the DSL, the DSL will record the time and date the record of concern was received.  The DSL will assess the concern and, taking into account any other safeguarding information known about the child/young person, consider whether it suggests that the threshold of significant harm, or risk of significant harm, has been reached.  Where appropriate, the DSL will complete and submit a multi-agency referral form (MARF).  Where the DSL believes that a child or young person may be at imminent and significant risk of harm they will call First Point Of Contact (FPOC) immediately and then complete the MARF within 24 hours to confirm the referral.  Where a safeguarding concern does not meet the threshold for completion of a MARF, the DSL should record how this decision has been reached and should consider whether additional needs of the child have been identified that might be met by a coordinated offer of early help.