Safeguarding
All children have a fundamental right to be protected from harm, to be kept safe and their welfare promoted. If children and young people are to achieve academically, socially and emotionally it is essential that their basic needs for safety and protection are met. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children.
School Safeguarding Policy
Click here to go to the policies page where you can view the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy for The Heath.
The Safeguarding Team
The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs H Newcombe.
The Designated Deputy Safeguarding Lead staff are Mrs P Talbot and Ms U Burgon.
Members of the Safeguarding Team are:
Mr R Dance
Ms D Gwynn
Mrs S Jones
Mrs K Price
Mrs T Penketh
Associated Safeguarding Documents (External)
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 (Full Guidance)
Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children-2018
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-children-from-radicalisation-the-prevent-duty
Operation Encompass
Past serious case reviews, including the tragic case involving Daniel Pelka, have identified a failure in agencies sharing information with schools relating to domestic abuse. Operation Encompass has been used in a number of areas with success, including Plymouth and Knowsley and an initial pilot in specific areas of Cheshire including Widnes.
https://hcypsp.haltonsafeguarding.co.uk/operation-encompass/
Prevent
From 1 July 2015, all schools are subject to a duty under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as The Prevent Duty (June 2015). As part of The Heath School’s ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties, we recognise that safeguarding against radicalisation is as important as safeguarding against any other vulnerability. All staff are expected to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of British values. We believe that our students should be given the opportunity to explore diversity and understand Britain as a multi-cultural society and that everyone should be treated with respect. As part of our on-going commitment to safeguarding and child protection, we fully support the Government’s Prevent Strategy.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
Emotional Health and Wellbeing
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/
Support During Exam Time
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/cb4de2_6d86dbc41eef4c5c92068db329240049.pdf
E-Safety
https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/parent-and-carer-toolkit
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/virtual-reality-headsets/
Social Media Code of Conduct
Info for parents – how to set up an online profile for your child safely
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
http://www.childnet.com/young-people/secondary
https://saferinternet.org.uk/blog/net-aware-update-from-the-nspcc
Further information can be found at the following link from CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) or to report a concern:
https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/
Online Games and Apps
We are aware that many of our students have apps and play games on their electronic devices, some of which can have inappropriate content and may therefore be unsuitable for them. We would like to highlight that games and apps should have a PEGI rating which gives a clear idea of what age children should be to access them and also highlights the type of content you should expect on the site/app. Please see below for information about PEGI rating and symbols. For further information please visit the think u know / net-aware site for some really good and helpful tips to keep children safe in today’s digital world.
For further information on keeping children safe when gaming please see this link:
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/blog/gaming-%E2%80%93-resources-parents-and-carers
ESafety Adviser is a free online safety magazine recommended for parents. New editions are published every six weeks, just click the link below:
https://www.esafety-adviser.com/latest-newsletter/?mc_cid=0b299101a8&mc_eid=772d68b2da
Snapchat and Snap Map
It is believe that approximately 60% of young people aged 11-18 use Snapchat on a daily basis.
Snapchat is a mobile app available for iOS and Android that allows users to send messages to each other. Messages may be sent as plain text, photos, or videos. Photos and videos sent via Snapchat can only be viewed once (or twice with the optional “replay” feature), while text messages disappear after a few minutes. In the newest version of the service, (Snap Map) users have the option to view a map which plots the location of their friends on a real life map, the locations provided on the app are accurate to approximately 5 metres. The location shown on the map is that of the last location the Snapchat application on the user’s phone was accessed. The major concern here is the number of Snapchat users who have a mixture of close and distant friends. With some distant friends and the probability that the user may never have met them in real life, there is the obvious safeguarding concern should a complete stranger be able to view the location of a child or young person. Risks associated with location sharing include;
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Potential of stalking
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Intention to commit a low level crime (e.g. petty theft)
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Increased risk (and possibility) of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
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Means to inflict sexual assault
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Risk of abduction Open their child’s Snapchat app, when in photo taking mode, pinch the screen to open Snap Map, touch the settings cog in the right hand corner of the screen and then tap “GHOST MODE” from the three available settings. This will mean that your child’s location will not be seen as ‘location sharing’ will be turned off.
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We advise our parents and carers to discuss this new feature with their child and do the following: Open their child’s Snapchat app, when in photo taking mode, pinch the screen to open Snap Map, touch the settings cog in the right hand corner of the screen and then tap “GHOST MODE” from the three available settings. This will mean that your child’s location will not be seen as ‘location sharing’ will be turned off.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40382876
Tik Tok
Sexting, including sharing nudes
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/sexting/
https://swgfl.org.uk/assets/documents/so-you-got-naked-online.pdf
YouTube
Did you know that YouTube is one of the most popular online destinations for children to watch content, with around three quarters of those aged 5-15 using the video site? YouTube is a platform that allows users to upload and share videos worldwide. This means that your child may be exposed to any user uploaded content from anywhere in the world. Keep your child safer by watching this guide which outlines features such as restricted mode, leading by example and the YouTube Kids app.
Child Criminal Exploitation and Gangs
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/gangs-criminal-exploitation/