Safeguarding
Safeguarding Policies and Guidance
At Fordley Primary school we know that child protection and safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone who works with the children at any point in the day. We have clear and effective procedures to identify children who may be at risk of harm and all school staff, and visitors, know who they need to report any concerns to, promptly and accurately.
As parents and carers of our Fordley children, if you have any concerns about a child's welfare you are very welcome to share them and seek further advice from Mrs Withers or Mrs Latimer in the first instance. You can do this anonymously. Alternatively you can contact Children's Social Care through North Tyneside's Front Door Service on 0345 2000 109 or through their website using this link https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/488/are-you-worried-about-child
This can be done anonymously.
Keeping children safe is the responsibility of all of us!
Concerns Around Social Media Use – Tackling this Together
Social Media issues can be one of the biggest challenges for parents, carers and schools to manage, as monitoring children’s internet and mobile device usage (when the content of apps changes to quickly) can be a huge challenge in busy lives. Like many schools recently, following the return to some form of normality after the stresses of the pandemic for everyone, we are seeing a growing number of issues spilling into school caused by the use of Social Media apps outside of school such as TikTok, WhatsApp and SnapChat. We spend a significant amount of time in school teaching children how to use the internet safely and appropriately and, when asked in school, they know how to keep themselves safe.
However, often when on Social Media apps outside of school, children will get caught up in the moment, forget that the words they are using (which they would rarely use to anyone’s face) are unkind and inappropriate because they are on the other end of a screen, and this will then cause hurt to other children who would normally be their friends. On the other side of this, children may receive unkind words from other children who they thought were their friends and this has an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
When there has been an issue outside of school, and we talk to children the following day about it (usually because one child has been sensible and shared it with us or because a concern has been raised by a parent or carer), the Social Media apps that are regularly mentioned are TikTok, WhatsApp and SnapChat. Guides to help parents and carers with understanding how each of these apps work and the potential risks for children can be found below.
This YouTube video ‘Understanding a Child’s Digital World’, from Prevent, may also be useful for you as adults to watch at home. I can only apologise for the length, but we have found it useful in school to watch as part of our safeguarding training so that we can stay up to date with anything out there that could put our children at risk (a link has been shared on Seesaw and on the ‘Latest News’ section of our website). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mda4R8Kg7Ww
If there is anything else you feel would help you as families with understanding and managing social media, please let us know and we will help in any way we can including seeking expertise where it is needed. We truly are in this together and we all want to keep our lovely children safe, whilst helping them to make safe choices for themselves online as they get older and become more and more independent.
Please get in touch if you have any questions around this, or if you would like to have a separate conversation about any situation which may be worrying you right now.
The Prevent Duty and British Values
In order for schools and childcare providers to fulfil the Prevent duty, it is essential that staff are able to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified. Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should be seen as part of schools’ and childcare providers’ wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other harms (e.g. drugs, gangs, neglect, sexual exploitation), whether these come from within their family or are the product of outside influences.
Schools and childcare providers can also build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views. It is important to emphasise that the Prevent duty is not intended to stop pupils debating controversial issues. On the contrary, schools should provide a safe space in which children, young people and staff can understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments.
The policy below shows how we, at Fordley, aim to address any concerns regarding children who may be at risk. If you have any concerns, please speak to a member of staff at school or follow these links for further advice:
Operation Encompass North Tyneside
What is Operation Encompass?
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident. Following an incident at home, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset and unprepared for the day.
North Tyneside Council, the police and nominated Key Adults in school will be working together to make sure that school staff are made aware of an incident early enough to support pupils in school.
Why is Operation Encompass being introduced in North Tyneside?
Operation Encompass was initially launched in Plymouth in February 2011 to address a shortcoming in the early sharing of information with schools. Since then several pilots have been set up across the UK, including Gateshead and South Tyneside, and has proved to very successful in providing appropriate support in a timely manner. Pilots across the UK have reported positive outcomes for many children and young people.
North Tyneside Council, Northumbria Police and all schools in the borough will be taking part in the scheme, to help provide additional new support which will benefit children and young people in North Tyneside and improve multi-agency sharing of information.
How will it work?
Schools across North Tyneside will nominate two members of staff who will be known as Key Adults. All Key Adults will attend specific training to the role in preparation for Operation Encompass.
Each morning a police officer will review all domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school but which might have had an impact on a child attending school the following day. Where children were present, witnessed or involved in a domestic abuse incident and aged between 4 and 16 years old, the officer will send this information to Children’s Social Care Front Door Service.
Staff from the Front Door Service will send this information in a secure format to the identified Key Adult. The Key Adult will check their emails every day and the staff in contact with those pupils will then be in an informed position to support them in a way that is right for the child.
This information will be shared on school days during school term and, when incidents occur on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or over a holiday period, the police will contact the Front Door the following Monday.
All parents will be sent a letter from their child's school informing them about Operation Encompass.
When will Operation Encompass be launched in North Tyneside?
Operation Encompass will launch in June 2016.
For more information about Operation Encompass, please contact your school or visit http://www.operationencompass.org/