Littleham CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy which can be viewed below and in the Policies section of our website.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
Our Senior Designated Officer is Mr Tom Paddon
Our Deputy Designated Officer is Mrs Joanne Poslett.
Please remember, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Visit the website for important information for parents and carers, children and young people and professionals who work with them.
If you have any concerns you can contact the MASH team directly on 0345 155 1071
Operation Encompass
We are very pleased that we are now linked to the Operation Encompass Scheme.
Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given in strict confidence to a school’s Key Adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.
Further information about the scheme is included in the poster below and also on the Operation Encompass website.
Do you know all the friends who your children invite into your home? Are you sure? If your child has a Facebook profile, they may be ‘friends’ with all sorts of people who are not known to you, and possibly not the sort of people you would be happy for your children to have as friends.
An extract from the Facebook Terms of Use:
“This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use.”
The school’s position is that we do not expect any of our pupils to be active on unregulated social networking sites.
For advice on family internet safety try the excellent website: www.thinkuknow.co.uk – click here. It has specific advice about sites like Facebook.
If you believe your child is receiving illegal or seriously messages from an adult in a chatroom or on a social networking site, then report it to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), a police organisation dedicated to child protection.
Please click on the links below for information and ideas about how to keep your child safe online.
ThinkuKnow
Find the latest information on the sites you like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it. If you look after young people there’s an area for you too – with resources you can use in the classroom, at home or just to get with it. Most importantly, there’s also a place which anyone can use to report if they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they're chatting to online.
Other Useful Web Sites for Parents
www.childnet-int.org- A non-profit making organisation working directly with children, parents and teachers to ensure that the issues of online child protection and children’s safe and positive use of the internet are addressed. Childnet International produce an online CD guide specifically for parents KnowITAll - www.childnet-int.org/kia/
www.getsafeonline.org/ A beginners guide to using the Internet safety, including a quiz and some video tutorials about how to ‘stay safe’ on-line.
www.kidsmart.org.uk/ - Kidsmart is an award winning internet safety website for parents and those working with children. It has been developed by the children's internet charity Childnet International and has excellent information on many of the technologies used by children, with guidance on how to ‘stay safe’ online.
www.bullying.co.uk - One in five young people have experienced bullying by text message or via email. This web site gives advice for children and parents on bullying.
www.chatdanger.com/ - This website is about the potential dangers with interactive services online like chat, IM, online games, email and on mobiles. It provides information, advice, true stories and games. The resource page also contains a number of links to other useful websites.
http://parents.vodafone.com/ - Vodafone have developed this website in conjunction with mumsnet. It is very accessible and provides information and guidance to parents with understanding their child’s digital world and get more involved. There is even an on-line test to see how much you know!