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St Thomas More's School Safeguarding Team

At St Thomas More’s we understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All members of staff receive annual safeguarding training.

Mrs Webster is our Designated Safeguarding Lead and attends regular training to keep up to date with all issues relating to child protection and safeguarding. The School has tight procedures that record issues that relate to child protection and welfare concerns. We work closely with multi-agencies to promote and protect the welfare of children and young people. 

Click here to read our Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy

Designated Teacher for Children who are Looked After: Mrs S Silk

Safer Recruitment Qualified Staff: Mr J Sendall, Mrs A Wingfield

SAFEGUARDING INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

The children at St. Thomas More’s know the Underwear Rule!

Our school works with NSPCC to help protect our children. The Underwear rule is a simple child-friendly way of staying safe!

For more information click on the links below:

Underwear Rule Parents’ Guide

Underwear Rule Children’s Guide

In addition to the Underwear Rule and our work with the NSPCC, we also promote Childline as a point of contact for children to turn to should they need to.

Click here for the video of the Ofsted Online safety webinar

What to do if you have a child protection concern

If you have any concerns about a child’s well-being, anyone can contact Child Services. They will be able to advise you and if the situation requires it, they are then in a position to take control of the situation.

If you think a child or young person under the age of 18 has been or is being abused by a person in a position of trust, contact the County Council's Allegations Officer, Click here for details or phone 01962 876364

If you are unsure of what to do, you can always contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead at school, Mr Sendall, who will be able to advise you.

What is child abuse?

Child abuse falls into four categories: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Click here for further details of what defines abuse

Online Safety

It is pretty much impossible to keep on top of all the apps and websites which children are accessing, so below are some tips on ways to keep your child safe when they are online. Some of the most important messages about keeping safe online, which apply to all websites, games and apps, that can be shared with children are:

• Be aware of age restrictions and why they are in place
• Use privacy settings and be aware that when things are posted online, they can always be copied and shared
• Block and report users or posts that are worrying or upsetting to the website/app involved
• If you are worried or upset by something you see or experience online, then talk to a trusted adult

Click on the image below  to go to the National Online Safety site where you can search for guides to many of the popular websites and apps.

Make informed choices:

It is vital that parents and carers fully understand the capabilities of the technology within their homes. It’s important to make informed decisions about new games, smart toys and devices, before giving them to children as a gift.

• Do your research; ask the shop about pre-installed apps or tools, and check whether the device or game has an online component which allows them to connect with others online.

  Always check the PEGI age rating and descriptors on games before buying them for your child and carefully consider whether the content is appropriate for them. CEOP has some helpful advice about making decisions regarding what is ‘appropriate’ for your child:

• www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/gaming-whats-appropriate-for-your-child/

  Familiarise yourself with the privacy, safety and security tools on new devices; ensure you can teach your child how to make their accounts private and how to block and report other people online.

Use the parent guides and shopper’s checklists from UK Safer Internet Centre and Internet Matters to help you ask the right questions and make informed choices when buying new technology:

www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers/parents-guide-technology

www.internetmatters.org/hub/guidance/guide-to-tech-buying-a-smart-toy-tips-for-parents/

www.swgfl.org.uk/magazine/holidays-toys-tech/

Talk to your children:

Take an active interest in your child’s online life and engage in the digital world with them.

• Let your children teach you about their online world and how they use technology; playing new games and exploring websites together can often open opportunities to discuss safe behaviour and can also be lots of fun!

  Make sure your children know that you are safe and approachable; remind them that they can tell you if something happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable, without being told off or punished.

You can find more advice about talking to you child about online safety from CEOP:   

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/having-a-conversation-with-your-child/

Filters and Parental Controls:

Children can accidently or deliberately be exposed to unwanted or unpleasant content online, but there are some simple things you can do at home to help minimise this risk.

• Make sure you install anti-virus software, filters and parental controls on your child’s device before giving it to them.

  Ensure that you are role-modelling good behaviour by using strong passwords yourself; make them difficult to guess and don’t share them with your children.

• Remember that blocks and filters are not 100% effective and you can’t rely on them alone to protect your children, so remind them to tell you if they see something upsetting online.

   

The interactive guide to parental controls available from Internet Matters will have helpful information to help you set up devices: www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/

Setting boundaries:

Much like the ‘real world’, parents should set boundaries for children online; this provides them with a clear understanding of the limits, expectations and consequences of their behaviour.

• Agree as a family, how the internet and technology will be used in your home; encourage children to use the online safety messages they learn in school and adapt these into your own family rules.

  Discuss online boundaries; for example, if your child loves to chat or share content on the internet, talk to them about what is and isn’t appropriate to share online.

• Remember to role-model positive behaviour online; consider asking your child’s permission before posting photos of them on social media this Christmas and empower them to have control over their ‘digital reputation’. Also, why not make sure you spend time together as a family and set aside some tech-free time over the Christmas break.

Take a look at the family agreement template available from Childnet International for some ideas: www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/have-a-conversation

In school we educate children on how to keep themselves safe online. If they have any worries, they can immediately contact a member of staff by clicking on the Help button within the Contact section of our website. The button is also available on the children's desk tops at school.

In a world where technology seems to advance at an ever-increasing rate, and where children often appear to know more about technology than adults do, on-line safety can be very concerning for parents. Therefore, our school holds meetings for parents and friends of the school to enable them to gain a clear understanding of how to keep children safe on-line. We work together with agencies such as CEOP (Child Exploitation & On-line Protection), Children’s Services and the Police to provide support to parents as well as to educate pupils. For our next e-safety meeting, please look at the school diary or contact the school office.

Prior to attending one of these meetings, if you would like some advice on how to keep you child safe on-line please click on the links below.

NSPCC – Online Safety Support for Parents

CEOP: Think You Know – Smart phone safety etc (quite a lot for parents of teenagers too!)

Common Sense Media – A bit of a different site. Often it is difficult to know what films, games, apps and books are suitable for our children, so as well as using the certification guides, this site informs parents as to the content of films and games so that you can make an informed decision about what you let your child watch, read or play.

Visit our Policies page to view our Online safety policy and go to our School rules page to see our Online safety rules which the children follow.

Anti-bullying: Click below for useful links and videos:

NSPCC – Online Safety Support for Parents

Digital Parenting Magazine

Year 5/6 Online Bullying Video

Thinking of leaving your child at home?

With busy lives, work commitments and running errands, in some circumstances it may seem useful or indeed necessary to leave your child alone for a certain period of time. However, it is important that different factors are considered before this is done. There can be legal implications for leaving a child on their own, yet there is no black and white law which states what can and can’t be done. Therefore, the links below may help you in making that decision.

The Law on leaving a child on their own – Government guidance

NSPCC – Home Alone! – This contains a useful questionnaire to help parents decide if their child is ready to be left home alone (Click here for a direct link)

OTHER USEFUL SITES: (All names are hyperlinked)

Barnardo’s: Tel: 0800 008 7005  or  e-mail:supporterrelations@barnardos.org.uk

PACE (Parents against child exploitation) Tel: 0113 240 3040 

One In Four (Advocacy service, counselling service and information service for those who have experiences sexual abuse) Tel: 020 8697 2112 e-mail: admin@oneinfour.org.uk

SAFEGUARDING IN SCHOOL

Roles & Responsibilities

Designated Person for Child Protection (Designated Safeguarding Lead): Mr J Sendall

Pupils’ Survey:

The school conducts an annual pupils’ survey with questions that directly relate to how safe pupils feel.