Woodview banner 1

Safeguarding

Explore our School:

Safeguarding

We place the highest importance on the safeguarding of all members of our school community. This covers the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone.

Our School’s Designated Safeguarding Lead: Nicola Craig

Named Safeguarding Governor: Gabrielle O’Meara

During periods of time when the school is closed, you may find yourself in need of safeguarding advice. If you have an immediate safeguarding concern, please phone 999 in the first instance for support.

If the safeguarding advice that you require is not urgent, please draw on one or some of the services listed below. These services have been used by thousands of students and families and have a proven track record in offering support when it is most needed.

Kooth is a mental health and wellbeing online platform for young people aged between 10 and 16 years of age, across the whole of Kent. The service is free and can be accessed 24 hours a day. As well as being a source of information and support, young people can also chat to a friendly and fully-qualified counsellor during the following hours:

Monday to Friday, between 12.00 noon and 10.00pm
Saturday and Sunday, between 6.00pm and 10.00pm

Moodspark is a helpful website in order to learn about mental health and find tips/resources for keeping emotionally healthy. Young people can also text ChatHealth via 07520 618 850 between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday – this text service provides support for physical and mental health.

Kent Community Health offer a self-referral service to the Children and Young People’s Counselling Service, which can be accessed by clicking here. Anonymous support for anyone aged 16 or over can also be accessed via the Big White Wall.

You can also book an appointment through your GP to support with any mental health difficulties that your child may be experiencing. GPs will need to complete the Front Door referral form.

Fearless is a website where young people can access non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. You can also pass on information about crime 100% anonymously.

For more information from The Bromley Children's Project and a list of local support services, please click here.

Online safety

Learning how to be safe online for all our young people is essential in an ever increasing digital world. On this page you will find resources and information to help keep young people safe online.

Advice for children and young people on how to deal with online (cyber) bullying.

Always respect others on and offline – think about what you say online and what images you send/post and be aware that online messages can easily be misunderstood
Remember that anything you publish online can be made public very quickly and you will never be sure who may have seen it. Once something is posted you can lose control of who sees it and where it may end up
Treat your password like a toothbrush – never share it with anyone and only give your personal information like mobile phone number or email address to trusted friends. Be careful to log out of sites and apps if you share your device with others
Learn how to block or report online bullies or anyone behaving badly and don’t retaliate or reply to nasty messages. This is usually what the bullies are trying to get you to do. Remember that if you reply with a nasty or unkind comment then it could get you into trouble too
Always make sure that you save evidence of online (cyber) bullying by saving or printing out text messages, online conversation, pictures etc. Try and include as much information as possible, such as web addresses (URLs), contact numbers, user names, times, dates and locations
Always make sure you tell someone if you are being bullied online. This can include:
- An adult or organisation you trust, such as Childline
- The service provider e.g. website, app, mobile phone provider etc. where the bullying is taking place
- If a crime has been committed or someone is at risk of harm then contact the police
- If you see online (cyber) bullying going on, then support the victim and REPORT it to the website or your school. Don’t be a bystander and say nothing otherwise you become part of the problem

for additional support for parents and young people, please click on the links below to view resources from National Online Safety:

CEOP

If you have any concerns related to the online safety of your child, the designated team for Child Exploitation and Online Safety team (CEOP) is the best port of call.

Childline is a useful tool for providing support and advice on a range of topics, including online safety and issues surrounding COVID-19.

Report Harmful Content can be used in addition to the CEOP reporting tool to help report any harmful content across all online platforms. They offer advice for a range of different websites and applications and can support young people and parents through the process of reporting any problems. They also offer guidance on what is considered to be harmful content and the different types that young people may come across.

For more generalised support about keeping children safe and resources and advice, you can visit the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Report Abuse in Education helpline

The Department for Education has commissioned the NSPCC to establish a dedicated independent helpline for people who have experienced abuse in education. The Report Abuse in Education helpline comes after a high number of anonymous testimonials were submitted to the Everyone’s Invited website, documenting abuse in all types of schools, colleges, and universities.

The helpline provides both children and adults who have experienced sexual abuse in schools with support and advice, including onward action such as contacting the police if they wish to. The helpline will also provide support to parents and professionals. Anyone who gets in touch through this dedicated helpline will also be signposted to other relevant support services available, including Childline, which provides ongoing support and counselling to children and young people.

The dedicated and confidential NSPCC helpline – Report Abuse in Education can be reached on 0800 136 663 or by email at help@nspcc.org.uk.

Aspris Woodview School has adopted the definition of the term ‘Safeguarding’ used in the Children Act 2004.

In summary this is:

Protecting children from maltreatment
Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
Undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully

The school’s safeguarding arrangements cover all aspects of life at school, in particular addressing these issues:

Health and safety
Bullying
Other harassment and discrimination, including racism
Physical intervention
Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions
Behaviour
Off-site visits
Intimate care
Internet and e-safety
Physical security of the school site
Recruitment and vetting of staff and visitors to the school site

For more information on safeguarding, please click on the links below.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Prevent duty

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes.

The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.

From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence.

Click on the link to view our prevent strategy.

FGM

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is illegal in England and Wales under the FGM Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”). It is a form of child abuse and violence against women. FGM comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

Section 5B of the 2003 Act 1 introduces a mandatory reporting duty which requires regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report ‘known’ cases of FGM in under 18s which they identify in the course of their professional work to the police.

For more information on FGM and reporting it, please click here.

Honour based violence

Honour based abuse does not have a basis in religion. It is related to culture, beliefs, customs and an expectation that people should behave in a certain way.

Not doing so can be seen as bringing ‘shame’ or ‘dishonour’ on individuals, a family or a community. But there’s no honour in inflicting pain or hurt on anyone and no excuse for abuse or violence.

Acts carried out in the name of honour such as violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation are illegal in the UK and carry substantial prison sentences.

For more information, please click here.