Safeguarding
Haven High Academy gives the highest importance to the safeguarding and welfare of our children. The Academy Council, Headteacher and staff will carry out their responsibilities efficiently, effectively and diligently to ensure that the academy is a safe learning environment for our children.
We recognise that, at times, our children may be vulnerable and we will always adopt a sensitive approach to support our pupils and families.
Everyone in our academy is aware of their responsibility to keep our children safe. All staff attend regular child protection training, in addition to this, staff and volunteers also access a safeguarding and child protection briefing and regular updates. Everyone working with our children has a responsibility to help keep our children safe by providing an environment that will allow our pupils to be happy, cared for and to develop a love of learning.
If you have ANY concerns about the welfare or safety of a child, please contact reception and ask to speak in confidence with one of the Designated Persons for Child Protection and Safeguarding on:
01205 319503
If you believe that a young person or child is in immediate danger, left alone or missing, contact Police and/or Ambulance on 999.
The action we take to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm is everyone’s responsibility.
Everyone who comes into contact with children and families at The Academy has a role to play.
Dina Parla
Trust Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
Mr A Thompson
Deputy Headteacher (Deputy – DSL)
Support
It’s likely that all of us have hesitated to ask a question at one time or another for fear that we’ll look stupid. It’s also likely that we’ve refused to ask for help when we could have really used it because we didn’t want to appear weak.
But asking for help–whether you want clarification on something you don’t understand or you need assistance carrying a heavy box–is a sign of strength. Please use this part of the website to support you with concerns, questions or knowledge you would like to obtain to either help yourself or others.
Internet Safety
The internet – on the whole an inspiring and positive place
The internet is an amazing resource which enables children and young people to connect, communicate and be creative in a number of different ways, on a range of devices.
However, the internet is always changing, and being able to keep up to date with your children’s use of technology can be a challenge.
You may sometimes feel that your children have better technical skills than you do, however children and young people still need advice and protection when it comes to managing their lives online.
Issues that your child may encounter on the internet will vary depending on their age and online activities.
These have been grouped into 4 potential risk categories.
Children need to be aware of the impact that their online activity can have on both themselves and other people, and the digital footprint that they create on the internet. It’s easy to feel anonymous online and it’s important that children are aware of who is able to view, and potentially share, the information that they may have posted. When using the internet, it’s important to keep personal information safe and not share it with strangers. Discuss with your child the importance of reporting inappropriate conversations, messages, images and behaviours and how this can be done.
Some online content is not suitable for children and may be hurtful or harmful. This is true for content accessed and viewed via social networks, online games, blogs and websites. It’s important for children to consider the reliability of online material and be aware that it might not be true or written with a bias. Children may need your help as they begin to assess content in this way. There can be legal consequences for using or downloading copyrighted content, without seeking the author’s permission.
It is important for children to realise that new friends made online may not be who they say they are and that once a friend is added to an online account, you may be sharing your personal information with them. Regularly reviewing friends lists and removing unwanted contacts is a useful step. Privacy settings online may also allow you to customise the information that each friend is able to access. If you have concerns that your child is, or has been, the subject of inappropriate sexual contact or approach by another person, it’s vital that you report it to the police via the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (www.ceop.police.uk). If your child is the victim of cyberbullying, this can also be reported online and offline. Reinforce with your child the importance of telling a trusted adult straight away if someone is bullying them or making them feel uncomfortable, or if one of their friends is being bullied online.
Young people’s privacy and enjoyment online can sometimes be affected by advertising and marketing schemes, which can also mean inadvertently spending money online, for example within applications. Encourage your children to keep their personal information private, learn how to block both pop ups and spam emails, turn off inapp purchasing on devices where possible, and use a family email address when filling in online forms.
Report Remove Tool
Tips for parents and carers
House Party App info
House Party has become an extremely popular way of keeping in contact with friends and family – here is some important information to ensure you and your children stay safe:
- As with all live-streaming platforms, screenshots, unsolicited messages and self-generated sexualised imagery can put young people at risk.
- Links to ‘rooms’ can also be shared publicly – to other platforms which could see uninvited users joining.
- ‘Rooms’ should be locked to prevent uninvited guests from joining – remember all rooms will lock by default if a user enables ‘private mode’.
- If an uninvited guest joins a room they can easily ‘friend’ others taking part in the live stream.
- It appears that when a friend is invited, their friends can also join a ‘room’ without the invitation. Therefore potentially increase the opportunity to cyber-bully and troll others
Safe – Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information when you’re chatting or posting online. Personal information includes your email address, phone number and password.
Meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents’ or carers’ permission and even then only when they can be present. Remember online friends are still strangers even if you have been talking to them for a long time.
Accepting emails, messages, or opening files, images or texts from people you don’t know or trust can lead to problems — they may contain viruses or nasty messages!
Reliable: Someone online might lie about who they are and information on the internet may not be true.
Tell a parent, carer or a trusted adult if someone, or something, makes you feel uncomfortable or worried, or if you or someone you know is being bullied online.
Games Console Safety
As a parent, it’s not always easy to keep an eye on your children’s time spent with entertainment devices. These guides have been created to help you do just that. Click the buttons below that is relevant to the device(s) your child is using:
Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism
Radicalisation is defined as the act or process of making a person more radical or favouring of extreme or fundamental changes in political, economic or social conditions, institutions or habits of the mind.
Extremism is defined as the holding of extreme political or religious views.
The Department for Education has published advice for schools on the Prevent duty. The Prevent duty requires all schools to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism in the exercise of their functions.
We are already responsible for keeping children safe, including from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and for promoting the welfare of children in our care. The Prevent duty reinforces these existing duties by spreading understanding of the risks and current good practice across the country.
Haven High Academy is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils. Every member of staff recognises that safeguarding against radicalisation and extremism is no different to safeguarding against any other vulnerability in to-day’s society.
If you are concerned about a child being at risk of extremism please speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team.
Helpline contact information
Preventing extremism in schools and children’s services helpline
Email counter.extremism@education.gov.uk
Telephone 020 7340 7264
Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm (excluding bank holidays).
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse is any type of controlling, bullying, threatening or violent behaviour between people in a relationship. But it isn’t just physical violence – domestic abuse includes emotional, physical, sexual, financial or psychological abuse.
Children and young people witnessing domestic abuse
Witnessing domestic abuse is really distressing and scary for a child, and causes serious harm. Children living in a home where domestic abuse is happening are at risk of other types of abuse too. Children can experience domestic abuse or violence in lots of different ways. They might:
- see the abuse
- hear the abuse from another room
- see a parent’s injuries or distress afterwards
- be hurt by being nearby or trying to stop the abuse
How domestic abuse affects children
Living in a home where there is domestic abuse is harmful. It can have a serious impact on a child’s behaviour and wellbeing. Parents or carers may underestimate the effects of the abuse on their children because they don’t see what is happening. Children witnessing domestic abuse is recognised as significant harm in law and the effects of this can last into adulthood.
Mental Health and Well Being
Without good mental health, our ability to learn and take in new information can be significantly affected. Everyone has ‘mental health’ and this can be thought of in terms of:
- How we feel about ourselves and the people around us &our ability to make and keep friends and relationships
- Our ability to learn from others and to develop psychologically and emotionally.
Being mentally healthy is also about having the strength to overcome the difficulties and challenges we can all face at times in our lives, to have confidence and self-esteem, and to be able to take decisions and believe in ourselves.
It is quite normal to sometimes feel worried, anxious or upset when things don’t go as you hope – everyone faces pressure in their lives at certain times and these can include;
- Exams
- Work and getting a job
- Growing up and becoming more independent from your family
- Making up (and breaking up) with friends
- Grief – dealing with the death of someone you know
There is plenty of help and support to guide you if you need help with your emotional wellbeing.
- Rethink offer advice and support on mental health for young people.
- Young Minds The voice for young peoples health and wellbeing
- Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Lincolnshire provide mental health support for children and young people in Lincolnshire.
- Time to change A programme to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination.
- MIND can help with choices about stress treatment and reach out to sources of support.
- Talk Out Loud is a website set up by young people that provides mental health support.
- steps2change offers free counselling services for young people aged 13-25.
- Young Minds is a charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people.
Papyrus provides confidential help and advice to young people to prevent suicide
The Department for Education has commissioned the NSPCC to establish a dedicated independent helpline for people who have experienced sexual abuse in educational setting. 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.
