Safeguarding

De La Salle School’s safeguarding arrangements are inspected by Ofsted under the judgements for behaviour and safety, and leadership and management.

Our core safeguarding principles are:

The school’s responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children is of paramount importance
Safer children make more successful learners
Representatives of the whole‐school community of pupils, parents, staff and governors will be involved in policy development and review
Policies will be reviewed at least annually unless an incident or new legislation or guidance suggests the need for an interim review

Child Protection Statement

At De La Salle School we recognise our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils. We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.

The designated senior person (DSP) for child protection is Mrs Anna De'Ath.

The deputy designated senior person is Mr Andrew Fletcher and Mr Peter Hale.

If you have any safeguarding concerns please let us know via the dedicated e-mail address safeguarding@delasalleschool.org.uk

Coronavirus: Safeguarding and Child Protection

Even though schools across the UK are now open and young people have access to more support networks than during the lockdown, it’s still important to consider how the coronavirus pandemic effects the safety and well being of our young people.

Safeguarding and child protection are as important now as they ever have been. But with some young people having to spend less time in school and social distancing measures in place, we all need to think about the ways we keep children safe during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

We’ve put together a list of services and resources we hope will help to support our young people during, what continues to be, a challenging period.

As things are changing rapidly at the moment, we’ll be updating and adding to this information regularly.

You can access lots of support and keep up to date using:

De La Salle school website: http://www.delasalle.st-helens.sch.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DLS_StHelens

Don’t forget, we also have the SHARP system. SHARP stands for School Help Advice Reporting Page. This will help you report help any problems you may have in or out of school.

Find out more using this link https://delasalle.thesharpsystem.com/

In addition, as a school we also use Kooth which offers free, safe and anonymous online counselling and support. Click here to link to their website where you can watch a short video.

See, Hear, Respond

See, Hear, Respond provides rapid support for children, young people and families affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

It is a new partnership service funded by the Department for Education which responds to each and every referral. Families can self-refer, or ask pastoral teams to help with a referral, enabling the See, Hear, Respond Partnership to quickly identify and support, young people and families who are struggling to cope with the impacts of coronavirus.

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/see-hear-respond

If you have any worries or concerns whilst you are working at home, there are a number of organisations you can contact. These organisations will be able to offer you support and help with a range of different issues that you may have.

Childline - www.childline.org.uk

Childline is available to you if you have any concerns about:

Bullying
Abuse (physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, neglect)
Your body and self- esteem
Your feelings
Friendships
Sexual advice
Home life and families
School

You can ring them on 0800 1111 or message them online here https://www.childline.org.uk/registration/

There are lots of resources available for you to download and read as well https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/

Young Minds

Their website also offers advice on how to get support with a range of different issues.

You can contact Young Minds using this link – http://youngminds/

Young Minds helps young people and adults who need support with their mental health. This includes feeling low about things such as:

Body Image
Bullying
Eating problems
Stress
Grief or loss
Anger

If you need urgent help, you can text YM to 85258, or you can access advice and helpful resources here https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/

PAPYRUS - prevention of young suicide

If you are feeling really down, feel like there is no way out and feeling suicidal then Papyrus can help.

They have confidential ways of contacting them

Phone – 0800 068 41 41 • Mobile – 07860039967
Email – pat@papyrus-uk.org

They also offer lots of support through articles and advice through the following link https://papyrus-uk.org/imthinking-about-suicide/

Samaritans – http://samaritans/

They offer a similar service to Papyrus and their contact details are below:

Phone – 116 123

Email – jo@samaritans.org

CEOP - https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

If you are worried about online sexual abuse or the way in which someone if talking to you online, you can report it to CEOP straight away

You can make a report using the following link https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop/reporting

If you are not ready to make a report, but need to speak to someone first then ring Childline on 0800 1111

Police or other emergency services

If you need immediate help then please call the emergency service on 999

If you do not need immediate support but need advice then please call 101

The following signposts and links are aimed more specifically to support carers and parents:

NSPCC

This is an organisation which provides a wealth of support and tips to help you keep children safe. From advice on children’s mental health to staying safe online, and what to do if you’re worried about a child.

You may find this link particularly useful at the moment:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/coronavirus-advice-suppport-children-families-parents/

Young Carers Trust; St Helens

This service provides support to Young Carers so that they are recognised and have the same opportunities and life chances as other children and young people of a similar age.

The Young Carers service consists of a small team who are committed to ensuring Young Carers and their families receive the support they need. Young Carers have their own separate building (opposite St Helens Town Hall); it has been specifically designed to meet the needs of Young Carers and their families.

For more information on the services offered to support young carers during the pandemic, follow this link http://www.sthelenscarers.org.uk

Youth Mental Health

Emotional Resilience & Self-Harm: this is a short course aimed at carers and parents. It handles the subject of teenage self-harm and parental ways to support your children, in a sensitive and informative way. (1 hour)

https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/courses/safeguarding/understanding-young-minds

CSE

Keep Them Safe: Protecting Children from Child Sexual Exploitation course (30 mins) https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/free-courses/keep-them-safe

Supporting children and young people's wellbeing

Understanding children and young people’s wellbeing as well as a variety of practices and services that can provide support. (7 hours)

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/supporting-children-and -young-peoples-wellbeing/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab

Prevent (updated version)

An introduction to the Prevent duty: Safeguarding vulnerable people from being radicalised to supporting terrorism or becoming terrorists themselves. (1 hour

https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/edu/screen1.html#

Social Media and Safeguarding Links

With our young people needing to spend an increasing amount of time online, the risks, and need for us to monitor their usage, has also increased.

Most social media apps and websites have procedures for removing inappropriate content. Often these websites rely on users ‘reporting’ inappropriate content to them. Below are links which may help with more information regarding the procedures for reporting content for several high-profile social media networks/services:

https://safeguarding.thekeysupport.com/factsheets-and-briefings/fortnite-parent-factsheet/

https://www.childnet.com/

https://www.google.com/search?q=safer+internet+uk&rlz=1C1G

https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/

https://help.twitter.com/en/safety-and-security/report-abusive-behavior

https://www.snap.com/en-GB/safety/safety-reporting

If you need any support then please contact one of the safeguarding team in school: safeguarding@delasalleschool.org.uk

All staff at De La Salle recognise their responsibility to safe guard our young people.

However, key people in the safeguarding team are:

Mr P Ross: Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs A De’Ath: Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mr A Fletcher: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mr P Hale: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

There is always someone to talk to; always a solution to the problem.

Health Advice

NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and St Helens Borough Council have jointly developed a mobile app and website which provide information about a range of health conditions as well as advice on health related and social issues which affect young people, such as bullying and sexual exploitation.

The website and phone app are completely free to use and download, and have been developed alongside young people in the borough.

The St Helens teenage phone app is available for free on Google Play and the Apple Store – just search for St Helens health advice for young people.

You can log on to the website at:

www.sthelenshealthadviceforyp.uk