Safeguarding

St Andrew’s CE (VA) Junior School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the well-being of all of its pupils. Each pupil’s welfare is of paramount importance and we expect all members of the school community to share this commitment.

Mrs Amanda Jocelyn is our school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). She is the lead person in our school and the person you should contact if you have concerns about a child. She is supported by three other Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads; Mrs Karen Smith, Mrs Georgina Brearley and Mrs Felicity Helliwell. All of these adults are available to contact via the school office. We are supported by our school’s safeguarding governor, Mrs Elizabeth Lawley.

Mrs Brearley (our school Learning Mentor) is also our school’s LGBTQ+ Trusted Adult in school. Children are informed that they can go to her if they have any queries or concerns around their identity and want more support.

More information on the ways we keep the children in our school safe is available in our Safeguarding Policy.

We follow guidelines recommended in Working Together to Safeguard Children (July 2018).

Bereavement

We are a Rainbows Kitemark school here at St. Andrew’s which means that key staff are trained to provide therapeutic support for pupils suffering from bereavement and loss.

Online safety

The NSPCC have published new safety advice in response to evolving safeguarding risks around children being exposed to the ‘Metaverse’ through new gaming devices and peripherals such as Virtual Reality headsets linked to new high powered gaming devices such as new and more powerful gaming PC’s and Microsoft PlayStation 5.

Some of the risks involve:

Experiencing physical injury

Negative impact on mental wellbeing

Experiencing unwanted contact

Encountering harmful content

Oversharing private information

Spending real money

The following NSPCC link covers this in more detail and I would encourage you all to consider adding the link to you parental guidance pages on school websites in respect of online safety: Virtual Reality Headsets | NSPCC

Prevent

Here at St. Andrew’s we actively support the Prevent Agenda.

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, left wing, animal rights, environmental and splinter groups. More information on this strategy can be found here.

Where to go for more information

Contact School

If you have any questions or concerns about the Prevent strategy and what it means for your child, please do not hesitate to contact school.

See our policies

You will find more details in our safeguarding policy, available on our website. Please see the link below or go to the policy section above. We also have information about spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British values.

External sources

The following sources may also be useful for further information:

VSI Alliance – Support in Calderdale during the Winter Months

https://www.vsialliance.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Winter%20Directory%2023.pdf

Action Counter Terrorism (ACT) Early Safeguarding Information

https://standrews.calderdale.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ACT-Early-Safeguarding-Letter-July-2022.pdf

https://standrews.calderdale.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/755352-1_AMP_ACT_SAFEGUARD_V2_A5_Leaflet.pdf

Support with mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 outbreak

NSPCC
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Parent Zone, Making the Internet work for Families

https://parentzone.org.uk/

Frequently asked questions, Prevent For Schools
http://www.preventforschools.org/?category_id=38

What is Prevent? Let’s Talk About It
http://www.ltai.info/what-is-prevent/

Open Minds Calderdale

If you are a young person, parent, carer or professional in Calderdale this site is for you. It will help you with questions about emotional health and wellbeing, showing you where you can find support.

http://www.openmindscalderdale.org.uk

http://www.openmindscalderdale.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Is-your-child-feeling-stressed-worried-or-uncertain.pdf

If you are worried about your child’s behaviour or mental health, you may find this website useful. https://www.happymaps.co.uk/

Kooth

Online Mental Health Support for young people across Calderdale & Kirklees. Please click on the links below for further information and advice.

Parents & Carers support pack for talking to your children about their feelings

Struggling at Christmas- Social Anxiety

Struggling at Christmas – Family Difficulties

Struggling at Christmas – Dealing With Loss

Struggling at Christmas – Loneliness

Kooth poster

Time Out Listening Line

A Listening line has been set up for children and young people who want someone to talk to about issues such as: home/school life, friendships and any worries they may be having about Coronavirus. The Listening Line is not a counselling service, it’s a safe space offering children and young people the opportunity to speak to an experienced Time Out worker, who regularly work with children and young people in schools and in the community.
To access the listening line children and young people can send a text to 07418 311736 and one of Time Out’s project workers will call them back to arrange an appointment.

Safeguarding-Our-Community

To read our safeguarding policy, please visit our policies page.