Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a high priority at Groombridge St Thomas
At Groombridge St Thomas we are all committed to the safeguarding and wellbeing of our pupils. All staff and Governors share these objectives to help keep our children safe:
- We help children develop skills to keep themselves safe
- We raise awareness of safeguarding issues
- We support vulnerable children and children who have been abused
- We create and sustain a safe, nurturing and caring environment free from discrimination or bullying where our pupils can learn and develop happily
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) are:
Caroline Powell(Headteacher/ Lead DSL)
Helen Denton (Deputy Head/ Deputy DSL)
Mrs Ridley (SENCo/Deputy DSL)
Mary Symes- Safeguarding governor
If you have any concerns about your child or any other pupil at Groombridge School please contact one of the DSLs immediately.
In an emergency, safeguarding concerns can also be reported to the NSPCC help@nspcc.or.uk or SPOA 01323 464222
Online Safety
At Groombridge St Thomas, we recognize that our pupils are growing up in a world of ever-changing technology. To enable our pupils to keep safe online we have developed our curriculum to teach them:
- that people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not
- that the same principles apply to online relationships as to face-to-face relationships, including the importance of respect for others
- the rules and principles for keeping safe online: how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them
- how to critically consider their online friendships and sources of information
- how information and data is shared and used online
If you are worried abuse online abuse or the way someone is communicating with a young person online, you can report it via CEOPs.
Below are some useful websites, advice and resources for parents:
A range of guides, videos and toolkits to help you to keep your child safe online. These include information about key issues that may be affecting children and young people on the internet, and what to do if you’re worried about anything you or your child has seen online.
Childline is there to give young people a voice when no one else is listening. Whatever problems or dangers they're facing, it is a place for them to turn to for support – any time of day or night. Childline is a free, private and confidential service where children and you people can talk about anything.
They can be contacted on 0800 1111, or have a range of information, support and tools online.
Talk PANTS helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. A really useful website to help you start the conversation with your child.
National Online Safetyhttps://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/
National Online Safety's mission is to make the internet a safer place for children. They aim to do this by equipping school staff, parents and children with the knowledge they need to understand online dangers and how best to react should an incident arise. The link above provides up-to-date information about a wide variety of social media apps and platforms your child might be using.
Childnet parents and carers page – information, advice and resources for parents and carers on a wide range of topics affecting children and young people online. They also have excellent resources about how to have a conversation about the online world with your child, how to set up parental controls, create a family agreement and what to do if you are worried about a child.
Information and guides for parents and carers about the social media platforms, apps and games that young people use. You can also sign up to the Online Safety Newsletter to help you stay up to date with the latest trends, or download the free Net Aware app.
A series of 3 animations ‘I saw your willy’, ‘Lucy and the boy’, and ‘Mia’s story’, designed to prompt conversations between adults and children to keep them safe from online abuse.
Use the search box at the top to search for a game or app. There will be a Common Sense Media review which includes the information you need to help you make decisions about the suitability of the game for your child. It also has useful parent and child reviews for each game.
The education programme from CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection), a UK organisation that protects children both online and offline. The site has information for parents and carers and games for children of different ages to help them learn about online safety.
Operation Encompass
We are an Operation Encompass school Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.
Please click the links below for online safety support for parents:
TikTok parent factsheet.docInstagram parent factsheet.docSnapchat parent factsheet.doc
WhatsApp parent factsheet.doc YouTube safety factsheet.doc
Please click the link below to view the NSPCC Parents Guide: