Safeguarding at Longmoor
We are all part of the wider school ‘Safeguarding Team’ and work together to keep the children in our care safe and well. In school we have several members of senior staff who are responsible for ensuring that our Safeguarding policies, practices and procedures are implemented and maintained.
Longmoor Community Primary School works within the framework of the Liverpool Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) in relation to Child Protection.
At Longmoor Community Primary School we are committed to providing a safe and stimulating environment in which children are challenged to achieve their full potential.
The primary job of our Safeguarding Leadership Team is to keep all children in our school safe – it is the most important aspect of school life. If you have any concerns or worries about any children, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Safeguarding Leadership Team, via the school office.
Mr. Mark Rea (Chair of Governors) has oversight of the Safeguarding Leadership Team and can be contacted via the school office.
Alternatively, you can share your concern with Careline on 0151 233 3700.
In our school, one of our most important jobs is teaching our learners how to keep themselves safe. This could be in a wide range of different circumstances: road safety, sun safety, online safety and personal safety to name a few.
In school, our ‘PSHE & RSE’ curriculum includes key topics and messages that are covered in each year group (online safety is covered through our Computing curriculum). Some really important messages are included every year at an age appropriate level. We try our best to link these messages with other curriculum areas and accept any help from professionals, theatre companies and charitable organisations to help deliver these vital messages to our children.
In conjunction with Merseyside Police, our school is involved in an initiative called Operation Encompass. The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in, heard or witnessed a domestic abuse incident. Following such an incident, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset, worried and unprepared.
Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff (called Key Adults) are made aware early enough to support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe and included.
At our school, the Key Adults are Mrs. E. Garside (Designated Safeguarding Lead) and Mr. Garside (Headteacher).
This is a valuable initiative that means we can continue to support and help children and families within our school community when they need it most. If you have any questions about Operation Encompass please do not hesitate to contact our Key Adults.
As a parent or carer, if you are concerned about online activity, you can submit a report to CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre).
CEOP is here to help young people who are being approached online and being asked to chat about, or participate in , things that make them feel uncomfortable.
This might be someone:
- Chatting inappropriately about topics that make your child feel uncomfortable;
- Asking your child to do things that make them feel uncomfortable;
- Asking your child to do inappropriate things or show inappropriate parts of their body on a webcam;
- Asking your child to meet up with someone, who they have only met online;
- Asking for inappropriate pictures of your child;
- Making your child feel unsafe.
If you discover that any of these things have happened to your child, we urge you to report it to the CEOP team here.
As your child gets older, it is likely they’ll want a bit more independence – including walking to and from school without an adult. Walking to school with friends is a natural step (pardon the pun!) for them to take – but when is the right time to allow them to do this? Below is a document from the NSPCC that provides some useful tips and information.
The attachment below is a general advice leaflet (written by the NSPCC) for parents who are worried about their child. It includes some general steps to take to help resolve an issue: talk about bullying and cyber-bullying, know who can help them, help your child to relax and take time out and teaching them about online safety.
The NSPCC have put together the guide below to reassure you and give you the information and advice you’ll need to keep your child safe online. The internet’s an amazing place, so we want to help your child to get the most out of it and to do that safely. The guidance is actually really simple – it’s all about talking to your child, getting the family involved, and finding out what you can do.
Childnet.com have created SMART Rules, which are 5 simple rules to help children stay safe while online. They are clearly displayed all around school wherever children may be accessing the online world. If you would like to use and display the rules at home, download the link below.
There are a vast number of different devices that can now be used by children to access the online world and while there are many benefits to this children need to be educated (both in school and at home) regarding how to use these devices in a responsible and safe way. The UK Safer Internet Centre have produced some handy, easy-to-read leaflets that provide a variety of safety tips.
In school, we have adopted these rules and teach them to the children regularly as part of our PSHE and SRE curriculum. The aim of these rules is, ultimately, to help keep all children safe. These rules help teach children important messages about respecting their body, that it belongs to them; keeping private parts of their body private; ‘no means no’; and that talking to trusted adults about worries and secrets is important. Below are two attachments: a guide for parents and carers to support this NSPCC campaign to eliminate sexual abuse and a child friendly version of the rules.
For specific advice with regards to communicating these key messages to children with learning difficulties or autism please speak to Mr. M. Garside (Designate Safeguarding Lead) or Mrs. H. Gough (SENCo).
A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition or an addiction. If you’re a young carer, you probably look after one of your parents, or care for a brother or sister.
When you are looking after somebody, it can be tough: it can be difficult to find time to spend with your friends and it can be difficult to dedicate enough time to your school work.
If you are a young carer, or know somebody who is a young carer, there is lots of help and support that can be accessed. To learn more, you can make an appointment to speak to our school’s Young Carers’ Champion (Mr. Garside) or contact one of the organisations below who will be happy to help:
- Barnado’s (Liverpool) 0151 228 4455
- PSS (Peron Shaped Support) (Sefton) 0151 702 5502
- Youth Mutual (Knowsley) 0151 443 5323