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Safeguarding At St. John’s

At St. John’s nothing is more important than the safety of the children. All staff, governors, volunteers and our community have a responsibility for the health, safety and wellbeing of our children.

As a school we are committed to safeguarding all our pupils and promoting their welfare, this means:

  • protecting children from maltreatment
  • preventing impairment of children’s health or development
  • ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
  • taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

To this end we have a clear and well understood safeguarding policy in place available on our policies page. We have a child-centered approach and will always act in the best interests of each child. St. John’s Primary School is clear that radicalisation and extremism should be viewed as a safeguarding concern and that staff and governors have explicit responsibilities to safeguard children from the risk of being influenced by extremist groups.

All staff are alert to the potential dangers of institutional complacency and/or suspended professional disbelief – ‘it could not happen here’.

If we have any concerns about your child’s welfare we will discuss it with you. If we ever have any child protection concerns we will inform you prior to making a referral to an external agency, unless we feel that doing so may put a child at greater risk. We want to work with you to ensure your child’s safety and to help each family to get the support it needs.

Keeping Children Safe is Everyone’s Responsibility.

Raising Concerns, Getting Help

Are You Concerned about a Child?

If you have any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child then please contact the school using safeguarding@stjohnsprimary.org.uk or you can contact the school and ask for:

  • The Head Teacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Mr Justin Hoye      

 

  • The LRR Deputy and Deputy DSL: Mr Tony Weir

  • The WR Deputy and Deputy DSL: Mrs Ali Vining

However, you can talk to any member of staff and they will guide you in how to proceed.

We also have a governor responsible for safeguarding who can be contacted via email governors@stjohnsprimary.org.uk or ask at the school office.

  • Safeguarding Governor: Mrs Caroline Davenport

Alternatively, you may ring the local authority First Response Team on 0117 9036444 or via this link: www.bristol.gov.uk/firstresponse

First Response Children’s services leaflet

First Response Video

The NSPCC also offer a free (from a landline) 24 hour helpline number: 0800 800 5000

For non-emergency serious concerns you could ring the Police on 101

In an EMERGENCY you should always ring 999

Do you need help and support?

If you are a child and worried about something then it is good to talk to an adult in school who you trust. You might be worried about growing up, bullying, problems with your family or at school; whatever it is, there is always someone at school you can talk to. You could also talk to Childline, they offer advice and you don’t have to tell them who you are. The telephone call is free from a landline, just dial 0800 1111 or go to their website; there’s also a helpful video below.

If you need advice about how to talk to your child about radicalisation, hate crimes or extremism take a look at this website.

For parents/carers, firstly please come and talk to us. Sharing a concern or a difficulty you, your child or your family are having is really important. If anything is happening that may affect your child then it is essential that someone at school knows so we can support them effectively. We can often put you in touch with organisations that can help, alternatively you can ring First Response or any of the numbers above yourself.

Keeping Children Safe is Everyone’s Responsibility.

Online Safety

Welcome to our page dedicated to online safety.

The Internet and its effective use is an essential life skill, which is fast becoming an important part of learning across the curriculum. We recognise that unmediated internet access brings with it the possibility of placing pupils in embarrassing, inappropriate and even dangerous situations.

At St John’s we have a range of security measures to ensure all pupils are safeguarded. All pupils receive e-Safety education at school and are taught how to get the most from this valuable resource.

It is also important to recognise that e-Safety is a whole school community safeguarding responsibility and we are committed to helping parents/carers in supporting their children use the internet in a safe and rewarding way.

We will continue to update this page with information to help support you and your children so come back often to see what new information there is.

If you have a specific question or worry regarding staying safe online contact Mrs Hood, Ducklings Class teacher, if you have a safeguarding concern please email safeguarding@stjohnsprimary.org.uk and this will go directly to senior leaders responsible for safeguarding.

e-Safety at Home

It is advised that parents/carers talk to their children about how they can use the internet in a safe manner at home. Please see the further information section below for advice and guidance on how to do this.

Remember, that whilst you can educate your child on the safest way to use the internet, it is impossible to make tools such as search engines 100% safe. It is therefore important that you encourage your child to report a problem to yourself or the school.

To be aware – devices with a camera

It has been to brought to our attention by Avon and Somerset Online safety support, that cameras on devices are easily hacked.  Apparently, hackers are able to turn off the indicator light that makes people aware that cameras are being used.  Please make sure cameras are covered on your children’s devices, especially if used in bedrooms or bathrooms.  A simple piece of blue tac can be used, some devices have sliders that you can pull across or you can buy a sticker with slider if your device does not have one.  

New advice on Pokémon Go and Campfire

Pokemon Go and Campfire – What you need to know 

In brief, Pokemon Go is a game which gets you out and about whilst using your phone to find Pokemon. This game is recommended for those over the age of 13 and we would not recommend it for any primary age children.  We do know that parents and carers play this as a family and this can be a safe way to use the app.

Other measures to stay safe when using this as a family are:

  • talk about the privacy and safety implications of a game like Pokémon GO
  •  Discuss ways to play securely together:
    •  keeping the app updated,
    • setting up a separate email account just for gaming
    • using a made-up display name
    •  turning off location tracking when you’re not playing
    •  avoiding signing in through social media accounts

A new app called ‘Campfire’ has been recently released in the UK and works in conjunction with Pokemon Go and other apps.  This app allows users to find new friends, share direct messages with people and join communities. It is mainly used to find people to take part in battle raids.  Users can ‘light a flare’ to let others know you are planning a battle raid and this will allow others to see your Niantic ID, your username, and your real-time location including how long it would take to reach you. We would not recommend these apps for children’s devices as they pose a huge safety risk.

 

Further Information

General Advice for Parents

https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers  Childnet’s mission is to work in partnership with others around the world to help make the internet a great and safe place for children. The website has great resources for parents/carers and children.

https://www.2simple.com/free-stuff/digital-parenting/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/#children  Children are told it’s good to share, but sharing too much online can be dangerous. The NSPCC have got simple advice on how to keep children safe in the digital world.

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/  Information for both children and parents and carers.  Come in to find the latest information on the sites you like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it.

Roblox Checklist

TikTok Checklist

 

Parental controls:

https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/

Internet Matters is a new online portal designed for parents to access simple, easy and practical advice about online safety for their children, right through from pre-school to teens. It provides tips on protecting children from online grooming, cyberbullying, privacy and identity theft and inappropriate content.

There are handy, easy to read guides on privacy settings and screen time. We strongly suggest checking your child’s privacy settings so you know who can send them messages, view their profile, see their location as well as add them to groups.  These guides give you five top tips, latest statistics and help you in setting rules that suit your family.

Learning more about specific apps, games and videos:

 https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

In order to keep children safe, it is important to have regular conversations with them to ask what they are enjoying playing online.  If there is an app you are unsure, they should be playing Common Sense Media is a good site to use to find out more.

Advice for pupils to look at with a parent/carer:

https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/young-people/resources-for-3-11s

KS2 Pupils with a parent/carer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/44074704

Discuss online bullying with your child

 https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/cyberbullying-advice-for-parents-and-carers

Reporting to the Child exploitation and Online Protection team:

https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/

For up-to-date news Online Safety issues as they happen:

 https://parentzone.org.uk/

Keeping your child safer out of school:

Child Protection Leaflet (June 2018)

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