Dear Parents / Carers

We want to assure you of our absolute commitment to creating a happy and safe environment for all members of our academy community. We work closely with students, their parents and carers in order to ensure that our young people are safe both inside and outside of school.

Students are taught how to keep themselves safe through PSHE lessons, tutorials and other wider experiences such as taking part in workshops, and assemblies. At Rushey Mead we aim to ensure that all students learn how to keep themselves safe both on and off-line, how to have safe and healthy relationships and how to avoid exploitation.

The academy has a statutory responsibility to share any concerns it might have about a child in need of protection with other agencies and in particular with the Police, Children’s Services and Health. Schools are not able to investigate concerns but have a legal duty to refer any concerns that they do have on to the most relevant agency. In most instances, we will be able to inform the parents/carer of its need to make a referral and will ensure that the parent/carer is fully informed of the action that the school has taken. However, on occasions we may be advised by Children’s Social Care or by the Police that the parent/carer cannot be informed whilst they investigate the matter. We understand the anxiety parents/carers understandably feel when they are not told about any concerns from the outset. The school follows legislation that aims to act in the best interests of the child.

Mr Andrew Curran
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Email: [email protected]

If you have concerns about the wellbeing of a child, please contact us via the school’s reception on 0116 2663730, asking for a member of the Safeguarding Team. Alternatively, you can email us: [email protected].  Please note, this email address is not manned 24 hours a day and is therefore not suitable for emergencies.

In the event of a serious concern outside of school hours you should contact: Children’s Social Care (CASP): 0116 4541005 or the Police 101/999.

Key Information for Parents

Keeping Children Safe in Education- Information for Parents/ Carers Letter 2024

KCSIE- Parents/ Carers

 

Online Safety

It can be hard for parents to keep up with new technologies, and just thinking about keeping children safe online can seem daunting.

The main dangers children and their parents need to be aware of are: cyber bullying, grooming by sexual predators and the problems of posting personal or embarrassing information online.

It is important to remember that the internet is a fun and valuable place for children to play and learn, and the vast majority of the time using the internet is a fantastic experience for millions of children.

However there can be hidden dangers. On the internet people can be instantly connected and you cannot always be sure you are talking to the person you think you are. It is also worth remembering, once something is posted on the internet it is almost impossible to remove and so personal or embarrassing material can be seen by anyone, anywhere.

We shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the negatives, remember the internet is a great resource for children. It is important that we give them space to explore the internet, so they can learn to keep themselves safe.

Advice for parents of 11-13 year olds

Advice for parents of 14+ year olds

10 tips for keeping your children safe online

  • Talk regularly with your child about what they do online and who they talk to online.  You need to make internet safety a comfortable topic to talk about.
  • Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal information online, particularly to friends that they do not know offline.
  • Explain to your children what personal information means: email address, address, mobile or phone number, school name, clubs and societies, where their parents are, making arrangements for meeting up and any pictures or videos of themselves, their family or friends, etc. Small pieces of information can easily be pieced together to give a picture of themselves and their activities.
  • Help your child to understand that some people lie online and that therefore it is better to keep online friends online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
  • Make them understand that once information or photos are posted online it’s impossible to take them back, anyone can see them and anyone can share them.
  • Put computers in public parts of your house, and particularly don’t allow computers to be used hidden away in bedrooms. It’s important to give children access to computers, but it’s also important to make sure you can see what they are doing.
  • If your child, or you, receives spam or junk email and texts, make sure they know that their contents should not be believed, that you should never reply or forward them and attached files shouldn’t be opened. It’s impossible to know what they contain, it could be a virus or an inappropriate image or video.
  • Make sure your children choose their screen name, email address & chat handle wisely – don’t use ones that reveal age, gender, etc and it’s important that they know the danger of using suggestive or sexy names. Predators are more likely to pursue a child with the screen name “sexyteen” or “niceboy1” than “jellyfish” or “jkjones”.
  • Make sure your children know that it is never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable, and make sure they know who to go to (and be aware that at first it may not be you).
  • Use technology to help you protect your child. Monitoring software can alert you to let you know your child might be getting into trouble.  Make sure they know you don’t see everything, only snippets of potentially dangerous conversations.  Use these to step in if needed and also to help you talk to your child about the dangers of what they are doing.

10 tips to help your child

stay safe online

County lines parent factsheet

Cyberflashing parent factsheet

Early Help – information to parents Save

Fake news parent factsheet

Fortnite parent factsheet I

Instagram parent factsheet

Loot boxes skins betting parent factsheet

Minecraft parent factsheet

Snapchat parent factsheet

TikTok parent factsheet

Twitch parent factsheet

WhatsApp parent factsheet

Your child’s screen time parent guide

YouTube Kids parent factsheet

YouTube parent factsheet

Our school is an Operation Encompass School.

Operation Encompass is a joined-up approach between police and schools to help to share information regarding Domestic Violence incidents to help schools to take immediate action to support a child when they return to school.  Operation Encompass will also provide information connected to incidents where a child has gone missing or where they have experienced other difficulties in the home likely to impact on them and their wellbeing.

Operation Encompass ensures that there is a telephone call or email notification to a school’s trained to the DSL, (usually Mr Curran) , prior to the start of the next school day after an incident.  This sharing of information enables appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputies have undertaken training in connection with Domestic Violence, Missing Episodes, and the role of Operation Encompass.

Letter

Poster- English

Poster- Gujarati

Finally, remember children learn by exploring and that the world they live in includes the internet.  You can help by making sure they learn in safety, by being there for them when they need you and by pointing them in the right direction if and when they need your guidance.

For more information visit the CEOPS website.

If you have any questions or concerns with regard to e safety please contact your child’s Assistant Head of Year or Mrs Chohan . Email: [email protected]