Introduction

Highworth Warneford School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This is the school’s number one priority.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children means:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

The school has a whole-school safeguarding policy and associated procedures in place to ensure that any issues are dealt with efficiently and appropriately. All staff, visitors, contractors and volunteers are made aware of our procedures.

Useful Contacts

If you are ever concerned about the safety or wellbeing of your child or another young person, you can always contact the school and ask to speak to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

You can also contact the Local Authority’s Safeguarding Hub directly.

Some Resources

The NSPCC has lots of useful resources for parents. Links to some of these are below:

Home alone guide
Helps parents decide when it is safe to leave their children home alone and how to choose a babysitter or childminder.

Out alone 
Helps parents decide if a child is ready to be out on their own and gives advice on preparing them for different situations such as walking to and from school by themselves, attending sports or holiday clubs, or going out to play with friends.

Positive parenting
Gives advice on setting boundaries for children, building relationships with them and keeping cool when children’s behaviour is challenging.

Supporting a child who has mental health problems and/or suicidal thoughts

What parents can do about self-harm

Online safety information for parents

Advice on talking to children about drugs and alcohol

Help talking about difficult topics

Helping children deal with divorce and separation

Good mental health is essential for the wellbeing of all learners. You may find the information found on the Young Minds website useful.

Child sexual exploitation can happen anywhere. You may find the information through the Pace UK website of interest, as we seek to protect the young people in our collective care.

As a Swindon school, students at Warneford can access Kooth, an online counselling and emotional wellbeing support service for children and young people that is available free at the point of use. As an early intervention solution, Kooth helps to reduce waiting times for young people seeking help while removing the stigma associated with accessing mental health support.

Keeping Safe Online

The Internet is an incredible resource, which enables young people to connect, communicate, and be creative in lots of different ways. However, technology is always changing and it can be difficult to know whether your child is safe. It is natural for them to want to experiment and have freedom but they still need advice and protection when it comes to managing their lives online.

If used incorrectly, social media in particular can be very problematic and a potential source of bullying and a cause of mental health issues.