Safeguarding

  • Mrs Ashleigh Tubbs

    Designated Safeguarding Lead

  • Mrs Emma Williams

    Deputy Safeguarding Lead

Safeguarding is the responsibility of us all. We work with a wide range of agencies to support our pupils safety and welfare, ensuring that they do not come to any harm. If you have any concerns about the welfare of a child at our school please see the contact details below:
 
The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for our school is:
Ashleigh Tubbs ashleigh.tubbs@thelink.academy  

The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for our school is: 
Emma Williams Emma.Williams@thelink.academy
 
Contact Telephone Number for any Safeguarding concerns 01297680339
 
Should the above be unavailable for any reason, please contact one of the other DSLs within our Trust:
 
Bearnes - Tracy Hoare 01626 353980
Broadhembury - Jemma Harvey-Jones 01404 841304
Broadhempston - Karen Barlow 01803 812689 
Cheriton Bishop – Alex Cross 01647 24817
Diptford – Holly Edgington 01548 821352
Drakes - Pete Halford 01395 443871
Farway - Ashleigh Tubbs 01404 871239
Harbertonford – Jack Pemberton 01803 732352
Hennock - Sarah Reddington 01626 833233
Ilsington – Kat Williams 01364 661208
Landscove – Jill Ryder 01803 762656
Littleham - Tom Paddon 01395 266535
Morchard Bishop - Sam Butler 01363 877328
Moretonhampstead – Alex Waterman 01647 440482
Otterton - Anne Pelosi 01395 568326
Sparkwell - Francesca McLoughlin 01752 878855
Stoke Gabriel – Alice Eeles 01803 782469
Tedburn St Mary – Louise Warren 01647 61338
Widecombe – Anthony Arnold 01364 621261
Wolborough - Tracy Hoare 01626 202050
Woodbury Salterton - Jemma Harvey-Jones 01395 232649
Yeoford – Chris Martin 01363 84234
Operation Encompass
We are very pleased that we are now linked to the Operation Encompass Scheme. 

Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.

The information is given in strict confidence to a school’s Key Adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.

Further information about the scheme is included in the poster and letter below and also on the Operation Encompass website.

 http://www.operationencompass.org 

eSafety Resources

Please click on the links below for information and ideas about how to keep your child safe online.

ThinkuKnow

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. If you look after young people there’s an area for you too – with resources you can use in the classroom, at home or just to get with it. Most importantly, there’s also a place which anyone can use to report if they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they're chatting to online.

Other Useful Web Sites for Parents

www.childnet-int.org - A non-profit making organisation working directly with children, parents and teachers to ensure that the issues of online child protection and children’s safe and positive use of the internet are addressed. Childnet International produce an online CD guide specifically for parents KnowITAll - www.childnet-int.org/kia/

www.getsafeonline.org/ A beginners guide to using the Internet safety, including a quiz and some video tutorials about how to ‘stay safe’ on-line.

www.kidsmart.org.uk/ - Kidsmart is an award winning internet safety website for parents and those working with children.  It has been developed  by the children's internet charity Childnet International and has excellent information on many of the technologies used by children, with guidance on how to ‘stay safe’ online.

www.bullying.co.uk - One in five young people have experienced bullying by text message or via email. This web site gives advice for children and parents on bullying.

www.chatdanger.com/ - This website is about the potential dangers with interactive services online like chat, IM, online games, email and on mobiles.  It provides information, advice, true stories and games. The resource page also contains a number of links to other useful websites.

https://www.internetmatters.org/

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ (especially good for advice on different websites and applications)

http://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

 

In addition there are a number of useful guides here: https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides

Reporting Online Abuse

The Child Exploitation and On-Line Protection Command (CEOP) is a branch of the National Crime Agency.

If you are you worried about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communicating online you can file a report with one of their Child Protection Advisers. www.ceop.police.uk

 

 

Further Advice

Parents can help protect their children online with these tips based on advice from  the NSPCC and CEOP:

  • Regularly talk with them to find out what sites they are visiting and what applications they like to use to talk with friends.
  • Keep your son/daughter's computer in a communal area such as a living room. Never let them keep it in their bedroom. If possible, do not allow younger pupils to have a webcam on their personal computer.
  • Agree to keep phones/tablets in the living room overnight (rather than in their bedrooms).
  • Ideally negotiate being given your son/daughter's password(s) (perhaps kept in a sealed envelope).
  • Discuss the dangers of giving out information online. Not only in webchats or emails but on any personal profiles. Information can sometimes be read or downloaded without their knowledge, such as personal photographs they have posted of themselves as part of their profile including information on where the photo was taken.
  • Tell your child to be honest about their age and tell them they must never lie to gain access to popular networking sites aimed at over 16s.
  • Ask your son/daughter to explain/show their current privacy settings to you for the websites and applications they use. Both Childnet and Net Aware have regularly updated advice on best practice privacy settings for all major websites and applications.

National Anti-Bullying Week 

As part of this year’s National Anti-Bullying campaign, the children of Branscombe CE Primary School considered how they and those around them could use their “Power for Good” to stop bullying from happening. The children considered different types of bullying and the impact these can have and they thought about the roles of teachers, parents, children and others in preventing bullying from happening. The children of Class 1 then made posters about these different types of bullying, with the message to “Stop Bullying” and the children of Class 2 worked in pairs or groups to create a comic-style storyboard about different bullying scenarios and how people might use their power for good to stop these from happening or bring an end to bullying. 

Safer Internet Day 

Class 2 celebrated Safer Internet Day  by completing a range of activities around the theme of "The Power of Image". The children discussed the first impressions they might get of someone from a picture. They looked at different images to recognise how seeing part of a picture can distort our view of what is happening. They explored a range of images to discuss which were real and which were fake and noticed that it can sometimes be quite hard to tell when images have been altered. They looked at images and talked about how sometimes these can give people personal information about the subject. They discussed the importance of seeking permission before taking photographs of people and checking how these can be used and also the importance of being careful with images of themselves. Finally, the children were challenged to consider images that they might post online to represent themselves, without giving away any personal information that may not be safe. 

Internet Safety

On Thursday 10th May, the Key Stage 2 children of Branscombe Church of England Primary School were visited by former police officer Gary Gates to support their learning about internet safety. Gary, who used to be involved as a police officer in identifying and addressing dangers on the Internet, led first the Year 3 and 4 children and then the Year 6 children in workshops, in which he discussed with the children what they knew about the Internet. “I never say not to use the Internet”, Gary remarked, “as I think it is a wonderful thing”. However, in the course of the quizzes, conversations and stories that he shared with the children, there were some clear messages for them about how to be wise and careful and avoid any threats to their safety caused by communicating with unknown people on the Internet or sharing personal information. In the after-school session for parents, there were also some cautionary tales, including a clear message to read terms and conditions carefully. Gary set the children homework to ask their parents if they were aware that any images posted on Facebook become the property of the website. He advised parents also against allowing the children unsupervised access to sites such as Youtube. To the children, Gary’s message was that they need to take care of their own safety on the Internet and could also help to protect members of their family, such as younger siblings. He left the children with the slogan, “Think before you click, think before you tap, think before you post, think before you share.”