Safeguarding

Introduction

Safeguarding means:

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

We consider it to be a whole school priority which is the foundation of everything we do. It includes child protection, health care plans, health and safety, site security, anti-bullying work, pastoral care and more.

The school adheres to the following three DFE safeguarding documents:

All staff receive regular Child Protection and Safeguarding training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within the school. If any members of the school or local community have concerns about the welfare of a child in the school, please pass them on to the School Safeguarding Team.

Contacting the school about a Safeguarding Concern

  • Please phone the school on 01773 825281 and ask for the safeguarding team (listed below)
  • If it is out of school hours, please contact “Call Derbyshire” on 01629 533190

Safeguarding Team

  • SLT Safeguarding Oversight: Gavin Brookes (Assistant Headteacher/Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead)
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Rachael Brown 
  • Wellbeing Mentor: Nic Jones
  • Designated Teacher for Looked after Children: Gavin Brookes (Assistant Headteacher/Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead)
  • Designated Lead for Anti-Bullying: John McCleery
  • Designated Link Governor for Safeguarding:  Marie-Lou Tidmarsh

Keeping young individuals safe near the railways

Parents/carers may wish to view Network Rail’s safety video on educating students about the dangers of train tracks.   You can view this by clicking here …  Please note that you will have to register on the Learn Live website in order to view the video.

Out of hours safeguarding at Belper School and 6th form

To communicate with the safeguarding and wellbeing team out of normal school hours please use the email address cp@belperschool.co.uk. We will get back to you as soon as possible but this may not be until the next school day.  

During term time the main office is open until 3.45 (3.15 on a Friday) for phone communication and concerns can be put through to the safeguarding and wellbeing team until then.

During school holidays the cp@belperschool.co.uk email is not looked at on a daily basis but will be managed at various times during the holiday period.  A member of the team will return an email concern as soon as they are able.

If you feel that a child is in immediate danger please contact 999.

If you are concerned that a child is suffering or is at risk of significant harm please call Starting Point Derbyshire on 01629 533190. 

National Helplines

These are national help lines and websites for young people in crisis:

CATCH 22 are a local organisation who are offering free webinars on the issue of County Lines, specifically for parents.

Eventbrite links for Catch 22 County Lines Parent/Carer only Webinar taking place on the following dates

Thursday 21st November 2024 – 12pm- 1.30pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1070723124689?aff=oddtdtcreator

Thursday 21st November 2024 – 6pm – 7pm  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1070741800549?aff=oddtdtcreator

Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy

The school safeguarding / child protection policy is reviewed and updated regularly and complies with all relevant national guidance. Click here to go to our policies page

Online Safety

To view/download our On-line Safety Policy, please click here …

Click here for further guidance on Snapchat

Sextortion

Sextortion is a form of online exploitation where perpetrators, often using a false identity, manipulate and coerce individuals into sharing nude images or engaging in sexual acts on camera.

After the explicit imagery is captured by the abuser, it is used to blackmail the individual into sending more images, money, or in some cases, into recruiting more victims.

Children are highly susceptible to becoming victims of sextortion owing to the vast amount of time spent in online spaces, making them prime targets to be abused.

Over 60,000 reports were made in 2022 relating to imagery of children aged 7-10 who had been groomed, coerced or tricked into performing sexually on camera by an online predator.

Source: IWF

Advice for parents

https://www.iwf.org.uk/resources/sextortion/

https://ineqe.com/2023/07/10/what-is-sextortion/

https://parentsafe.lgfl.net/home