Are you concerned about a child?
Acting quickly can make all the difference.
If you think a child might be suffering neglect or abuse, it can be difficult to know what to do. But your action is vital in making sure that child gets the help they need.
To contact the school, call 01323 870203 and ask to speak with one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads or email dsl@alfriston.e-sussex.sch.uk.
If you are concerned about a child in East Sussex call SPOA (Single Point Of Advice) on 01323 464222.
For serious out of hour concerns which cannot wait until the next day, contact the Emergency Duty Service on 01273 335906 or 01273 335905.
You may also find information on the East Sussex County Council Children and Families page.
If you think the child is in immediate danger, you should call the police on 999.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our children are discussed with parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty and mutual respect
- Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
- warning signs of danger
- how parents should talk to children about extremism
- steps a concerned parent can take
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur in which a child was present, ordinarily resides at the incident location or with an involved party. We know that children can be significantly affected through witnessing or being exposed to domestic abuse and this operation will allow us to better support our pupils and their families.
A nominated member of staff, known as a Key Adult, will be trained to liaise with the police. At Alfriston School our Key Adult is our safeguarding lead, Lindsey Hudson. She will be able to use information that has been shared with her, in confidence, to ensure that the right support is available should it be required by a child and/or their family.
Please click on the link to go to the Operation Encompass website, which has more information on the initiative.
https://www.operationencompass.org/
Keeping Children Safe Online
Children today live in a digital world. The development of digital technology and the Internet has revolutionised how children (and adults) live their lives. Used appropriately this technology improves and enhances their lives in many ways. It also, however, presents opportunities for unacceptable behaviour and criminality among a small minority of people. We specifically teach all our children Online Safety via our curriculum.
The continuing development of ‘Smartphones’ and mobile Internet devices means that children can be ‘online’ at all times, which further highlights the need for children, young people and parents to be aware of the dangers and how best to stay safe while enjoying the benefits of digital technology.
We ensure that they use this knowledge and the skills they have learnt across the whole curriculum as well as equipping them to be confident in applying these in their every day lives.
Harmful Sexual Behaviour
Harmful sexual behaviour by children and young people includes a range of behaviours in a variety of situations and can be defined as: – “Sexual behaviours expressed by children and young people under the age of 18 years old that are developmentally inappropriate, may be harmful towards self or others, or be abusive towards another child, young person or adult” (Hackett 2014).
Children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour should be identified at the earliest opportunity and their behaviour addressed in order to both meet their needs and to protect other children.
It is important to remember that children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviours may themselves have considerable unmet needs. For some the manifestation of harmful sexual behaviours may be as a direct result of suffering abuse themselves.
Our school follows the East Sussex Protocol for managing child on child harmful sexual behaviour in schools, settings and colleges. This protocol and toolkit provides professionals with guidance about how to identify such behaviours and how to respond to them.
Each class has a worry box to help our children share any worries or thoughts they might have but find it tricky to talk about. These are checked daily and acted on appropriately by the class teacher /teaching assistant.
Pupil Voice
We believe that our children are the most important people and we endeavour to give ALL children lots of opportunities to share their thoughts and opinions and play an active role in the decisions that affect their learning and well-being.
Children are encouraged to speak out and talk to a trusted adult if they are worried or concerned about anything.
