Safeguarding

What does Safeguarding mean?

 

At Gibside School, we all have a duty of care to our pupils to keep them safe from harm and abuse. Our approach to safeguarding is child-centred where pupils’ best interests, welfare and safety are considered at all times.

 

Everyone in the school has a safeguarding role. All staff, volunteers and governors receive full annual safeguarding training and regular updates throughout the year. Everyone at Gibside School is vigilant to any signs of abuse and maltreatment of pupils and follow the reporting procedures specified in our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy.

Our fully trained Safeguarding Team deal with any reports and concerns, provide training, support and guidance and work in partnership with a range of agencies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our pupils.

 

Online Safety

More and more children are accessing the internet and from earlier ages, the use of the internet can provide exciting and positive experiences but it can also be fraught with risks and dangers.  Therefore, we all have a role to play to keep every child safe online, to give them the appropriate resources and tools to know how to keep themselves safe.

At Gibside School, the internet use on computers and tablets system is filtered and monitored so pupils are at less risk of accessing any inappropriate content.

Within the school curriculum, pupils are taught how to stay safe online and how to use devices safely. Staff oversee and direct pupils to use specific websites, apps and programmes which are appropriate and safe to use.  Pupils are also encouraged to report anything that is inappropriate to a trusted adult including any cyberbullying.

 

What can I do to support my child?

Parents and carers play a key role in supporting children to learn about how to stay safe online, and they are one of the first people children turn to if things go wrong.  We know it can be difficult to stay on top of the wide range of sites and devices that young people use, so we hope that the following advice helps.

• Have ongoing conversations with your children about staying safe online. The ‘Be SMART Online’ poster may help you with this
• Supervise your child’s use or carry out spot checks on the devices that your children use, looking at images, videos, and social media
• Use safety tools on social networks and other online services, e.g. Facebook privacy settings
• Decide if you want to use parental controls on your home internet
• Understand devices and the parental control tools they offer
• Insist your child does not to accept unknown friend requests.