Offer of Early Help
Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre will use the procedures and guidance set out in the ‘Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Handbook for Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) in Educational Settings’ GSCP We will follow the guidance contained in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ Sept 2022.
This school’s safeguarding policy needs to be read in conjunction with this document.
We recognise that there will be children and families who require additional support at different points as shown below.
When additional needs fall below the levels of intervention for Specialist support then we will follow the Early Help pathways set out in the following pages.
Gloucestershire
Our school will use the Graduated Pathway of Early Help and Support and Gloucestershire Levels of Intervention guidance to keep children safe and to help determine the level of support needed for children and families. We will intervene as early as possible to prevent families and students reaching crisis point and the need for statutory intervention.
We will also seek advice from our Early Help Co-Ordinator (Georgina Lewis) and/or The MASH (01452 426565) and refer to Early Help or Social Care when appropriate.
To access information on Gloucestershire’s Offer of Early Help visit: glosfamilies directory
Universal source of help for all families in Gloucestershire:
Gloucestershire Family Information Service (FIS) - advisors give impartial information on childcare, finances, parenting and education. FIS are a useful source of information for parents and professionals. They support families, children and young people aged 0-19 years of age (25 for young people with additional needs) and professionals working with those families. They can help to link parents up with other organisations that might help or provide information themselves e.g. signposting to holiday clubs across Gloucestershire.
Contact the FIS be emailing: familyinfo@gloucestershire.gov.uk or by 01452 427362.
Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children’s Board (GSCP): GSCP
This site is an important source of information for parents and professionals across Gloucestershire in relation to keeping children safe and avenues of support including early help options.
Monmouthshire
A significant proportion of our students live in Monmouthshire, Wales. We engage with Monmouthshire services in order to best support children and their families.
Monmouthshire Safeguarding Board
Universal source of help for all families in Monmouthshire:
Families First in Monmouthshire provides support to families with children who are facing difficulties, especially to those experiencing low-income.
Families First provides different types of support to the whole family depending on what your needs are, through projects, activities and training organised by parts of the council, charities and other organisations.
Team around the Family (TAF) is the largest element within Families First. TAF aims to provide families with a coordinated care plan offering multi-agency support to suit specific needs highlighted by the family. The TAF structure consists of the parent(s), a TAF worker and any other appropriate professionals who are involved in the child’s life, or who would be able to provide a service to the family. Email: jaff@monmouthshire.gov.uk or phone 01633 644152.
More details of services available can be found at:
Family Point Cymru / Monmouthshire / Monmouthshire Families First
At Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre:
- We will provide a supportive caring ethos where children are treated as individuals and their difficulties treated sensitively.
- Our offer of Early Help is always in partnership with parents/carers and we will build positive relationships with parents so they feel able to ask for help.
- Tutors, Heads of Year and Student Support Officers staff are available in a pastoral capacity should parents have a concern about anything other than individual lessons. Staff may not have the answer but will try to find out the answer or sign-post parents/other professionals in the right direction. The DSL and/or Deputy DSL will be involved either directly with parents/carers or via other staff where early help is considered an appropriate route.
- We will provide opportunities for children to express their concerns.
- We will keep logs of concerns to help us to identify patterns and tackle issues before they escalate.
- We will call in external agencies, including, CYPS, Teens in Crisis, Domestic Abuse Support to provide early intervention and support.
Our school preventative approach includes the following:
PSHEE curriculum: This comprehensive curriculum along with the RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) curriculum covers many aspects of keeping young people safe, healthy, resilient and aware of the world around them so that they can make informed decisions. Where students have specific issues that need discussing or addressing we will make their well-being curriculum bespoke to them. Other specific topics helping students stay safe covered within the curriculum include age appropriate content. PSHEE covers the following components:
Gender, identity and tolerance: preventing homophobic and transphobic bullying; preventing bullying of students from different types of families (e.g. same sex parents); avoiding anti-gay derogatory language; Gender identity - there isn’t such thing as a typical girl or a typical boy. Understanding and acceptance of others different from us, including those with different religions.
Drugs: Alcohol, smoking and illegal drugs; the legal and health perspectives.
Relationships: How to make and maintain friendship; family relationships; different types of families.
Healthy Living: Taking responsibility for managing your own health; Importance of sleep; the main components of healthy living (diet, exercise and wellbeing). All year groups from 7-11 have a weekly morning mile, in addition to PE lessons, to enable them to be more active and we have achieved the Healthy School Award in recognition of our work in this area.
E-safety: E-safety is a key part of the ongoing curriculum particularly and also covered in a variety of assemblies across the year groups. Information for parents is provided regularly via the Safeguarding Bulletin.
PACE (parents against child exploitation) UK is a useful website to engage parents with e-safety issue PACE - Parents against child sexual exploitation. The CEOP website: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command enables people to report online concerns directly to the police.
In addition to our PSHEE curriculum we use the following preventative approaches.
Partnership Working
We work with GHLL, GSCP, our PSCO and other agencies wherever possible to make our PSHEE curriculum varied and robust.
Bullying (including cyber-bullying)/child death/suicide prevention
We are committed to tackling bullying. We want to know immediately if there any issues with bullying at school so that it can be addressed. We deal promptly with reported incidents in line with our Anti Bullying and Behaviour Policies. We have access to a series of teaching resources produced by the Gloucestershire healthy living and Learning Team (Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning) to support this. In serious cases of bullying parents should contact the police; particularly if there are threats involved. In an emergency call 999. Other sources of help and advice are:
Bullying UK - part of family lives
We are actively promoting the Gloucestershire ‘Nobody Understands’ strand by:
- Sticker campaign
- Posters around school including the backs of toilet cubicle doors
- Printing details on the back of counselling and wellbeing worker appointment cards
Substance Abuse concerns
We offer bespoke services such a counselling, working with an intervention mentor or with our volunteer wellbeing worker to individual students with identified additional needs.
Mental health concerns. The following services may be offered.
- Referral to school nurse, school counsellor or with our volunteer wellbeing worker
- Referral to CYPS (mental health services) need to be made via your own GP
- For children/young people/adults with existing mental health difficulties concerns should be discussed with the existing medical professionals (consultant psychiatrists). In an emergency call 999 or 111.
Domestic Abuse (DA)
If a child or young person is suspected of living at home with a domestically abusive parent or if a young person has domestic abuse in their own relationship then a referral should be made to the MASH (children’s helpdesk tel: 01452 426565). The response will vary according to the age of the young person so that the appropriate agencies are involved.
Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service - GDASS
We are working towards the implementation of ‘Operations Encompass’ which provides support after an incident of DA has been recorded, using the School Pathway flowchart.
Teenage relationship abuse
Please see comment about the Domestic Abuse pathway for educational settings above. All violence or suspected violence should be reported the police and/or social care as appropriate. GDASS (Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service) can be referred to for support.
Addendum
The list below contains useful contacts that can be used to gain advice. These will be relevant for cases that go beyond Level 1 Universal and will most likely be for Level 3 Intensive and Level 4 Specialist.
Child Exploitation (CE) – includes Sexual (CSE) and Criminal (CCE)
We will use the GSCP CE screening tool where appropriate.
Clear information about Warning signs, the screening tool and Gloucestershire's multi-agency protocol for safeguarding children at risk of CE are at GSCP. Referrals should be made to Gloucestershire social care and the Gloucestershire Police.
Gloucestershire Police CE Team:
The CE team sits within the Public Protection Bureau (Central Referral Unit – 01242 24799)
Further information for parents: PACE Uk
MARAC Gloucestershire Constabulary: Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) prioritise the safety of victims who have been risk assessed at high or very high risk of harm. The MARAC is an integral part of the Specialist Domestic Violence Court Programme, and information will be shared between the MARAC and the Courts, in high and very high risk cases, as part of the process of risk management. We are working towards the implementation of ‘Operation Encompass’ under the auspices of Gloucestershire Local Authority.
Fabricated and induced illness (FII)
Conditions/Fabricated or induced illness for information on behaviours and motivation behind FII. Any professionals suspecting FII must involve the Police, Social Care and follow child protection procedures as necessary.
Faith abuse
Visit National Action Plan to Tackle Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief for copy of DfE document ‘national action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief.’
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
School staff have a legal duty to refer any concerns to Gloucestershire Police (101) themselves. The DSL will offer support as required.
Conditions female genital mutilation for NHS information and signs of FGM. Any suspicion of FGM MUST be referred to the Police and social care.
E-learning package- fgmelearning.co.uk for interested staff or professionals (free home office e-learning) Posters/leaflets on FGM shared with staff and students.
Forced marriage
UK Forced Marriage Unit fmu@fco.gov.uk Telephone: 020 7008 151 Call 999 (police) in an emergency.
Stop Forced Marriage for information on Forced Marriage. Visit Home Office website to undertake Forced Marriage e-learning package Forced Marriage. GSCB one day Awareness training delivered by Infobuzz - GSCB
Please see ‘Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines- Handling cases of Forced Marriage’ for more information and detail - You have the right to choose.
All staff must be aware that they may only have one chance to speak to a potential victim and thus they may only have one chance to save a life. If the victim is allowed to walk out of the door without support being offered, that one chance might be wasted.
Gangs and youth Violence
Contact the Avenger Task Force, Gloucestershire Police (tel: 101).A task force setup to identify potential gang members as vulnerable individuals and potential victims and aims to help them.
Prevention: wellbeing curriculum – self-esteem & identity, law & order and considering impact of violence on communities.
Gender-based violence/violence against women and girls (WAWG)
FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is violence against women and girls.
Hope House SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre): 01452 754390
Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre: 01452 526770
Honour based violence (HBV)
The police have made it a high priority to help communities fight back to tackle both honour-based violence and hate crime. The ‘Honour Network Helpline’:
0800 5 999 247 Gloucestershire Police - 101.
Mental health
CYPS (Gloucestershire children’s mental health services). Consultant psychiatrists. PSHCE / SMSC curriculum – emotional wellbeing, stress management
Private fostering
Private Fostering Gloucestershire County council website information on private fostering. Refer to Gloucestershire Children & Families Helpdesk on 01452 426565.
Private fostering is defined in the Children Act 1989 and occurs when a child or young person under the age of 16 (under 18 if disabled) is cared for and provided with accommodation, for 28 days or more, by someone who is not their parent, guardian or a close relative. (Close relatives are defined as; step-parents, siblings, brothers or sisters of parents or grandparents).
Radicalisation
Gloucestershire Constabulary: 101
LADO Nigel Hatten
Anti-Terrorist Hotline: 0800 789 321
Prevention: Wyedean School teaches traditional British values through the curriculum: democracy, rule of law, respect for others, liberty, tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and promotion of ‘Britishness’.
Sexting
Trafficking
This is a serious crime which must be reported to Nigel Hatten (Gloucestershire LADO) and the Gloucestershire Police. Trafficking can include a young person being moved across the same street to a different address for the purpose of exploitation. It doesn’t have to include people, children or young people being moved great distances.
Missing Persons Co-Ordinator, Gloucestershire Police (Tel: 101)
GSCP Missing Children Protocol
Anyone concerned that a child is missing education(CME) can make a referral to the Education Inclusion Service(EIS) at Gloucestershire County Council.
Tel: 01452426960/427360.
Children Missing Education (CME) refers to 'any child of compulsory school age who is not registered at any formally approved education activity e.g. school, alternative provision, elective home education, and has been out of education provision for at least 4 weeks'. CME also includes those children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown), and are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who is not at their last known address and either: has not taken up an allocated school place as expected, or has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation, or left school suddenly and the destination is unknown. It is the responsibility of the Education Inclusion Service (EIS), on behalf of the Local Authority (LA), to: Collate information on all reported cases of CME / persistent absence of statutory school aged children in Gloucestershire maintained schools, academies, free schools, alternative provision academies and Alternative Provision Schools (APS). The EIS Team will also liaise with partner agencies and other LAs and schools across Britain to track students who may be missing education and ensure each child missing education is offered full time education within 2 weeks of the date the LA was informed.
Please click HERE to view the Early Help offer for both Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire.
Wyedean's Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy