At West Lancashire Community High School we take our responsibilities to protect and safeguard the interests of all children in our care extremely seriously. Our role in protecting children and young people from exploitation and abuse cannot be underestimated.
It is well established that effective child protection requires sound procedures, good inter-agency co-operation and a workforce which is competent and confident in recognising and responding to child protection situations. To this end we teach our students to be digitally resilient, to understand how to keep themselves safe and as importantly to recognise behaviours of concern and to have the confidence to report them. To further support this we encourage parents to 'buy in' to our continual high-focus on Safeguarding and as such have a strong school-home relationship supported by a robust staff Induction system, regular staff Safeguarding training including compliance with the latest Government Initiatives around schools' Cyber Security training and a tier of senior staff trained to high levels of Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment proficiency.
We follow an ethos of :
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Awareness
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Empowerment
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Prevention
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Protection
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Partnerships
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Compliance
A full copy of our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policies are available under the policies tab above.
Member of staff with overarching responsibility for child welfare at school:
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Mr. Lee Fazackerley (Headteacher)
Members of staff with specific responsibility for child protection and safeguarding issues
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Designated Safeguarding Lead(DSL): Mr. Andrew Grant (Deputy Headteacher)
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Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP): Mr. Dave Mullen (Assistant Headteacher)
Governors with responsibility for child protection issues are:
Chair Mr Jeff Seddon
If you are a child with worries in school, or outside school, you can contact the staff below :
or click on the 'Safeguarding for Students' tab above for advice;
In an emergency phone 999
Hello there !
If you are a student and you want to know who to contact, or how to stay safe, we have quite a lot of things on this page that might help you. there are some really cool Games, some advise and some useful contacts.
Remember what we learn in our Online Safety lessons....not everyone is who they say they are !
Just scroll down this page to find more help and advice.
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Have you heard of OLLEE?
You can tell OLLEE how you are feeling and they will give you ideas about what to do.
If you are not sure about things, OLLEE will try to help you work it out.
OLLEE helps you to deal with things that might be upsetting you
OLLEE can be used on your mobile phone and tablet.
Check OLLEE out on this email address
https://parentzone.org.uk/ollee
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Have you seen our fantastic online safeguarding quiz games for students?
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We have :
'Find the Fake!'
'Breaking down Gender stereotypes'
'Tackling online Hate crime' Just Click on the links below to try them out ! 
https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/fake-news-and-misinformation-advice-hub/find-the-fake/
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/theonlinetogetherproject/
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Have you heard of CEOP? .gif)
If you are on social media or a group chat or online gaming site and you are contacted
by someone you don't know, remember these simple rules:
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IT IS OKAY NOT TO REPLY to someone
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If someone is trying to pressurise you into something, BLOCK THEM
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Keep your settings PRIVATE
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NEVER MEET UP with anyone that you have met online without taking a trusted adult along
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Remember, whatever anyone tells you online- IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT !
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Click the CEOP button to REPORT THE ABUSE.
What happens if I make a report to CEOP?
If your report meets certain CEOP rules then a Child Protection Advisor will contact you as quickly as possible and give you specialist advice and discuss with you the steps that you need to take to stay safe.
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Have you heard of Childline?.png)
If you are being bullied (which feels horrible) you can call childline.
The staff at Childline are very kind and are only there to help you.
Whether it's something big or small, their trained counsellors are there to support you.
Childline is free, confidential and available any time, day or night.
You can call Childline on 0800 1111 or you can setup the Childline App on your phone.
Watch this 5 step video below 
to set up your Childline account.
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Childline have lots of things to help with advice and support.
Sometimes playing a safe game can help to pass some time to keep your mind busy if things are getting you down a bit.
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Why don't you try Blast Block or Grand Prix Hero?
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There are eleven games on the NSPCC site as well! ...just click on the link below.
https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/games/blast-block/
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Have you heard of the Cyber Sprinter Game?
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Just click on the link below and have a go, It's great Fun !
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/training/ncsc-cyber-security-for-young-people-english-scorm-v2/index.html
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Have you heard of THE CALM ZONE?
The calm zone is a fab place to find loads of very cool things that you can do to help you calm down and reduce anxiety if you are feeling that things are just too much. Just click on the link below.
https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/
School Safeguarding Contacts
Safeguarding- Parent Support and Early Help
safeguarding -Letters to Parents and Carers
Dear Parents and Carers,
We all have a part to play in keeping children safe online, however understanding online safety can be difficult for all ages.
School works hard to ensure children are safe in all aspects of their life and we work with them to develop awareness, understanding, resilience and the knowledge that we are there to support them regardless of the situation.
To this end we also want to support parents and carers to continue this work and have assembled some advice to help you learn about staying safe online as a family
SWIGGLE
One question we are sometimes asked by parents is ' is there a safe search engine for my child to use?'
The answer is yes, there is a search engine designed specifically for young children and older children who are vulnerable and at risk online. This fantastic software's results are filtered using Google SafeSearch and educational resources are prioritised during searching. It also filters the search terms to check that Swiggle is not being used to search for inappropriate content.
The site is also Ad free, blocks innapropriate content, has a 'report' feature and can be used on tablet or mobile phone.
The link for SWIGGLE can be found here: https://swiggle.org.uk/
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DIGITAL PARENTING MAGAZINE
A fantastic free magazine designed to support Parents and Carers with some of the difficulties around your children using the internet safely.
The most recent copy of the Digital Parenting Magazine can be found here
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THINK U KNOW 2025
Within our school we understand the importance of teaching our pupils to use ICT safely and utilise the Thinkuknow online learning platform to help us make sure that all our learners have access to learning that supports their safe use of the internet.
There is an excellent online guide for parents as well. To visit this please, click here
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ParentINFO
is a website where you'll find a collection of articles, tips, expert advice and resources designed to help parents keep up with what their children are doing on-line.
You can find the site here https://parentzone.org.uk/
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CEOP
CEOP is a law enforcement agency and is here to help keep children and young people safe from sexual abuse and grooming online and help thousands of children and young people every year.
CEOP are unable to respond to reports about bullying, fake accounts or account hacking.
Many websites and online games that children use have this logo. Simply clicking on the logo opens up a report page for children who want to report an incident of online abuse.
click on this link to to go to CEOP https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/
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CSAP
At CSAP you will find a variety of information, advice and guidance to support you in safeguarding children and young people across the Pan-Lancashire region which aims to ensure provision for advice, guidance and content for partners and related agencies that is high-quality and up-to-date.
Information Advice and guidance on safeguarding children and young people across the PAN-Lancashire region.
Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership
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Safer Internet Day 7th February 2024
There is a large selection of up-to-date materials to support your child on this website.
For access to the online learning materials please visit:
https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2024
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PARENTZONE
Explore Advice on Digital family basics 2025:
screen time and wellbeing through the helpful Link below
https://parentzone.org.uk/article/digital-family-basics-screentime-wellbeing
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Meet Ollee !
Ollee is a digital friend for children aged 8-11 – created by Parent Zone and funded by BBC Children in Need’s A Million & Me initiative.
Ollee helps them explore feelings around school, family, friends and the world – and share advice with a parent or trusted adult.
Children can tell Ollee how they’re feeling and it will give them ideas about what to do. If they’re not sure, Ollee will help them figure it out.
Together, parents and children can share Ollee’s advice and talk about feelings together through connected accounts.
https://parentzone.org.uk/ollee
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Anti-Bullying Week 11th - 15th November 2024
Visit the Website for more information https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk
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Internet Matters.org 2025
Has Teamed up with BT, Virgin Media, Sky, Talk Talk, BBC, Facebook, EE, NOW TV, PlusNet and Google to support learners and their parents with tailored advice for families and tips on how to stay safe and develop Digital Resilience
This Site had regular features about the safety of new social media Apps, Fake news and misinformation, Cyberbullying and sexting.
https://www.internetmatters.org/
Safeguarding Policies & Protocols
Filtering and Monitoring Overview 2023-2025
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Last updated: |
Date: December 2023 |
Name/Position: Andrew Grant DSL |
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Role |
Responsibility |
Name / Position |
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Responsible Governor
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Strategic responsibility for filtering and monitoring and need assurance that the standards are being met. |
Safeguarding Governor |
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Senior Leadership Team Member |
Responsible for ensuring these standards are met and:
Ensure that all staff:
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Designated Safeguarding Lead |
Lead responsibility for safeguarding and online safety, which could include overseeing and acting on:
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IT Service Provider |
Technical responsibility for:
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Filtering System |
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Filtering Provider and System |
Netsweeper |
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Date Procured |
September 2019 |
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Date last reviewed |
December 2023 – System wide upgrade |
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Monitoring System |
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Monitoring Provider and System |
LCC Education Digital Services |
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Date Procured |
September 2000 |
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Date last reviewed |
December 2023 |
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Review Team
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Review Date |
December 2024 |
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Previous Review Date |
June 2023 |
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Our School web filtering is provided by Netsweeper, which is contracted and maintained by LCC Education Digital Services. Netsweeper compiles and continually updates a blacklist of websites which are deemed to be illegal, dangerous or inappropriate. The school can also add or delete (block or unblock) websites from this blacklist via logging in to a web portal. Access to this portal is currently available to the Lee, Andrew as IT Coordinator and IT System Administrators including Jeff Bamber. All school internet traffic is directed through the filter system which compares the web address (URL) requested by the end user to the blacklist of blocked sites. If a match is made, the site is blocked and details of the end user, IP address, date and time are logged. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Filtering: All encrypted (SSL) internet traffic is subjected to decryption and inspection by Netsweeper by default. The Netsweeper filter system offers various reporting options ranging from standard reports: blocked website etc. to fully customised reports targeting specific computer names / IP addresses /users / websites etc. Netsweeper shows statistical evidence regarding web traffic. For accurate reporting on a per user basis each user would require their own individual username to enable the tracking of individual results; because school uses only generic logins for pupils, users are anonymous to the filter system. IP address results might prove inaccurate as school uses a DHCP server to provide these addresses, so addresses are subject to change periodically. Currently it is possible to see which sites are being blocked, but not which specific users are requesting them. In essence, you can see if a problem exists, but not from whom it originates. Block lists are reviewed and can be modified in line with changes to safeguarding needs. The issue of web monitoring and reporting is further complicated by many websites, pieces of software and apps using various web workflows to achieve their functional and advertising aims, it is not unusual for a device to show as having many hundreds of blocks in a day, due to the internal programming of apps and websites. The user is completely unaware. Therefore, any type of monitoring should be approached with caution and a view to false positives. Users are identifiable to the school so concerns can be traced back to an individual, including guest accounts and blocks access to illegal content including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) We are signed up to Global Internet Forum to counter terrorism (GIFCT) and all staff know how to report and record concerns via CPOMS and through DSL directly Filtering and monitoring systems work on new devices and services before release to staff and students
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Data Protection Impact Assessment
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DPIA |
DPIA is available on request |
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Conducted by |
Andrew Grant |
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Date conducted |
December 2023 latest version |
Regular Reports
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Type of Report |
Filtering / Monitoring - Section 175/157 Audits- DfE Check your Cyber Security |
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Producer of report |
Andrew Grant |
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Recipient of report |
Governors/ SLT/School Website |
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Frequency of report |
Bi-Annual |
System Checks
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Filtering System |
Netsweeper |
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Date checked |
2023 |
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Checks conducted by |
Education Digital Services- reported to A.Grant |
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Device |
Location |
Logged in as |
Check Conducted |
Result |
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All devices |
School-wide |
Administrator |
2023 |
Reported to Governors |
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Monitoring System |
Netsweeper |
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Date checked |
2023 |
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Checks conducted by |
Education Digital Services- reported to A.Grant |
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Device |
Location |
Logged in as |
Check Conducted |
Result |
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All devices |
School-wide |
Administrator |
2023 |
Reported to Governors |
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Dear WLCHS Staff member,
please utilise this section to support your continued development of Safeguarding and keep up to date with Safeguarding initiatives within the school.
Contents:
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Educare
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Countering Sextortion
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learning Disabilities week
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Cyber Security
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Safeguarding Disabled Children
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Internet Watch Foundation
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Research and Evidence based practice section 2024-25
Maintaining your Safeguarding skills sets:
In September every year we hold a whole-staff Safeguarding training day, which incorporates updates from the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education, new Government initiatives around keeping children safe and the legislation that supports this process.
Throughout the year we have several Safeguarding Focus areas including the Parent's Online Safety event. As part of these safeguarding development events we read and sign our latest KCSIE document, read and sign the latest 'Acceptable use' policy and update our CPD folders with current Safeguarding guidance and policy.
To support your continued access to updated training we utilise the Educare online learning platform to supplement the in-house training carried out throughout the year. Please remember that Educare update their training modules in line with our Government initiatives so you need to keep those up-to-date as legislation changes.
WLCHS Educare Online learning Platform- 2024- 2025
log into your Educare Online Training and ensure that you are compliant with the safeguarding and child protection training.
Remember that you can access this training from home:
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Countering Sextortion - National Cyber Crime Centre 2024-2025
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As you are aware through your Cyber security training there has been over the past few years an evolution in online scamming. This involves attempting to extort internet users by claiming to possess compromising recordings of said user. The user will be threatened with the release of alleged indecent material, which will only be avoided through paying a ransom via bitcoin. The emails can be highly convincing, written in language designed to convince the recipient that the perpetrator that they have an advanced command of computers. Persuading the recipient of the credibility of the threat. This form of scamming can be highly successful, relative to other more easily detected scams. They may 'skim' staff photos from the school website and claim to know friends and family or even threaten to place images onto the school's online App or website.
To find out more on what to do to prevent yourself becoming targeted, please follow the link below for advice from the National Cyber Security Centre on what to do.
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/sextortion-scams-how-to-protect-yourself
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Learning Disability Week- June 2024
It’s Learning Disability Week from 19-25 June 2024! We’ve pulled together resources and training to help you protect children and young people with special educational needs and additional needs.
E-learning for schools on safeguarding children with SEND
NSPCC online courses can help you to learn how to communicate effectively with children and young people, identify safeguarding concerns and create a safe culture in your school or college. Follow the link below:
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/news/awareness/learning-disability-week
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DfE Cyber Security Training 2024-2025
All staff are compliant and have completed the DfE Cyber Security Training Module with the DSL having completed the Advanced module.
If you are a new member of staff there is an expectation that you will also complete this training to remain compliant with our expectations around Cyber security and protection of school data and integrity of of our digital profile.
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Safeguarding Disabled Children 2024
The Government advice sets out how all agencies and professionals should work together to ensure that the needs of disabled children are fully understood and addressed. Follow the link below for access to the document.
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Internet Watch Foundation- 2023-25
In 2022, IWF assessed a webpage every one-and-a-half minutes. Every two minutes, that webpage showed a child being sexually abused.
In 2022, they discovered more Category A child sexual abuse material online than ever before. This material contains the most severe kinds of sexual abuse, more than doubling since 2020.
Throughout 2022, their team of dedicated Analysts assessed 375,230 reports of suspected online child sexual abuse. Of these 255,588 reports were confirmed to contain child sexual abuse imagery. Each report could include one or hundreds of images and videos. Read their annual report below:
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Evidence based practice- research and analysis- DfE 2023-25
This review sets out recommendations and findings for national government and local safeguarding partners to protect children at risk of serious harm.
The phase 1 report examines allegations of abuse and neglect to children living in three private residential settings located in Doncaster and operated by the Hesley Group:
The phase 2 report sets out recommendations to improve the safety, support and outcomes for children with disabilities and complex health needs living in residential settings. Follow Links below:
_children_with_disabilities_in_residential_care_homes_phase_1_report.pdf
children_with_disabilities_in_residential_care_homes_phase_2_report.pdf
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Evidence based practice- research and analysis- NSPCC 2023-25
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The NSPCC is at the cutting edge of Safeguarding and child protection. Their research documents are very well done and are worth some time reading
This section includes recently published NSPCC research and findings that share the latest insights about children, young people and their families.
Evidence based practice- research and analysis- University of Derby 2023-25
The University SEND research team at the University of Derby work to:
Work collaboratively in pursuit of more inclusive and socially just outcomes for children and young people
Design, promote, and deliver professional development events that enhance the confidence, skill, and reflective capacities of practitioners to work in inclusive ways
Enhance the understanding of others regarding inclusive practice
Offer a critical perspective on policy and practice
Present results in ways that might challenge and inform policy
Follow the link to the SEND research informed Teaching: Trevor Cotterill T.Cotterill@derby.ac.uk
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Evidence based practice- research and analysis-Anne Craft Trust 2023-25
Research is at the core of the Ann Craft Trust. Based at the University of Nottingham, they contribute to research across the UK and EU with a focus on several areas. Their work is cutting edge. Follow the link below for the latest Bulletin from them.
Accessible Support
These support resources, links and booklets may help Parents and Carers to support their children with symbols signs and speech relating to Online Safety and advice along with support for children who are deaf or use a wheelchair.
We have assembled this support with the support of Kidsmart, Makaton and the NSPCC.
Please remember that we are always here to offer help and advice to support you with your child and help to try and keep them safe.
The symbols below can be printed off and stuck on your fridge door.
If you would like school to produce some laminated versions of these symbols, or any other symbols to support your child please just email any of the contact numbers at the end of this document and we will endeavour to support you in any way possible.
This is section includes :
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Online Safety signing Makaton support cards.
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Overcoming challenges if you are deaf
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Cyberbullying if you are deaf
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Safeguarding video links if you are deaf
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Support for teenage wheelchair users- links
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Reporting abuse if you are deaf
Cyber Bullying if you are deaf
https://youtu.be/64OCUCBD6fg
Staying Safe Online if you are deaf
https://youtu.be/hVOgkyvFxTU
Getting help if you are deaf
https://youtu.be/uhdU77GtA5g
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If you are a wheelchair user this is a fab site made
by young people - to support young people.
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2024-2025
https://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/
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Reporting abuse if you are deaf
Please flip through this NSPCC booklet for advice