Safeguarding, E-Safety & Anti-Bullying

Richard Avenue Primary School fully recognises the contribution it can make to safeguard the children and support the pupils in its care. There are three main elements to safeguarding within the school:

  • prevention (positive school atmosphere, careful and vigilant teaching, pastoral care, support to pupils, providing good adult role models)
  • protection (following agreed procedures, ensuring staff are trained and supported to respond appropriately and sensitively to Safeguarding concerns)
  • support (to pupils and school staff and to children who may have been abused)

Within school we have a dedicated Safeguarding Team .

E-Safety

We take internet safety very seriously. Within school, children are taught how to stay safe online and follow the rules regarding internet access . At the beginning of every year all staff carry out safeguarding training including e-safety to refresh them of the potential dangers online. This knowledge is then expanded upon with a dedicated e-safety day for staff and then passed onto the children through e-safety lessons as part of their ICT curriculum. This is then repeated when the children return after Christmas.

This on going learning and teaching of e-safety and anti cyber-bullying carry on throughout the year both in ICT lessons and in PSHE.

The school have produced three handouts about different aspects of internet safety. They can be downloaded here and include information and advice on general e-safety , online gaming and social media .

While we have control of internet use in school, we are also aware of the dangers from internet use at home. The UK Safer Internet Centre is a great resource of advice for parents and carers . On top of having a good read through their site we recommend you and your children look through some of the following links.

Comparitech have written up a great article called Protecting Children’s Privacy Online – A Guide for Parents, Carers and Educators that gives advice including how to set up your devices and social network accounts to protect your children.

NetSmartzKids have a number of fun videos aimed at children, but we highly recommend them for parents too. They show the dangers of giving out personal information online .

Caught in the Web is a Newsround special programme all about staying safe on the internet . The show, which is voiced by David Tennant, tells the story of a girl called Lonely Princess, who gets into danger after meeting someone in a chatroom.

ACT (Action Counters Terroism) have produced this Parent-Guardian Online Radicalisation Information and Support .

If you require more information please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Parental Controls

Parental controls can be used to block upsetting or harmful content, control in-app purchases or manage how long your child spends online. And the good news is parental controls are really easy to set up.

The NSPCC have a really comprehensive section about parental controls and how to set them up on various devices such as mobiles and tables, home broadband and games consoles etc .

Gaming Consoles

Gaming devices provide a variety of interesting activities and ways for young people to engage with their friends and families.

However, it is important to be aware of what these devices can do and how you can talk with your child to help them to use this technology in safe and positive way.

The Safer Internet Centre have a lot of information of how to stay safe while using a console, including a very good FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section.

Social networking

Chatting online and social networking are great ways to stay in touch with family and friends. You can even use them as a resource to meet new and interesting people. This does come with some risk though as you cant identify the person you’re talking with if you’ve just met them.

Sharing information online with people can also cause problems. Even if you know and trust the person, there is no way to control where that information might end up.

Luckily to help with this there is a wealth of information out there about steps you can take to protect yourself on social media websites. The UK Safer Internet Centre has produced a marvelous help section that deals with each social media site individually and things to look out for while using each one. Social Media sites and applications covered include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp and YouTube .

Anti-Bullying

At Richard Avenue Primary School, we are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Our school is a place where children have the right to be themselves. Everyone in our school is treated equally and we promote kindness and respect to all. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at Richard Avenue Primary School (RAPS) and will not be tolerated.

At RAPS the safety, welfare and wellbeing of all pupils and staff is a key priority. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We are a TELLING school. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff. We actively promote values of respect and equality and work to ensure difference and diversity is celebrated across the whole school community. We want to enable our pupils to become responsible citizens and prepare them for life in 21st century Britain. These values reflect those that will be expected of our pupils by society, when they enter secondary school and beyond the world of work or further study. We are committed to improving our school’s approach to tackling bullying and regularly monitor, review and assess the impact of our preventative measures.

All pupils and all staff are an important active element of our anti-bullying strategy. Our Anti-bullying Team, Playground Squad, School Councillors and Prefects all have important roles to play within school.

Anti-bullying is an important focus in school and we promote it in many ways. Some of which includes:

  • Learning through our Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) lessons (topics include: Valuing difference, Feelings and emotions and Healthy relationships).
  • Participating in national events such as Anti-bullying Week and Safer Internet Day.
  • Learning from whole school assemblies, which include outside Anti-bullying productions.
  • Working with various visitors and in workshops such as ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ and ‘NSPCC – Speak Out Stay Safe’.
  • Developing our friendships and team work skills in many ways such as working in and being rewarded as teams and trying to promote RAPS values.

“Pupils have a clear understanding of the school’s systems to manage behaviour and are aware of the different types of bullying they may encounter, including cyber bullying. They are confident that should any bullying occur, it would be quickly resolved by staff.

The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. It is typified by the harmonious and friendly atmosphere around the school. Pupils report they feel very safe in school and know how to stay safe out of school. Pupils have very good knowledge about the safe use of the internet and social networking sites.”

Ofsted Report

Resources & Information Websites

The following websites are a useful source of information and advice for professionals, children and young people. Some sites also have resources available to support whole school and classroom activities.