Whole School Approach

Safety

From Primary school upwards educating children to keep safe in different environments and to be aware of the dangers should be delivered in a sensitive and engaging way. Links below contain free educational material ranging from road safety, internet safety, knife crime and gangs, abuse (from sexual to bullying), safeguarding and radicalisation.

For instance, we know nationally, girls worry more or feel more afraid to go to school than boys, although there is less difference between the proportion of boys and girls saying they have been bullied in the last twelve months. This, with the increasing trend of violence and knife crime, of an average secondary school, some 60+ students could be affiliated to a gang means that schools need to recognise and address both bullying, gang and knife crime within their own environments. Policies, education and training can help towards this but should not be so rigid that there can be no compassion shown to an individual who may have underlying poor mental health or other mitigating factors, which has impacted on their poor decision(s).

The research evidences strong links between children being abused through child sexual exploitation and other behaviours such as running away from home or care, self-harm, teenage pregnancy, truancy, substance misuse and bullying. We are also aware children with special needs, looked after children, children leaving care, migrant children, unaccompanied asylum seeking children, forced marriage, those involved in gangs, where there has been a history of abuse, those with parents who have any of the following; disabilities, mental health problems, drugs or alcohol misuse or domestic violence are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

Those wishing to exploit and abuse children use a variety of online platforms to do so. Therefore part of the work in supporting children to identify abuse and seek help must focus on awareness raising and skills linked to use of a variety of social media platforms and their built in reporting functions.

In both CSE and domestic abuse, the development of inappropriate relationships is of particular concern and problematic due to there often being small age-gaps between the individuals which can also have presence of coercive or controlling behaviour. In the ‘Further resources and links section’ are links to the local safeguarding team and here is the NSPCC’s Speak out Stay safe programme which helps to give a generation of children the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect.

• Providing a comprehensive spiral PSHE programme to help develop children and young people’s safety skills in a range of contexts. This programme should include regular opportunities to develop skills for assessing risk, developing assertive responses, building awareness of influences and developing confidence to ask for help.
• Teaching about safety skills in a range of contexts, relevant to the location and needs of the pupils.
• Offering opportunities to risk management and safety skills through day-to-day classroom management and wider enrichment and pastoral opportunities.
• Providing development opportunities for staff to ensure that they can model and reinforce skills to assess and manage risk and ask for help.
• Raising awareness and skills for staff through training and certification processes. Staff should also be aware of approaches to avoid in safety education e.g. scare tactics, revictimization and should be secure in building positive, safe learning environments.

Support for parents/carers through family liaison and other workers.

There are some aspects of education about safeguarding which are statutory as part of the Relationships Education and Health Education Guidance:

• how to recognise who to trust and who not to trust, how to judge when a friendship is making them feel unhappy or uncomfortable, managing conflict, how to manage these situations and how to seek help or advice from others, if needed.
• the importance of permission-seeking and giving in relationships with friends, peers and adults.
• that people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not.
• the rules and principles for keeping safe online, how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them.
• how to critically consider their online friendships and sources of information including awareness of the risks associated with people they have never met.
• what sorts of boundaries are appropriate in friendships with peers and others (including in a digital context)
• about the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe.
• that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact.
• how to respond safely and appropriately to adults they may encounter (in all contexts, including online) whom they do not know.
• how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult.
• how to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they are heard.
• how to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so.
• where to get advice e.g. family, school and/or other sources.
• why social media, some computer games and online gaming, for example, are age restricted.
• where and how to report concerns and get support with issues online.
• about safe and unsafe exposure to the sun, and how to reduce the risk of sun damage, including skin cancer.
• the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking.
• how to make a clear and efficient call to emergency services if necessary.
• concepts of basic first-aid, for example dealing with common injuries, including head injuries.

Source: Relationships Education RSE and Health Education (DfE)  Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Many elements of a comprehensive safety education programme are not included in the statutory requirements and schools may wish to include learning in the following areas:

• Road safety
• Water safety
• Railway safety
• Fire Safety
• Animal Safety

• how to: determine whether other children, adults or sources of information are trustworthy: judge when a family, friend, intimate or other relationship is unsafe (and to recognise this in others’ relationships); and, how to seek help or advice, including reporting concerns about others, if needed.
• the characteristics of positive and healthy friendships (in all contexts, including online) including: trust, respect, honesty, kindness, generosity, boundaries, privacy, consent and the management of conflict, reconciliation and ending relationships. This includes different (non-sexual) types of relationship.
• that some types of behaviour within relationships are criminal, including violent behaviour and coercive control.
• what constitutes sexual harassment and sexual violence and why these are always unacceptable.
• the legal rights and responsibilities regarding equality (particularly with reference to the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010) and that everyone is unique and equal.
• about online risks, including that any material someone provides to another has the potential to be shared online and the difficulty of removing potentially compromising material placed online.
• not to provide material to others that they would not want shared further and not to share personal material which is sent to them.
• that sharing and viewing indecent images of children (including those created by children) is a criminal offence which carries severe penalties including jail.
• what to do and where to get support to report material or manage issues online.
• the concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM, and how these can affect current and future relationships.
• how people can actively communicate and recognise consent from others, including sexual consent, and how and when consent can be withdrawn (in all contexts, including online).
• how to identify harmful behaviours online (including bullying, abuse or harassment) and how to report, or find support, if they have been affected by those behaviours.
• the physical and psychological risks associated with alcohol consumption and what constitutes low risk alcohol consumption in adulthood.
• the physical and psychological consequences of addiction, including alcohol dependency
• awareness of the dangers of drugs which are prescribed but still present serious health risks.
• the facts about the harms from smoking tobacco (particularly the link to lung cancer), the benefits of quitting and how to access support to do so.
• basic treatment for common injuries.
• life-saving skills, including how to administer CPR
• the purpose of defibrillators and when one might be needed.

Source: Relationships Education RSE and Health Education (DfE)  Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

that in school and in wider society they can expect to be treated with respect by others, and that in turn they should show due respect to others, including people in positions of authority and due tolerance of other people’s beliefs.

Many elements of a comprehensive safety education programme are not included in the statutory requirements and schools may wish to include learning in the following areas:

• Road safety
• Water safety
• Railway safety
• Fire Safety
• Knives and Gangs
• Prevent
• Animal Safety