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Safeguarding

What is Safeguarding?

The Department for Education define safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as:

  • Protecting children from maltreatment
  • Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
  • Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
  • Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

We prioritise keeping our children safe.  Safeguarding is a term that includes all aspects of keeping children safe from abuse in our schools and, beyond the school gates; child protection.  A safeguarding concern is when you are worried about the safety or well-being of a child because of something seen or heard, or information which has been given to you.

Keeping Your Child Safe Online

Online Safety is being aware of the nature of the possible threats that you could encounter whilst engaging in activity through the Internet, these could be security threats, protecting and managing your personal data, online reputation management, and avoiding harmful or illegal content.  It isn’t about scaremongering, it isn’t about criticism and chaos, it’s about focusing on the positive and enriching side of digital life whilst recognising its challenges and how to best approach them.

It is important for children and teenagers to stay safe online.   Parents, carers and our schools are particularly concerned about the safety of children online.

Please have a look at this webpage and the video that shows challenges people with SEND face online: 

Protecting your child in school

The internet and especially the World Wide Web, are essential parts of modern life which can enrich lives and empower children and families when used in a safe and secure environment. There are ever more ways to access this world using computers, tablets, phones, games consoles, TVs, watches... the list gets longer each year. With this access comes an element of risk, and a responsibility for adults to protect and educate children to use the technology safely.

In our schools we use the Hertfordshire Internet and Connectivity Service (HICS) Filtered Web Service who provide us with a firewall to protect the children from harmful content.

Mobile Phones & SMART Watches

At Long Marston, alongside other Tring schools, we recommend that you delay giving your child a smart phone until they are 14. Whilst there are benefits to online access, this should be under adult supervision, which isn't possible if children can access the internet on their phones. We recommend that children who need a phone to send messages or make calls should use a 'brick' phone which does not access the internet.

This is done more easily if parents work together to agree not to give smart phones. This charity has a pact which parents can sign up to and work together. 

Smartphone Free Childhood Sign the Parent Pact

Whilst we understand that some of our Year 6 children may have phones to be used on the journey to and from school, we have a policy of collecting devices as children arrive. They are then stored in the office until they are collected at the end of the day. We ask that smart watches are not brought to school. 

For more information on e-safety and how to protect your child online please click on the following links:

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