Support for Parents and Families
At Alma Park, we are fully committed to supporting parents and families in order to keep children safe. We know that parenting can be hard at times and there are circumstances where you may feel you need some extra help. Please see some information pages below for additional support that you can access:
- Physical chastisement
- Domestic violence
- Online safety (leaflets)
- Financial support
Support for families with a child with Special Educational Needs
Help and Support for parents or carers of a child with Special Educational Needs
Top tips for parents raising children with Special Needs
Bereavement - Redbridge Safeguarding Children Partnership
Top tips for parents - The Early Years
What is abuse and neglect?
Physical Abuse may involve the following:
- Hitting
- Shaking
- Throwing
- Poisoning
- Burning
- Scalding
- Drowning
- Suffocating
Sexual Abuse is a child being made to watch or being subjected to acts of a sexual nature.
Emotional Abuse is defined as ‘Persistent emotional maltreatment of a child, such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development’. This may involve ‘Conveying to children that they are worthless, unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person’.
- Age or developmentally inappropriate expectations
- Over protection, limitation of exploration and learning, preventing in the child participating in normal, social interaction
- The exploitation or corruption of children
- Seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another
Operation Encompass - Domestic Abuse
Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given in strict confidence to a school’s Key Adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.
Alma Park Primary School is proud to be part of the Operation Encompass intervention.
For more information click on this link which will take you to their website.
E-Safety and Online Safety
At Alma Park the safety of our children is of upmost importance. This includes keeping them safe when using electronic equipment and more specifically when entering the online world. E-Safety encompasses internet technologies and also electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology. By educating our children in e-safety we aim to highlight the need for children and young people to think practically about the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology.
We operate an open-door policy for reporting issues relating to e-safety and very much welcome parents and carers to come into school to speak with a member of staff about any perceived problems.
Parents and Carers can visit the Childnet website for support and advice for safe use of the internet at home.
Children can visit the Kidsmart website to learn how to use the internet safely at home.
Child Sexual Exploitation
Child Sexual Exploitation, or CSE, is a form of sexual abuse which sees children/young people being manipulated or coerced into sexual activity for receiving ‘something’ such as; gifts, money, food, attention, somewhere to stay etc.
Technology is very often used to groom victims. This may occur through social networking sites and mobile phones with internet access.
CSE has gained a large amount of media attention over the last year as lots of services involved with children and young people have noticed a big rise in cases involving CSE.
Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardos have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of child abuse. Information regarding CSE can be found here on their websites below:
NSPCC
Barnardos
Prevent Strategy and Radicalisation
As part of Alma Park’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection we fully support the government’s Prevent Strategy, and take guidance from Teaching Approaches to help build resilience to extremism.
The Prevent strategy is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It:
- Responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
- Provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
- Works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health)
Please visit this link to view the official government document:
Here are some useful links which give lots of detailed information and fun activities that you and your children can enjoy and learn from:
NSPCC
Free and confidential information and guidance for parents, carers, professionals and families.
Childline
ChildLine - Free, confidential support for children.
Greater Manchester Safeguarding Partnership
Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual for professionals in Greater Manchester
Manchester Safeguarding Board
Free information regarding safeguarding children and how to report a concern.
ThinkUKnow
Child exploitation & Online Protection – to build knowledge of how to stay safe online. This website has lots of fun activities from which children can gain vital information on staying safe.
KCSIE
Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment.