We are wishing you a fabulous Christmas break and we are sure that having some time to spend together as a family is very much welcomed by both parents and students.

School is closed from the 20th December to the 5th January and school staff may not respond to emails or contact. Therefore, any immediate concerns should be reported to the relevant service (for example the Police or Children’s Services). However, the safe@kwschool.co.uk email is available for non-emergency concerns. This inbox will be checked intermittently by the safeguarding team during the break.

Below are some helpful websites and resources regarding safety and mental health.

Kooth:

Kooth is a website we direct students to if they want to talk about their feelings anonymously.

Follow this link for support when it comes to speaking to your teen about their feelings.

With YOUth:

This is a new service providing emotional and wellbeing support for children across Hertfordshire. Please encourage your child to explore it in case they need to talk. Please follow the link to the website.

NSPCC and Childline:

Please follow the link to information about how to make contact with the NSPCC and Childline. This is in case you have concerns a child may be at risk of abuse or harm. Young people can also make those calls themselves to report concerns.

Online Safety:

Young people use smartphones so frequently and confidently that we forget how much access they have to the world through these devices and through social media. Any reminder of this is timely and important.

During this school holiday period, please continue to monitor your child’s online activity and talk openly to them about their use of social media. With apps like Snapchat, young people can easily share their location with others and talk to strangers. This can be incredibly dangerous and it is important we continue to remind our young people about these risks and monitor activity. Some of our students may be lucky to receive new devices this Christmas – please remind them of the responsibility that comes with them.

Parents and young people can refer concerns about online sexual abuse to CEOP or can report concerns to Police through the 101 number.

The UK Safer Internet Centre provides support as to how to protect young people online on a range of devices.

Finally, please remember school does not monitor Chromebook use when students are at home and so any protective settings must be set up at home.

Mrs Aikman

Safeguarding Lead