Ladybridge High School offers a safe and friendly environment where all learners can feel valued and heard. We have an excellent safeguarding team made up of 14 staff, who are all level 3 trained. All our staff are level 1 trained and are all aware of how and when to respond to any concern, regardless of the level.
Designated Safeguarding Leads
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Assistant Headteacher
Deputy DSL
Safeguarding Officer
Deputy DSL
Head of Pastoral Care
Safeguarding Leads
Deputy Headteacher
Attendance Lead
Head of Learning – León & Simba
Head of Learning – Intare & Tau
Head of Learning – Aslan & Raion
Aslan
Intare
León
Raion
Simba
Tau
If as a learner, or a parent/carer, you have any concerns during your time at Ladybridge, please come and speak to a member of the above safeguarding team, or email us – safeguarding@ladybridgehigh.co.uk.
The safeguarding team will then triage the concern and deal with it appropriately. Depending on the severity, the team will either contact home, IFD (Integrated front door) or the police. All 3 may need to be contacted for the most serious concerns.
Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is where a person is forced, coerced, or controlled into committing acquisitive crimes or other illegal activities for the benefit of an exploiter. The exploiter is often older than the child and will offer incentives.
Signs to look out for?
- Severe absence from school
- Missing episodes from home
- Possible increase in aggression
- Possibly becoming withdrawn
- New clothes, accessories
- Self Harm?
- Increased and secretive phone usage?
Criminal sexual exploitation CSE) is a form of abuse where children or young people are manipulated, coerced, or deceived into sexual activity, often alongside criminal exploitation.
Signs to look out for?
- Severe absence from school
- Missing episodes from home
- Possible increase in aggression
- Possibly becoming withdrawn
- New clothes, accessories
- Self Harm?
- Increased and secretive phone usage?
The Family Help Assessment tool is used to gather information to understand a family’s current strengths and needs. As a school we try to offer these as early as possible to prevent needs of a learner/family from escalating.
The assessment is completed in partnership with the learner and their families along with any professionals already working with the family.
The Family Help Assessment is a family assessment that includes all children within the family, even if the presenting needs predominantly focus on one child. This means that if a learner has siblings at other schools they will be invited too. Every Family Help Assessment has one lead professional and the assessment is usually reviewed every 10 weeks.
A Family Help Assessment can only be opened with parental/carer consent.
Why may you be offered this?
- Attendance concerns
- Behavioural concerns
- SEND concerns
- Concerns in the family home
It is really important that, every day, all learners feel positive about their emotional and mental wellbeing. Please remember that we are always here to give you help straight away. You might also find the information and links below useful. You must never feel on your own with your concerns whilst in our Ladybridge Family.
KS3
Learners should have a basic awareness of being safe online. Passwords should be kept safe, never written down and make use of both numbers and letters to create a strong password. You should use different passwords for different sites, that way if one site is compromised, the others will still be safe. If you are worried about remembering your passwords, tell a parent/carer so they can help you remember.
On most social media accounts, you need to be over thirteen years of age to have an account. Be aware of the age limits for websites before you sign up and make sure the website is one you can trust (if in doubt, ask a parent/carer or teacher).
Bullying can be a common problem online but it is not any more acceptable online than it is in real life. It is wrong and illegal. If you have witnessed bullying or are being bullied online yourself, tell a responsible adult immediately.
Please click the links below for more information:
KS4
As you may be aware, there are different dangers for older learners. As well as the points above, you should look out for how to stay safe on social media. Don’t share or post anything that you wouldn’t want everyone to see. Pictures and posts can stay on the internet forever, so think about what you post before you post it, even in private chats (you never know who will share the picture).
Be careful who you chat with, especially if you don’t know them in real life. People aren’t always who they say they are.
If you are chatting to someone you don’t know and something doesn’t seem right, tell a parent/carer/teacher/someone you can trust. Never agree to meet a person from the internet.
More information can be accessed via the links below:
National Online Safety
The National College believes in empowering parents/carers and trusted adults with the information they need to hold informed and age-appropriate conversations about online safety with their child, should they feel it is needed. Every Wednesday, a useful guide is shared that focuses on specific platforms/risks and provides expert advice on keeping children safe online. These posts are highlighted on social media platforms using the hashtag #WakeUpWednesday. You can access their free online safety guides by registering on their website.
Read more about the Wake Up Wednesday initiative from The National College here.
Additional Resources
Please click on the logo to access the relevant website for further advice and guidance on how to stay safe online:
Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.
If the police are required to visit the family home for issues regarding a learner, or someone they live with, Ladybridge will receive an email (Encompass) which explains the concerns. The safeguarding team may then be required to act on this with welfare checks or calls home.
Prevent is a national programme that aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It ensures learners are offered appropriate interventions, and communities are protected against radicalising influences.
Radicalisation can happen when a learner develops extreme views or beliefs that support terrorist groups or activities.
There are different types of terrorism, and Prevent deals with all of them.
The most common types of terrorism in the UK are Extreme Right-Wing terrorism and Islamist terrorism.
Signs to look out for?
Radicalisation can happen both in person or online.
Everyone is different, and there is no checklist that can tell us if someone is being radicalised or becoming involved in terrorism. But these signs may mean someone is being radicalised:
- accessing extremist content online or downloading propaganda material
- justifying the use of violence to solve societal issues
- altering their style of dress or appearance to accord with an extremist group
- being unwilling to engage with people who they see as different
- using certain symbols associated with terrorist organisations