Ofsted Good Provider

North Bromsgrove High School

Supporting Families Offer

Supporting Families Offer

Supporting Families is the school’s early help offer and means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life.  Providing early help to our pupils and families at North Bromsgrove means we are more effective in promoting support as soon as we can.

At North Bromsgrove, our Pastoral and Safeguarding team meet regularly to discuss any concerns. This team includes:

Mr Gibson – Headteacher

Mrs Hodgson – Deputy Headteacher – Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), Designated LAC Teacher, Senior Mental Health Lead and Trauma Informed Schools UK Practitioner

Mrs Jenkinson – Assistant Headteacher - SENCO, Deputy DSL, Delegated Teacher for LAC

Mrs Ingram – Deputy Headteacher – DDSL

Mrs Brierley – Associate Assistant Headteacher – Attendance and Wellbeing / DDSL and Senior Mental Health Lead

Mrs Franklin – Associate Assistant Headteacher - Behaviour and Attitudes / DDSL

Mrs Eyre – DDSL / Student Welfare Sixth Form

Miss Prescott – DDSL / Student Welfare Officer 9-11

Miss Beard – DDSL, Pastoral and Attendance Admin

Miss Dugmore – DDSL, Head of Year

Mrs Hateley – Head of Year

Miss Hendry – Attendance Officer

Miss Reeves – Pastoral Assistant

 

At these meetings we discuss: How thew child presents • Behaviour • Attitudes to learning • Friendships • Family issues • Additional needs • Any support they receive • General progress • Other agencies involved

This allows us to identify any pupils and families that would benefit from early help and supports us in accessing the relevant services in the school and beyond.

 As part of our desire to support families at North Bromsgrove High School, we are trained in many areas related to Safeguarding and in conjunction with KCSIE, which is renewed annually.  

As a consequence of our ongoing learning, we follow the safeguarding processes below:

PREVENT TRAINING – Radicalisation.

Mrs Hodgson has received enhanced PREVENT training and has trained the team and the wider school community on how to identify the early stages of radicalisation and what to do.  Staff complete a Prevent Training package (through the Home Office) at their Induction. We follow the guidance of;

  • NOTICE 
  • CHECK
  • SHARE

Child Sexual Exploitation

All staff at North Bromsgrove have been trained to identify early cases of child sexual exploitation. At school we use the CSE Screening tool if we have concerns. 

Female Genital Mutilation

All staff have received training on FGM. Teachers know how to identify if a child may be at risk. They know the signs to look for and most importantly how to refer, following the schools safeguarding procedures. 

ATTENDANCE

Mrs Brierley leads on attendance and is supported by Miss Prescott, Miss0 Beard and Miss Hendry. Attendance is monitored daily and follows our attendance policy to support pupils and families with attendance below 90%.  The aim is to offer help and solutions to any problems. 

The school operates a first day response system, which is supported by:

  • Truancy Call
  • 2nd Day absence calls
  • House points awards and certificates 
  • Attendance tracking
  • Attendance Catch up for targeted students
  • Home visit where appropriate.

SAFEGUARDING

  • All teachers and staff know precisely how to identify and report concerns, via staff training on induction and our regular updates on safeguarding.
  • Child protection files are kept by the DSL.  
  • Attendance team follow missing from education guidance.
  • All new staff complete safeguarding inductions.
  • All staff are aware of the system used to report a safeguarding concern.  At North Bromsgrove we use My Concern.
  • We have a designated and a delegated teacher for children in care. 

We have a record of annual training so that all staff have read the most up-to-date Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. 

At North Bromsgrove we meet the needs of our children through a variety of ways:

Pupil Voice – pupils are actively encouraged to speak about any concerns they have to a member of staff or to our pastoral team. In lessons children are taught to speak openly about their emotions. Pupils know the staff take all their concerns very seriously. 

Safeguarding Matters delivered through our CARE Curriculum

E-safety assembly delivered to all pupils and offered to parents seeking support

Our local Safer Neighbourhood Police Officers conduct assemblies for E-Safety, criminal activity, drugs, hate crimes and other relevant topics.

Mrs Hodgson attends a half termly Police Panel to share intelligence, information and guidance in matters related

Our house council have a huge role is pupil voice and they meet regularly

Senior Leadership Team presence during unstructured times

School Nurse offers weekly drop in appointments to all pupils.  They also have an information board outside of the pastoral room to be used to advertise the school health nurse service, the school health nurse drop in sessions, the school health nurse chat health service and key public health messages, which our health care support worker colleagues will visit school to update this information monthly on varying topics.

From September 2023, we have had an Educational Mental Health Practitioner on site one day per week to support students and their families as an early intervention prior to referrals to external agencies such as CAMHS.

Behaviour for Learning at North Bromsgrove 

The school encourages and rewards pupils using the CARE values on a lesson by lesson basis

Pupils are rewarded by end of term treats and other entitlements for meeting certain targets. Our school behaviour policy is followed for pupils displaying unwanted behaviours. Parents are informed regarding their son/daughter’s behaviours daily and rewards weekly by email.

Pastoral Support

The pastoral team work with pupils and families to support their needs whilst also signposting them to relevant agencies. With a family’s consent, we can refer families for further family support. 

SENDCO  

Mrs Jenkinson works with children and families with additional needs and can signpost parents to many different agencies. 

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

The DSL (Mrs Hodgson) ensures rigorous and robust systems are in place within the school to ensure the safety of all of our children. 

 

In line with Keeping Children Safe in Education ALL staff are aware of their responsibilities with regards to early help. In addition, this statutory document makes it clear that any child may benefit from early help.

All school staff should be particularly alert to the potential need for early help for a child who:

  • Has special educational needs (whether or not they have a statutory education, health care plan);
  • Is a young carer;
  • Is showing signs of being drawn in to anti-social or criminal behaviour, including gang involvement and association with organised crime groups;
  • Is frequently missing/goes missing from school, care or from home;
  • Is misusing drugs or alcohol themselves;
  • Is at risk of modern slavery, trafficking or exploitation;
  • Is in a family circumstance which presents challenges for the child; such as substance abuse, adult mental health problems or domestic abuse;
  • Has returned home to their family from care;
  • Is showing early signs of abuse and/or neglect;
  • Is at risk of being radicalised or exploited;
  • Is a privately fostered child.

Everyone needs help at some time in their lives and therefore an ethos of early help is important for any school. 

The coordinated offer to support families is outlined in the table below. We believe that early interventions for children or families, in many cases, will prevent children from experiencing harm. 

North Bromsgrove will refer to appropriate agencies when help is required to support children, young people or families or to prevent harm.

All North Bromsgrove staff are aware of the offer of early help through supporting families. At all times all staff should consider if there is any offer of early help that we can make in order to help a child thrive. 

We also liaise with other agencies and people within the local community and in the table below are some National organisations that can support Children, Young people and their Families

 

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and deputy DSL’s of North Bromsgrove

If you have any safeguarding concerns regarding a child at our school or in the community, then please contact a member of North Bromsgrove safeguarding team via My Concern (teacher) or 01527 872375.

If you think a child or young person is at immediate risk of significant harm then you should contact the Family Front Door (FFD) – 01905 822 666 or in an emergency always call 999.

Pastoral Support Team 

Generic queries should be directed to the form or subject teacher at the first instance, however if you feel you would like to have a chat with the pastoral team regarding more sensitive issues, please contact a Head of Year through school or via My Concern (if you are a Teacher) or 01527 872375.

School nurse

North Bromsgrove’s school nurse is Rachel Green. Rachel and her team are in school on regular basis. From Year 9, pupils do not need carers consent to ‘drop in’ to see the school nurse. However if, as a parent, you wish for your child to see the school nurse, please contact Miss Beard or the relevant Head of Year on 01527 872375 and they will arrange an appointment for your child (and carers if required).

Parenting support

If a member of staff, parent/carer or member of the public thinks a child or young person is at immediate risk of significant harm they should contact the Family Front Door (FFD) – 01905 822 666 or in an emergency always call 999.

Do not wait to discuss this with the DSL/DDSL but do report it to school afterwards.

WSCB (Worcestershire Safeguarding Children’s Board) website

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/safeguardingchildren

Important information for parents and professionals across Worcestershire in relation to keeping children safe and avenues of support including early help options. Everyone should know how to access this website which has all of the agreed Worcestershire safeguarding and child protection processes on it.

 

Universal source of help for all families in Worcestershire:  Worcestershire Family Information Service (FIS)

Home education is becoming an increasingly popular option for families in Worcestershire and we have a growing community that are able to offer each other support. Between us we have years of experience in educating children of all ages and are able to organise and put on a range of activities.

We hold meetings usually at least weekly, throughout term time at various locations round the county-for example:

- Social gatherings occur monthly in North Worcestershire for all ages, with both indoor and outdoor games plus organised activities such as climbing/zip-wires/grass sledging for 8+.

- Monthly meeting in Worcester with games, music and crafts for all ages.

- Monthly social meeting in south Worcestershire, including indoor and outdoor games, group music session and a drama group.

- Bowling or Ice skating most months.

- "Education group" workshops organised regularly. Recent workshops have include: Marvellous Mosaics' 'Gunpowder plot' 'Medieval life', 'Making Music' and 'Creative Writing. 

There is also guidance on Elective Home Education here - A Guide to Elective Home Education

E-safety (Online Safety)

Online Activity (phones, computers) can be a serious risk to children: The use of technology has become a significant component of many safeguarding issues. Child sexual exploitation; radicalisation; sexual predation – technology often provides the platform that facilitates harm. With the right support, education and safety measures in place the internet and new technologies can also bring great benefits but we must all be vigilant

  • PACE (parents against child exploitation) UK is a useful website to engage parents with safety issues. www.paceuk.info/
  • https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ - This is the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. It’s a one stop shop for most information about online safety.
  • http://educateagainsthate.com/ - This is the government website to help parents and professionals understand the risks of children and young people being radicalised by extremists online and how to keep children safe from this.
  • www.internetmatters.org – A great site for helping parents keep their children safe online.

Mental Health

We have some useful self-help guides/leaflets available for you to access online. The guides are available for you to read online. The self-help guides can be accessed by typing the below link into your URL and selecting ‘Self Help Guides’: www.hacw.nhs.uk/a-to-z/letter-s/

Staying Safe
http://stayingsafe.net/

SANE - 0845 767 800 / Email: sanemail@org.uk / www.sane.org.uk

Samaritans - 116 123 (24 hour helpline) / www.samaritans.org.uk

Rethink Mental Illness - 0300 5000 927 / www.rethink.org

Mental Health Foundation - www.mentalhealth.org.uk

MIND - 0300 123 3393 or text 86463 / www.mind.org.uk

Anxiety UK - 08444 775 774 / www.anxietyuk.org.uk

Bullying (including cyberbullying)/ Child death/suicide/prevention

Cyberbullying is using the internet, email, online games or any digital technology to threaten, tease, upset or humiliate someone else.

If the police consider a message or post to be potentially criminal, they will take appropriate action. This could involve arresting the person responsible or interviewing them under caution. Cases involving sustained abuse or where someone’s life is threatened will be treated seriously. The police will consider all of the circumstances when considering the best response to a report of cyber bullying. They will assess how vulnerable the victim is and what resources are required to trace the offender via social networking sites that often operate abroad and to different legislation. In certain cases it may be difficult to take action if the offender isn’t in the UK. They will work with the victim to bring about the most suitable and proportionate conclusion, this will include alternative options that include the officer in the case using their discretion and working with the offender to record an apology to the victim.

Useful links

Bullying UK 

Childline 

Home - Kooth

KidScape: Our resources provide information on issues surrounding bullying, online and personal safety. They can be used directly by young people and parents, as well as in the classroom within schools and youth organisations.  https://www.kidscape.org.uk/resources-and-publications/

Hate Crime

A hate crime is a criminal offense whose motivation can be shown to be race, national origin, religion or sexual orientation. A difference of race alone is NOT sufficient to make it a hate crime. There would have to be evidence of racial slurs or racial statements in addition to the crime (this does not trivialise other serious offenses that are NOT hate crimes).

Hate Crime:

West Mercia Police: Email: contactus@westmercia.police.uk / Emergency number: 999 / Non-Emergency number: 101 / report online to True Vision (opens in a new window)

https://educateagainsthate.com/parents/

Call in at your local police station.

Children with disabilities team (CWD)

The Children with Disabilities (CwD) Social Work Team provide services designed to meet the needs of children and young people who have complex disabilities.

The CwD Social Work Team is one of a range of services that can provide support to children and young people with disabilities and their families. Other services available are those provided by health, education, play and youth services as well as community resources provided by voluntary agencies.

The CwD team offer services to those children and young people requiring additional resources in respect of their disability, where the disability has a profound impact on the child or young person’s life.

An assessment will be offered where the child has a condition which is substantial, long lasting or permanent, is a physical and/or learning disability or a life limiting, life threatening condition. These may include:

  • severe learning disabilities
  • severe physical disabilities
  • severe developmental delay in motor and or cognitive functioning
  • profound multiple disabilities
  • severe sensory impairment (registered blind and/or profoundly deaf)
  • complex and severe health problems that arise from the disability, that are life threatening, degenerative illness or organic disorder resulting in severe disability
  • a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition with an associated learning disability and where the condition severely affects day to day functioning

SEN Services and Support Groups

Early Help 

Early help guidance for professionals

What is early help?

Early help means providing support as soon as a problem appears, to stop it from getting worse. This could be at any point in a child's life, from birth to the teenage years.

Anyone can provide early help – you don't need to be an expert professional. Early help is not about passing the issue on to an expert, but thinking about what is the best support you can offer.

You can provide effective support by:

  • listening
  • working with other people who could help
  • finding out about specialist agencies who could help
  • filling out an Early Help Assessment with the person you are helping
  • contacting Children’s Social  Care if you think the problem is more serious

There is a lot of information and advice on the link below as well as detail of local services that can provide support for children, young people and families.

Support for SEND children, young people and their families | Worcestershire County Council

DDNs (Dangerous Drug Networks)

DDN’s are drug dealing gangs who target vulnerable people in order to set up drugs distribution networks.

These criminals are using extreme violence to establish a presence, displacing an existing drug supply chain and intimidating rivals, witnesses and victims, this has resulted in local murders.

DDN’s exploit vulnerable teenagers to become drug runners for their network. Early intervention and intelligence are key to safeguard and protect the vulnerable.

County lines (dangerous drug networks) - Preventing Exploitation Toolkit

Child Criminal Exploitation (County Lines)

Here is some guidance for frontline professionals on dealing with county lines, part of the government’s approach to ending gang violence and exploitation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-exploitation-of-children-and-vulnerable-adults-county-lines

Children who are trafficked, exploited or coerced into committing crimes are victims in need of safeguarding and support. Though perceptions are altering these young people are still often criminalised and perceived as having ‘made a choice’ to take part in illegal activity.

https://www.catch-22.org.uk/child-criminal-exploitation/

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

West Midlands Safeguarding Children Procedures has a page dedicated to Child Sexual Exploitation.  It provides information about child sexual exploitation, the roles and responsibilities of relevant agencies and the procedures practitioners should follow to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people whom it is suspected have been sexually exploited or are at risk of sexual exploitation.

Key facts about CSE

  • It affects both girls and boys and can happen in all communities.
  • Any young person can be targeted but there are some particularly vulnerable groups: Looked After Children, Children Leaving Care and Children with Disabilities.
  • Victims of CSE may also be trafficked (locally, nationally and internationally).
  • Over 70% of adults involved in prostitution were sexually exploited as children or teenagers.
  • Sexual violence or abuse against children represents a major public health and social welfare problem within UK society, affecting 16% of children under 16. That is approximately 2 million children.

Child sexual exploitation | Worcestershire County Council

Making a referral

The Local Authority has a duty to make enquiries where a child may be suffering harm or neglect. If you think that a child may be at risk then you can let us know via the referral form linked below

Useful Websites

  • Barnardo's spot the signs: Advice for parents, professionals and young people on the signs of sexual exploitation and how to keep safe
  • Department for Education (Gov.uk) National Action Plan for Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation
  • Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation pace is the leading national charity working with parents and carers whose children are sexually exploited
  • NSPCC definitions, statistics, facts and resources about CSE.
  • NWG Network: Fighting against CSE and working to inform, educate and prevent child sexual abuse within the UK.
  • Spotting The Signs of Child Sexual Exploitation: a 15 minute YouTube clip from Health Education England

Domestic violence

Here is a very helpful website for what do to in many different difficult situations:

Domestic abuse support | Worcestershire County Council

West Mercia Women's Aid: 0800 980 3331

                                            0800 783 1359                                     helpline@westmerciawomensaid.org

Further reading

Teenage relationship abuse

Crush

CRUSH is an awareness raising and support programme to help young people make safe and healthy relationships.  The sessions are run in small groups and are specifically designed for 13-19 year olds. 

Children and Young People Services | West Mercia Women's Aid

Fabricated and induced illness (FII)

Fabricated or induced illness (FII) is a rare form of child abuse. It occurs when a parent or carer , exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Fabricated-or-induced-illness/

Faith abuse

Faith and belief-based child abuse, including practices around ‘spirit possession’ and ‘witchcraft’, is a hidden crime, which makes it difficult to quantify in terms of magnitude. However, from our own experience and in consultation with communities, we know this kind of abuse is under-reported.

Further contacts for advice can be found from the local representatives for some faiths.

Honour based violence (HBV)

Honour’ based violence (HBV) occurs when perpetrators believe a relative or other individual has shamed or damaged a family’s or community’s ‘honour’ or reputation (known in some communities as izzat), and that the only way to redeem the damaged ‘honour’ is to punish and/or kill the individual. ‘Honour’ based violence is a term that is widely used to describe this sort of abuse however it is often referred to as so called ‘honour’ based violence because the concept of ‘honour’ is used by perpetrators to make excuses for their abuse. There is a very strong link between ‘honour’ based violence, forced marriage and domestic abuse. The term ‘Honour Based Violence’ is the internationally recognised term describing cultural justifications for violence and abuse. Honour Based Violence cuts across all cultures and communities: Turkish, Kurdish, Afghani, South Asian, African, Middle Eastern, South and Eastern European for example. This is not an exhaustive list. Where a culture is heavily male dominated, HBV may exist. The police have made it a high priority to help communities fight back to tackle both honour based violence and hate crime.                                                               

The ‘Honour Network Help line’: 0800 5 999 247

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal or the external female genitalia. FGM is illegal in the UK and as of October 2015 mandatory reporting commenced. If education staff or other professionals discovers that an act FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl under 18 years old there is a statutory (legal) duty on teachers for them PERSONALLY to report it to the police.

Read Female genital mutilation (FGM) - NHS for NHS information and signs of FGM. Any suspicion of FGM should be referred to the Police and social care.

Forced marriage

UK Forced Marriage Unit fmu@fco.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7008 0151

Call 999 (police) in an emergency.

www.gov.uk/stop-forced-marriage for information on Forced Marriage. Visit Home Office website to

undertake Forced Marriage e-learning package

https://www.gov.uk/forced-marriage. GSCB one day Awareness training delivered by Infobuzz

www.gscb.org.uk Please see ‘Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines- Handling cases of Forced Marriage’ for more information and detail:

https://www.gov.uk/forcedmarriage

Prevention Freedom Charity- Aneeta Prem ‘But it’s not fair’ book. A book for teenagers looking at forced marriage from the point of view of school friends of the girl who went to India and didn't come back. This book promotes discussion. www.freedomcharity.org.uk The Freedom Charity (UK charity) have a helpline, text facility and app which can be downloaded to help to provide support and protection for victims of abuse, FGM or forced marriage. They can be contacted on tel: 0845 607 0133 or text 4freedom to 88802 or go to the website to download the app from the app page.

Gangs and youth violence

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418131/Preventing_youth_violence_and_gang_involvement_v3_March2015.pdf

This is a website for the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative:     http://www.worcesterma.gov/youth-opportunities/youth-violence-prevention

Gender-based violence/violence against women and girls

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-against-women-and-girls-evidence-digest-january-2018 

For information about West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse visit: https://www.wmrsasc.org.uk/

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is violence against women and girls. Forced marriage and so called ‘Honour’ based violence are a violation against human rights and is a high priority area of the national and local Violence Against Women and Girls Agenda. It is, primarily an issue for young women and girls aged between 13 and 30 years.

Hope House SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre):

01452 754390

Gender Identity Issues

The Gender Trust is a listening ear, a caring support and an information centre for anyone with any question concerning their gender identity, or whose loved one is struggling with gender identity issues. People who might be Transgender, Transsexual or people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth or those who are simply unsure. Address: 76 The Ridgeway, Astwood Bank, B96 6LX tel: 0845 231 0505 www.gendertrust.org.uk

Private fostering

National Fostering Agency (NFA) 

Call on: 0808 284 9226

Kinship Care 

Kinship care means that relatives or friends look after children who cannot live with their parents. Visit this website for more information: Worcestershire Fostering | Worcestershire County Council

Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism/HATE (PREVENT duty)

www.educateagainsthate.com is the government website providing information and practical advice for parents, teachers and schools leaders on protecting children from radicalisation and extremism.

Anti-Terrorist Hotline: tel 0800 789 321

Can also be raised by email to the Home office: counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk. 

While it remains very rare for school age children to become involved in extremist activity to the point of committing criminal acts, young people can be exposed to extremist influences or prejudiced views, including via the internet, from an early age. As with other forms of criminality or risk of harm, early intervention is always preferable. Schools, working with other local partners, families and communities, can help support pupils who may be vulnerable as part of wider safeguarding responsibilities.

Channel guidance: Channel and Prevent Multi-Agency Panel (PMAP) guidance - GOV.UK

Sexting/Sextortion/youth produced imagery

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keepingchildren-

safe/sexting

 (NSPCC website)

Children Missing in Education (CME)

Children Missing Education (CME) refers to 'any child of compulsory school age who is not registered at any formally approved education activity eg school, alternative provision, elective home education, and has been out of education provision for at least 4 weeks'. CME also includes those children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown), and are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who

is not at their last known address and either has not taken up an allocated school place as expected, or has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation, or left school suddenly and the destination is unknown.

This is the link for Children Missing Education on the Worcestershire website Children missing education | Worcestershire County Council

Missing Children and Adults Strategy (vulnerable children and adults who go missing)

Every year an estimated 200,000 people go missing in the UK. In some cases, missing adults may have made a choice to leave and ‘start their lives over again’, but the vast majority of missing people, children and adults, are vulnerable and need protection and support. The strategy has three key objectives which provide the right foundations for any effective local strategy to tackle this issue: Prevention - reducing the number of people who go missing, including through prevention strategies, education work and early intervention in cases where children and adults repeatedly go missing Protection - reducing the harm to those who go missing, including through a tailored, risk-based response and ensuring agencies work together to find and close cases as quickly as possible at a local and national level Provision - providing support and advice to missing persons and families by referring then to agencies promptly and ensuring they understand how and where to access help. The police should be informed if any child or adult goes missing. The Missing Children and Adults strategy can then be referred to for further information and help. It is a home office publication (2011).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117793/missing-persons-strategy.pdf

Children with family members in prison

Approximately 200,000 children have a parent sent to prison each year. These children are at risk of poor outcomes including poverty, stigma, isolation and poor mental health. NICCO (www.nicco.org.uk) provides information to support professionals working with offenders and their children to help mitigate the negative consequences for these children.

Children and the court system

Children are sometimes required to give evidence in courts, either for crimes committed against them or for crimes they have witnessed. There are two guides to support these children which can be found at www.gov.uk (young witness booklet for 5 to 11 year olds) which is a pdf. There is also a document called “going to court and being a witness age 12 to 17” which is also found at www.gov.uk. Making family arrangements via court can be stressful and entrench conflict in families. The ministry of Justice has just launched an online dispute resolution service. This can be useful to parents and carers. Got to www.gov.uk and search for “get help with arrangements.”

Stalking

General Advice:

  • If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn't!
  • Seek support from trusted family/friends
  • Report to the police and do this early
  • Keep a diary in a secure location
  • Screenshot emails etc and save them
  • Photograph/video your stalker if safely possible.
  • Get advice: Hollie Gazzard Trust, Paladin etc…
  • Tighten security; home, work and on-line

 

National Stalking Helpline

For advice and support. The helpline will operate a triage service for local support and make referrals -Phone: 0808 802 0300

Website: www.stalkinghelpline.org

Email: advice@stalkinghelpline.org

 

Paladin: National Stalking Advocacy Service

For advice and referral.

Phone line: 020 3866 4107

Email: info@paladinservice.co.uk

Website: www.paladinservice.co.uk/

Hollie Gazzard Trust  https://holliegazzard.org/ 

Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges

Here is advice from the WCC webpage:

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20379/domestic_abuse_and_sexual_violence/886/sexual_violence_and_abuse

West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre: https://www.wmrsasc.org.uk/                                                

01905 724 514     Helpline opening times: