Willow Brook School – Safeguarding and Wellbeing
Staff and Governors at Willow Brook Primary are committed to establishing a community that has our pupils’ safety and well-being at the heart of all that it does. Through procedure, policy and curriculum we aim to promote the highest standards of welfare and we expects all staff and volunteers to share our determination.
Willow Brook Child Protection Policy 2024
The Child Protection Policy is supported by other policies related to safeguarding. Ensuring that children are happy and able to thrive in school is a vital part of our practice. Our Anti Bullying and Child on Child Abuse Policies outlines our determination and procedures.
Child on Child Abuse Policy 2024
Other policies that underpin our ethos can be found on the policies page of the website
Curriculum
Through our curriculum we teach children to stay safe and happy. We encourage the understanding that any problem or worry that they may have is legitimate, and to share their worries, big or small with their trusted adult; at home; school or with Child Line. Our PSHE overview neatly combines our plans for direct teaching, experiences and instilling our Five C’s ethos with giving our pupils a voice and access to specialist resources. We use the PSHE.Org to focus our delivery.
PSHE Primary Curriculum Overview
School closures during the Pandemic potentially affected children in many different ways. Alongside our curriculum and additional input on wellbeing, there are many online organisations who provide resources and advice on anxiety, how to encourage resilience and how to access help should the situation require external help. This link to the NSPCC is a good place to start:
Throughout the year, our children learn, at age-appropriate levels, how to conduct themselves on-line and maximise their well-being when it comes to internet and screen activity. There is no doubt that a developing brain needs nurturing with thought and care.
Free play, social engagement and a growing level of independence all add to healthy development. Ensuring that children meet challenges and choices and learn to navigate the real world safely is crucial. So often, we instill fear and control in the real world in a bid to be safe but allow our young people freedom in an online existence. Getting the balance right is hard.
Every February we join a national initiative and participate in Safer Internet Day as a whole school, spending a day investigating and learning from children’s experiences and teaching themed lessons to further their understanding.
Over the past few years we have asked the questions…
Truth and Reliability: What can you trust online? (2021)
All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online (2022)
Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online (2023)
The UK Safer Internet Centre have created some free activities and information for parents and carers that you can use at home with your child to continue the important conversations about online safety that children have at school during Safer Internet Day and throughout the year:
https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers
The UK Safer Internet Centre have also created some activities that you can try at home to promote discussion about using the internet.
How well do you know me?
No tech or better with tech?
Internet Interview
There are lots more useful links on this page to explore relating to online safety as well as other areas of wellbeing.
Useful Links
Mobile Phone Policy pupil version
Children and young people go online to connect with friends, and make new ones, to browse the internet for information, chat with others and play games.
The ‘Think You Know’ site has a wealth of family based advice and activities to inform parents about the latest online trends and how to talk with your children:
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
The ‘netaware’ site is also perfect for checking out any apps that your children are engaged with and offers useful advice for parents and carers on encouraging children to have a healthy relationship and resilience with the online world. This site provides information on age appropriate content, parental controls and how to negotiate a healthy level of screen time for your primary aged child. Click on this link to find out more:
https://www.internetmatters.org/inclusive-digital-safety/advice-for-parents-and-carers/
The NSPCC is a strong resource for all aspects of child safety and we recommend their advice to you:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
The NSPCC support our safeguarding teaching by coming into school and working with both key stages. Their materials are central to the Willow Brook PSHE curriculum and their assemblies and lessons provide essential information for our children.
We use the NSPCC ‘Pants’ guide to teach our very youngest children that their body belongs to them. You can find more information about it – and the new ‘Pantasaurus’ song – on the NSPCC website!
NSPCC TALK PANTS guide for parents
An important aspect of protecting children and encouraging a healthy start to their on-line world is to be a good example as parents and carers. ‘Sharenting’ is certainly worth your thoughts and this article, promoted by the NSPCC will give you valuable information:
Growing up shared: negotiating the risks and opportunities of ‘sharenting’
Parent Zone has a library of guides on many online platforms and apps to help parents understand and use them safely:
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. Many of the things we do in school to help pupils become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy.