At Woldgate School and Sixth Form College all staff are responsible for safeguarding. We educate our children and encourage them to speak to any member of staff if they have concerns.
Advice for Pupils and Students
If someone is hurting or upsetting you or making you feel scared, it is not your fault.
You are not alone; there are people who can help you and stop people from making you feel scared or hurt.
You may be frightened of the person hurting you or your friends, but there are things you can do to get help and make it better.
This includes someone who may be frightening you on the Internet or on your mobile.
You should:
- Tell someone you trust, such as your friends, teachers, parents or grandparents. Other people at school may be able to help.
- Let people help to make things better by stopping the person from hurting you or your friends.
You shouldn’t:
- Feel embarrassed or alone.
- Feel that it is your fault or that you are to blame for someone hurting, frightening or touching you.
- Keep it a secret.
- Feel you have no one to turn to – people are there to help.
As our use of computers, mobile phones and social media grows, it is more important than ever that you know how to keep yourself safe online, and what to do if you have any worries or concerns. Here some important steps you can take to keep yourself safe:
- Think before you post: Don’t upload or share anything you wouldn’t want your parents, carers, teachers or future employers seeing. Once you post something, you lose control of it, especially if someone else screenshots or shares it.
- Always be kind to people if talking to or about them online. Remember that online bullying can be reported to school and the police. If someone says or shares something unkind or offensive to or about you ensure you keep evidence, block them and report them.
- Respect the minimum age restrictions on social media platforms; they are there to protect you. Most social media platforms have minimum age restrictions of 13 years. Whatsapp’s minimum age restriction is 16 years.
- Don’t share personal details: Keep things like your address, phone number, full name, school and date of birth private, and check what people can see in your privacy settings. Remember that people can use small clues like a school logo in a photo to find out a lot about you.
- Watch out for phishing and scams: Phishing is when someone tries to trick you into giving them information, like your password. Someone might also try to trick you by saying they can make you famous or that they’re from a talent agency. Never click links from emails or messages that ask you to log in or share your details, even if you think they might be genuine. If you’re asked to log into a website, go to the app or site directly instead.
- Think about who you’re talking to: There are lots of ways that people try to trick you into trusting them online. Even if you like and trust someone you’ve met online, never share personal information with them like your address, full name, or where you go to school.
- Keep your device secure with passwords and never give your password to another person. Make sure that you’re keeping your information and device secure. You should never give out your password or log-in information. Make sure you pick strong passwords.
- Please speak to your Care & Achievement Coordinator or Mrs Wright if you have any concerns or queries.
Although incidences are very rare, any allegations of bullying should be immediately reported to the Care & Achievement Co-Ordinator who will liaise directly with the Head of Care & Achievement and the Head of School.
Bullying in school is behaviour that:
- Occurs during school hours.
- Is repeated over a period of time.
- Intended to hurt someone either physically or emotionally.
- Often aimed at certain groups, for example because of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
The Department of Education definition is available at: https://www.gov.uk/bullying-at-school/bullying-a-definition (May 2017)
Examples of bullying in school.
- Repeated Name calling.
- Repeatedly excluding people or ignoring them.
- Repeatedly threatening or intimidating people.
- Repeatedly physically hurting someone.
- Repeatedly damaging or stealing their property.
- Repeatedly spreading rumours.
- Repeated online bullying during school hours.
Bullying outside of school:
Bullying outside of school hours is equally unacceptable. Incidences of bullying that occur outside of school hours that impact upon the welfare and wellbeing of our pupils during school hours will, with the support of the school, need to be addressed by parents.