Safeguarding
Anxiety Tops Mental Health Concerns for Children
New data from NSPCC’s Childline reveals that anxiety is the most common mental health issue among children reaching out for support, with over 6,600 counselling sessions in the first half of 2024/25. Factors like bullying, world events and body image contribute to rising anxiety levels.
Childline offers 24/7 support—young people don’t have to face their worries alone.
Is WhatsApp Safe for My Child?
In today's digital age, many children and teenagers use messaging apps to stay in touch with friends and family, and WhatsApp is one of the most popular. But as with any social media or messaging platform, it's important for parents to understand the potential risks and ensure that their children use it safely.
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, which means that only the sender and receiver can read messages, providing some level of privacy. However, this also means that inappropriate or harmful content shared between children might not be visible to parents.
To help keep your child safe on WhatsApp:
- Set up privacy settings: Ensure that your child’s profile is set to private, restricting who can see their information.
- Discuss appropriate behavior: Have an open conversation about responsible use, including the risks of online bullying and inappropriate content.
- Monitor usage: Keep an eye on who your child is chatting with and ensure they are aware of who is in their contact list.
By taking these simple steps, you can help your child use WhatsApp safely and responsibly, while also empowering them to make smart decisions online.
For more tips on online safety and protecting your children, visit NSPCC's Online Safety Page.
NSPCC Helpline
We’re launching a dedicated helpline for children and young people who have experienced sexual harassment or abuse at school, and for worried adults and professionals that need support and guidance.
Our new NSPCC helpline, Report Abuse in Education, will launch on 1 April. Working with the Department for Education (DfE), who have commissioned us on this initiative, we will run the bespoke helpline to provide appropriate support and advice to victims of abuse and harassment, and concerned adults, including onward action such as contacting the police if they wish to.
This dedicated helpline will offer support to:
- all children and young people making current and non-recent disclosures of sexual harassment or abuse on school grounds within school time, and incidents linked to school in any capacity
- any children or young people who want to talk about being involved or witnessing any incidents
- any adults who have experienced non-recent abuse
- parents and carers who have any concerns about their own or other children
- professionals who work in schools and need support in this or related issues.
Anyone who gets in touch through this dedicated helpline will also be signposted to other relevant support services available, including Childline - which provides ongoing support and counselling to children and young people.
The Report Abuse in Education helpline comes after a high number of anonymous testimonials were submitted to the Everyone’s Invited website, documenting abuse in all types of schools, colleges, and universities.
We will also continue to respond to the needs of children, schools, and others affected through our other services, including our e-learning, training courses, and consultancy for schools. Our work looks to prevent child abuse and make sure children have the support they need.
We will continue our policy and lobbying work to ensure that the introduction of compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools delivers change. We want the Government to invest in high-quality training and support so teachers are confident and equipped to deliver RSHE lessons in their classrooms. We will also continue to advocate for a whole-school approach to tackling abuse where school communities challenge damaging norms and unhealthy attitudes about sexual behaviour so all schools are safe places for young people.
Young people and adults can contact the NSPCC helpline, Report Abuse in Education on 0800 136 663 or email [email protected]
Walsall Mental Health Information Hub
Walsall Safeguarding Partnership have provided information and resources on the Adult Mental Health Information Hub (specifically around the suicide prevention/zero suicide agenda) with some signposting, including services for young people too. It has a strong focus on our Think Family approach, and also being aware and supportive of our colleagues wellbeing
Online Safety
We aim to help children stay safe online. Has someone acted inappropriately to you online? – you can report it to CEOP.
Here is a great resource for safer internet day https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2024/parents-and-carers
Please be aware of internet safety too, especially with the current climate. Children are spending much more time either gaming, or browsing the internet, here is some tips and advice on staying safe online. https://www.ltai.info/staying-safe-online/
Report Terrorist or extremist content online.
If you’ve seen or heard something that could potentially be related to terrorism, trust your instincts and report it. Your actions could save lives.
PREVENT
Outcome Star
An Outcome Star and Teen Star is a worksheet designed to be used with young people. It is a positive, helpful process that supports young people to look at 6 different areas of their life and agree actions with support from their family support worker. The Outcome Star supports growth in education and realistic goals for our children’s futures.
We will always gain your consent prior to completing an Outcome Star and your child will be supported by a trained member of staff to complete each of the 6 areas of the outcome star. They will then score themselves through a journey of change and agree their own action plan.
