Well-Being &
E-Safety Support
9 September 2020
Dear Parent/Carer
INAPPROPRIATE SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY
We have been alerted to the fact that extremely disturbing and inappropriate material is being circulated between students, across various social media platforms. This is causing distress to many.
Please be aware of the advice we are sharing with students below, in support of your own ongoing vigilance at home.
Advice to students;
If you are ever in receipt of anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, please report this straight away to Pastoral staff in school. You should also talk to your parents and you may wish to ask them to contact staff instead. You must never keep such things to yourself.
As well as talking to adults, you are also advised to report any such disturbing material to the social media platforms where you saw it. This will help them to remove it and protect others from harm.
Once you have reported inappropriate content, you should then delete material from your own accounts. You must never share material that can cause distress to others. This is likely to bring about serious consequences.
Thank you for your support with this important safeguarding matter
Yours sincerely
P Charnock
Assistant Head – Pastoral
If you believe that any child is at risk of harm, please contact Paul Charnock (pch@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk) or Tracy Studholme (tst@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk) in School, and if necessary contact Cumbria Children’s Safeguarding Hub on 0333 240 1727 or the police on 101 or 999.
02 April 2020
Urgent Notice from Cumbria Children’s Safeguarding Hub
Some children in Cumbria have been messaged directly recently, inviting them to participate in The Blue Whale Challenge.
The Blue Whale Challenge first surfaced between 2016-2018 across the world, and in this country, and county too.
The challenge encourages teenagers (often girls more than boys), to undergo a series of 50 challenges that culminate in committing suicide.
The challenges are given online or through text messages, instant messages or posts on Instagram and Twitter.
Things for professionals and parents/carers to look out for in particular are the following warning signs in children:
Any messages/posts relating to Jonathan Galindo, a man that may also be seen with his face painted like a dog.
Any references to #f57, #f40 or #IMaWhale (these were being circulated in 2017-18).
Waking up very early in the morning to watch scary videos or do other unusual tasks.
Scratching a sketch of a whale onto their body.
Making deep cuts on their arms.
Standing on the edge of a roof/bridge.
Taking photos of any of these activities to accounts that you don’t recognise.
Physically hurting themselves.
Extreme changes in eating or sleep habits.
We must remember that some of the above signs, may NOT be linked with The Blue Whale Challenge, but could still be a cause for a parent/carer/professional’s concern.
If you believe that any child is at risk of harm, please contact Paul Charnock (pch@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk) or Tracy Studholme (tst@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk) in School, and if necessary contact Cumbria Children’s Safeguarding Hub on 0333 240 1727 or the police on 101 or 999.
02 April 2020
SUPPORTING WELLBEING DURING THE CORONAVIRUS
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Caring for your son or daughter’s mental health and well-being over these coming months will be really important. With a greater emphasis on online learning and an inevitable increase in screen time, accompanied with daily routines that greatly differ from the norm, including social distancing measures, it is likely that some students will begin to feel isolated. On 30 March the Government issued comprehensive Guidance for parents and carers on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, covering the following
The guidance can be read in full, via the following link; Please remember that staff remain in place and active and should be contacted for support. Students can continue to email their Form Tutor; SEND Keyworker; Head of Year; Year group Tutors, as well as other key members of staff; Safeguarding Lead: Paul Charnock pch@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk Deputy Safeguarding Lead: Tracy Studholme tst@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk Anne Ewing also available for Careers Advice aew@trinity.cumbria.sch.uk There is a great deal of additional resource available to support us during these difficult times. Please find below a list of Emotional Wellbeing (EWB) and Mental Health sources of advice, consultation and support for staff, students and their parents and carers. Most of the general advice for professionals, parents, carers and young people can be found at: Professionals: Parents: The following link offers comprehensive advice for supporting children and families through unexpected times of rapid and unpredictable change in the light of coronavirus Additional, targeted support for parents and students can be found here also; Young Minds: The Young Minds Website has a parents and professionals section as well as advice and moderated blogs for young people and a free telephone. Rise Above: Health and wellbeing website by Public Health England that covers everything including emotional wellbeing, friendships, self-care; also has games, videos etc. Kooth.com online support for young people: Kooth is a web-based confidential support service available to young people aged 11 to 18yrs, providing a safe and secure means of accessing mental health and wellbeing support designed specifically for young people. Counsellors are available from 12noon to 10pm on weekdays and 6pm to 10 pm at weekends, every day of the year on a drop-in basis. To find out more visit www.Kooth.com where young people can register and others can find out more about the service. Laura Berry, Kooth Integration and Participation Worker for Cumbria can be contacted at lberry@xenzone.com or by calling 07535 088117 5 – 19 School Age Public Health Nurse Practitioner Service: E-school Nurse it is now available for professionals AND parents across the age ranges – however it is about general health needs not just mental health. See attached for details. 5-19 PH Website – the team are constantly updating with information and ideas on their website. https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/ph5to19/ The link below takes you to a recently published guide for educational settings and schools on sudden traumatic death and bereavement prefaced by a COVID 19 section: My Time Cumbria (Barnardos) Primary Care Mental Health Service: Initial telephone advice can be obtained from the Primary Mental Health Workers who can be contacted as below: Referrals can be made directly by contacting My Time on the number below: CAMHS Support (North Cumbria): Where youngsters are experiencing serious mental health issues (currently as staffing allows). The East Team (includes Carlisle) can be contacted on 01228 608870. North Cumbria Crisis Assessment and Intervention Service (CAIS): Where young people feel they are in a mental health crisis, referrals can be made by any professional (with appropriate permissions) by ringing 01228 603964. Telephone assessment and support will be given initially. Available 9am-8pm Monday-Friday and 9am-1pm Saturday and Sunday. (This service is now part of the Adult MH Crisis Service). SAFA Self Harm Awareness for All Support Service: SAFA continues to work with self-harm clients and have moved from face to face counselling to virtual counselling. Office staff are working from home. All counsellors have been trained to deliver the service via on-line support. They are also able to support friends/family members that need support. Until June SAFA will be working across the whole of Cumbria, after then they will switch to working only across South Cumbria. We Are With You (formerly Young Addaction) https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk Eden Mind, for better mental Health – http://www.cemind.org/help-and-resources/mental-health-support.aspx PAPYRUS is the national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide https://papyrus-uk.org Anna Freud (National Centre for Children and Families), supporting young people’s mental health during periods of disruption https://www.annafreud.org/what-we-do/anna-freud-learning-network/coronavirus/ Youth Work Support, has a dedicated provision to support young people through COVID 19, providing useful links to professionals and key workers https://youthworksupport.co.uk/young-people/ Think You Know: Online Safety Home Activity Packs https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/Support-tools/home-activity-worksheets/ Support and activities for children with learning disabilities and their families. |
30 Daily Tasks
All are Students and Staff welcome to our Wellbeing Drop In
Six minutes a day keeps the stress away!
With mental health issues on the rise amongst children and young people (What kids think about Mental Health, CHILDWISE, 2020), research by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex (2009) found that just six minutes of reading a day can reduce stress levels by 68%. Dr Lewis, who conducted the test, said: “Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.”
National Literacy Trust (2017) also found that reading to help other children through Readathon boosts happiness and helps to foster positive attitudes towards reading. Furthermore, reading attitudes were found to be the strongest predictors of mental well-being (2018).
TikTok ‘family safety mode’ gives parents some app control
It will let parents link their own TikTok accounts to their child’s – and turn features on and off remotely. That includes a “restricted mode” that tries to filter out inappropriate content, and turning off messaging. TikTok has an age limit of 13, but many pre-teens still use the Chinese-owned app.
A recent survey by UK media regulator Ofcom found that TikTok was used by 13% of all children aged 12-15 in 2019 – up from 8% the year before.
Inside My Head: What is an anxiety disorder?
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week and thanks to campaigners like 16-year-old Molly and her group – We Will – they are breaking the stigma surrounding mental health.
Molly is from Cumbria, where she has found mental health services are not always able to do enough to help young people in her area.
Eden mind came to visit us today to chat with students and staff about some of the ways we can deal with worry and stress. We had a go at some zentangle drawings and came out feeling relaxed and calm for an afternoon of learning.😊 pic.twitter.com/MX2yvPcqiP
— Mindful Trinity (@TrinityMindful) March 4, 2020
Disclaimer
On this page you will find links to external websites. Although we make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant, Trinity School cannot take responsibility for pages maintained by external providers.
Child Online Safety:
A practical guide for parents and carers whose children are using social media
View the Guide: Social Media Guidance for parents UKCCIS – Dec 2015 (pdf)
O2 and the NSPCC have joined forces to help parents and families in the UK learn how to keep kids safe online.
They have launched a free helpline where you can get advice from experts on the following topics:
- Setting up parental controls on your computer or other devices
- Help adjusting privacy settings
- Understanding social networks
- Concerns about online gaming
- App advice
- Online bullying
- Downloading
- Strangers online
- Online addiction
- Paying for extras
- And much more…………..
Helpline opening times:
Monday – Friday: 9am to 7pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10am to 6pm
Bank Holidays: 10am to 4pm
The number for the helpline is 0800 800 5002. For further information see www.o2.co.uk/nspcc
