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Help and Support

If you a parent/carer, family member, friend or member of the public and have concerns about the wellbeing or safety of a child then please take action. If you believe the child is in immediate danger then call the police on 999.

If you think a child in Kirklees is being abused or mistreated or you have concerns about a child’s wellbeing or need advice and support about a child with a disability you should call and speak to someone at Kirklees Duty and Advice on 01484 456848. This number is available from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Further information on Kirklees Children’s Safeguarding is available here:  
www.kirkleessafeguardingchildren.co.uk

You can get further guidance from the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 or www.nspcc.org.uk 

See, Hear, Respond is a partnership between The Children’s Society and other children’s charities such as Barnardo’s and Action for Children. The website contains information for Young Carers, wellbeing information and other guidance and can be found here: Children's Society

If you are a child who is being harmed or at risk of harm or believe  you are in immediate danger then call the police on 999.

Duty and Advice (Social Workers) are available on 01484 456848 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Childline is available 24/7 on 0800 11 11 or at www.childline.org.uk

There’s a new campaign to help children recognise the signs of abuse. Please see the ‘Something’s Not Right’ page on the NSPCC website: https://www.childline.org.uk/somethings-not-right

If you are an adult who needs support for yourself or if you believe you are in immediate danger then call the police on 999.

If you wish to report other non-urgent crimes then call the police on 101.

The Samaritans are available 24/7 if you need urgent help with your mental health on 116 123. You can get further advice from their website www.samaritans.org

Online Safety

A lot of safeguarding concerns we deal with at the Academy arise from students’ use of social media. If you are being bullied, harassed or have faced abuse via a social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok then please report it to the app. The majority of well-known apps will have a Help or Support area where you can make a report.

The school has shown commitment to protecting our students online by working with National Online Safety and providing resources that can be used at home. The resources include Parents & Carers courses, online video resources and weekly guides covering a huge range of topics. Parents and carers can sign up to use these resources by clicking this link: http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/thornhill-community-academy  More information can be found here:   https://nationalonlinesafety.com/training/search?search=&cat=&type=resource&sort=latest

If you have been threatened online or someone is asking you to do something sexual or inappropriate then report this to the police on 101 (999 if it’s an immediate threat) or report it via the CEOP website www.ceop.police.uk

There is information for parents on supporting their child to stay safe online here: https://www.tigermobiles.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-children-on-their-smartphone/

Other online safety resources are available from www.childnet.com and www.thinkuknow.co.uk

The Marie Collins foundations supports victims of online sexual abuse. They have lots of useful information and resources on their website, which can be found here: www.mariecollinsfoundation.org.uk

Forced Marriage and So-Called Honour-Based Abuse

If you believe that yourself or someone else is at risk of forced marriage or so-called honour-based abuse then please seek support. If you feel able to, please contact the police on 101 or 999 (depending on the urgency).

Karma Nirvana is a leading UK charity for forced marriage and so-called honour-based abuse and they can support you to get help. You can find information on their website karmanirvana.org.uk or by calling their helpline on 0800 5999 247 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Prevent

Prevent is part of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. If you have concerns that someone you know is being radicalised, expressing extremist views or taking part in terrorist activities then please report this. If you believe something illegal is taking place call the police on 999.

Kirklees Prevent Hub is available on 01924 483747. For more information see: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/community-safety-partners/prevent.aspx 
For further information on radicalisation and extremism please see: https://www.ltai.info/ 

Bullying

Bullying is taken very seriously at the academy. If you feel that your child is being bullied please speak to their Student Manager in the first instance.

If you are a child and want to report bullying via email, please email office.thornhill@sharemat.co.uk 

The Diana Award provide useful information on dealing with bullying. This can be found here: https://www.antibullyingpro.com/resources 

The Anti-Bullying Alliance have tools and resources to help if you’re being bullied. These can be found here: https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/

Drugs, Substances, Alcohol and Gambling

Students and Parents/Carers are able to access support from a couple of local organisations

The Base are a free and confidential drug and alcohol service for young people up to the age of 21 in Kirklees. They can support students who are using drugs and/or alcohol themselves. They also support students who are affected by parental substance or alcohol misuse. Their website is here: https://www.changegrowlive.org/the-base-kirklees/info 

CHART supports adults who have problems with drugs or alcohol. Find out more here: https://kirkleesinrecovery.com/services/chart-kirklees/

GamCare is an organisation that supports young people who are struggling with involvement in gambling. Their website is here: https://www.gamcare.org.uk

TGAM offer workshops for parents to support their child around gaming and gambling: https://parents.ygam.org/workshops
 

Domestic Abuse

Our school is part of Operation Encompass. This is a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Abuse.

Operation Encompass means that the Education Safeguarding Service will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with our school prior to the start of the next school day when the police have been called to a domestic incident.

Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership provide domestic abuse support services in Kirklees. Their 24/7 helpline is 0800 052 7222 or visit https://pdap.co.uk/

Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/ is available for free and confidential advice, 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247 or through the contact form or live chat service. If you are a male victim, you can access support through the Men’s Advice Helpline https://mensadviceline.org.uk/ on 0808 8010327. Other specialist support services are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help#get-help-if-you-or-someone-you-know-is-a-victim

Safe Lives is a charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse. Useful information can be found on their website here: https://safelives.org.uk/

Community Support

There are a number of local charities and organisations who are providing support to families at the moment.

If you are struggling financially, Kirklees Council have a page on their website to help you with finances, energy bills and food: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/cost-of-living/index.aspx

Kirklees Local Welfare Provision can help you with food parcels, gas and electricity vouchers, furniture and white goods, and advice around debt, budgeting, benefits and housing. For further information please see: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/benefits/local-welfare-provision.aspx

Kirklees Community Plus offer tailored one to one, short term support to people that would like to have a more connected, happy, independent and healthier life. Their locally based community co-ordinators work alongside people, to connect them to groups, activities and support in local communities. For more information see: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/voluntary-and-community-support/community-plus.aspx

Our Neighbourhood Nest at Overthorpe CofE Academy offer a variety of activities to local residents. They are also part of the FareShare initiative that distributes supermarket surplus food to people who need it. For more information on Our Neighbourhood Nest please visit the website: https://www.overthorpecofe.co.uk/adult-learning or follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ourneighbourhoodnest

Uniform Exchange is a charity that provide free school uniform to children across Kirklees. Please also consider donating uniform once your child has grown out of it. Their website can be found here: https://www.uniform-exchange.org

Zarach is a local charity which has been established for over 3 years. Every Head a Bed is their commitment to help ensure all children to have somewhere safe and comfortable to sleep with good, consistent access to healthy and nutritious food in order for them to succeed at school. They are here to bring lasting and positive change to those children growing up in the grips of poverty crisis through bed bundle deliveries, tailored support packages, raising awareness, advocating policy change and by galvanising people and resources across the UK. https://zarach.org/

Exploitation

Children can be exploited in a variety of ways. These include criminal exploitation (used to sell drugs or store money/weapons, for example), sexual exploitation and radicalisation. School staff are trained to look out for signs that a child is being groomed, however parents, family members and friends are often in better position to spot these signs. The NSPCC has a useful page about grooming here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/grooming

For more information on the different types of exploitation please see the Safeguarding Network website: https://safeguarding.network/content/safeguarding-resources/child-criminal-exploitation

The West Yorkshire Police website has a thorough section on child sexual exploitation containing guidance and resources: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/advice/child-protection/child-sexual-exploitation-cse/child-sexual-exploitation-cse

Parents Against Child Exploitation (Pace) supports parents who have been affected by child exploitation: https://paceuk.info
 

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