Request support for a child

For members of the public:

• If a child or young person is in immediate danger, call 999.
• If you're worried that a child is being abused or neglected, call the Children and Families Hub on 0345 603 7627. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.
• Out of hours or bank holidays, call the emergency duty team on 0345 606 1212.

For those working or volunteering with children and families please ensure you are requesting the correct level of support.

• If you have an immediate safeguarding concern call 0345 603 7627 and ask for the priority line. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.
• Out of hours or bank holidays, call the emergency duty team on 0345 606 1212.
• You can also report a level 3 or 4 concern using the online Request for Support form. You can find out how to make an effective request for support on the examples and guidance page.

The Children and Families Hub continue to offer a consultation line for professionals providing advice and guidance. This can be accessed by calling 0345 603 7627 and asking for the 'Consultation Line'. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.

Early Help and Effective Support for Children and Families

Early help aims to give children, young people and families the right support at the right time, to reduce the need for higher level interventions. The Essex County Council website has resources to help you understand the level of need and templates to help you get started. Find out more.

• Effective Support for Children and Families in Essex (PDF, 2021)
• Effective Support Windscreen
• Early Help Plan / Team Around Family
• Essex Early Help Offer
• Parental Relationships Spectrum

Downham C of E Primary School uses CPOMS software to monitor Safeguarding, Wellbeing & Pastoral Issues. 

CPOMS (a ‘Child Protection Online Monitoring System’) is an application for monitoring child protection, safeguarding, and a range of other welfare issues. It supports us in our efforts to ensure that safeguarding is robust.

The CPOMS system allows the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and the Deputy DSLs quickly, easily and securely record in one place all of the safeguarding information that the school has on a child. The order in which reports are made about a student (the student’s ‘chronology’) is built automatically and so trends are much easier to spot than if the information had been recorded on several pieces of paper.

All adults in the school can access the system to make a referral, allowing the DSL/Deputy DSLs to focus on taking appropriate follow-up action thereafter. All referrals to external agencies such as Children’s Services, CAMHS, the police, etc. are tracked easily and the system alerts us if timescales are not being met.

The information on the system can be interrogated quickly and easily. This also allows for easy reporting to Governors.

Concerned about a child or young person? Call 0345 603 7627

• Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health
• Online Safety

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a type of sexual abuse. A young person is exploited because they are given things, like gifts, drugs, money, status and affection, in exchange for performing sexual activities. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common in cases of CSE, as many perpetrators target vulnerable young people. Below are 6 types of child sexual exploitation.

Inappropriate relationships:

When the perpetrator has power or control over a young person because they are physically stronger, older or wealthier. This can also occur through a trusted person who is forced or threatened to involve the young person becoming exploited by someone else.

Older adult exploitation – often referred to as the ‘boyfriend’ model:

The adult offender of CSE is usually at least five years older and befriends and grooms the young person by focusing on their vulnerabilities. The victim will initially feel they are in a positive and rewarding relationship with the perpetrator. 

Power and control issues can lead to young people being isolated and becoming dependent on the ‘boyfriend’. They are often coerced or forced into sex with the perpetrator’s associates.

Trafficking:

Young people are passed by perpetrators through networks, between towns and cities, where they may be forced or coerced into sexual activity with multiple people.

Young people are often used to recruit other young people to take part in so-called ‘sex parties’ where this can occur.

Peers:

Trafficking sometimes involves the ‘buying and selling’ of young people by individuals involved in serious organised crime.

This is often referred to as sexual bullying. This form of CSE can happen quickly without the build-up of a relationship or the grooming process. Incidents may be filmed on mobile phones and circulated. Incidents may occur publicly or involve multiple perpetrators.

Over a quarter (28%) of perpetrators identified to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups were under 19 years of age.

Gang and group exploitation:

Young people in gangs or groups may be sexually exploited as part of gang initiation or as punishment. Young people may also be encouraged to recruit peers into the gang, exposing them to similar treatment of CSE and making it difficult to identify perpetrators who control the gang.

Online Grooming:

These offences include deceiving children into producing indecent images of themselves, engaging in sexual chat online or sexual activity over a webcam.  Research reveals that 13 and 14 year olds represent the largest single victim group of child sexual exploitation.
Risk of going online include:
o    Online grooming and child abuse
o    Access to age-inappropriate content
o    Bullying and cyberbullying
o    Personal information falling into the wrong hands
o    Talking to strangers or people who misrepresent themselves
o    People hacking their accounts.

What should I look out for?

•    Being secretive about who they are talking to and where they are going
•    Often returning home late or staying out all night
•    Sudden changes in their appearance and wearing more revealing clothes
•    Becoming involved in drugs or alcohol, particularly if you suspect they are being supplied by older men or women
•    Becoming emotionally volatile (mood swings are common in all young people, but more severe changes could indicate that something is wrong)
•    Using sexual language that you wouldn’t expect them to know
•    Engaging less with their usual friends
•    Appearing controlled by their phone
•    Switching to a new screen when you come near the computer
•    Being associated with a gang
•    Becoming estranged from family
•    Regularly missing school
•    Associating with older men and women, particularly if they go missing and are being defensive about where they are and what they’re doing
•    Possessing items such as phones or jewellery that you haven’t given them but which they couldn’t afford to buy themselves
•    Having more than one, or a secret phone.

You should be aware of the following signs of CSE and abuse:

•    They are regularly suffering from sexually transmitted infections
•    They have unexplained physical injuries such as bruising
•    Having mood swings or being emotionally volatile
•    Self-harm or suicide attempts

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP KEEP OUR YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE? 

The NSPCC offers advice on how to protect children. It advises:
•    helping children to understand their bodies and sex in a way that is appropriate for their age 
•    developing an open and trusting relationship, so they feel they can talk to you about things that bother them. Let children or young people know they can talk to someone on anonymous support services such as ChildLine.org.uk.
•    explaining the difference between safe secrets (such as a surprise party) and unsafe secrets (things that make them unhappy or uncomfortable) 
•    teaching children to respect family boundaries, such as privacy in sleeping, dressing and bathing 
•    teaching them self-respect and how to say no 
•    supervising internet, mobile and television use and to think about placing restriction settings on online devices.  Find out more at thinkuknow.co.uk.
•    calling the police when a child goes missing, even if this happens regularly. You do not need to wait 24 hours

•    explaining that it’s easy for people to lie about age, gender, interests online and children should never arrange to meet someone without an adult who they trust

•    making sure children or young people know that once they share personal details online, including pictures, they lose control over where these may end up

Where do I go for support?

It is very important to report any suspicions on child sexual exploitation and make a report to the police, or if you are unsure you are welcome to talk to the Safeguarding Team regarding your concerns.  Below are websites that have information on CSE that may clarify your situation.  As a school, it is always helpful to know and understand what you may be experiencing so that we can support the young person and the family.

Department for Education:  The Prevent duty:  Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers

This is departmental advice from the Department for Education. This advice is non-statutory, and has been produced to help recipients understand the implications of the Prevent duty. The Prevent duty is the duty in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 on specified authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

This advice is for:

• Governing bodies, school leaders and school staff in maintained schools (including nursery schools), non-maintained special schools, proprietors of independent schools (including academies and free schools), alternative provision academies and 16-19 academies
• Management committees and staff in pupil referral units
• Proprietors and managers and staff in registered childcare settings

 

The main points of this advice are to:

• explain what the Prevent duty means for schools and childcare providers
• make clear what schools and childcare providers should do to demonstrate compliance with the duty
• inform schools and childcare providers about other sources of information, advice and support.

Prevent Duty Statement

EduCare - What is the Prevent Duty