School Life > Safeguarding & Online Safety
Our commitment to Safeguarding
Milton Abbey recognises that the welfare of children is paramount: the needs and wishes of each child will be put first.
We expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment to safeguarding and details of how we achieve this can be found in our full Safeguarding Policies & Procedures (click this link).
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents and carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
We actively support the UK Government’s Prevent agenda to counter radicalism and extremism, and we are an Operation Encompass School (see Domestic abuse section below).
Reporting
If you have any concerns about the safety and welfare of a child you should report it. If you feel a child is at immediate risk of danger, the police should be contacted.
If you have other concerns about a child you can ring the school and speak to a member of our safeguarding team on 01258 880484 or by sending a confidential email to safeguarding@miltonabbey.co.uk.
Our Safeguarding team
- Designated Safeguarding Lead with responsibility for Child Protection: Chris Barnes
- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads with responsibility for Child Protection: Sarah Badley, Zoe Livingstone, Ashley Garrett, Claudia Hindle, Jane Naylor, Piers Webb, Martyn Peel
- Safeguarding Governor with responsibility for Child Protection: Ian Bromilow
Independent Listener
Justin Potter is the School’s Independent Listener. His telephone number is displayed prominently in every boarding house. If pupils want to speak to someone outside of the school, about anything that is worrying them, they can speak in confidence to the Independent Listener.
You can also contact these organisations for independent help or advice:
Domestic violence and abuse
The Designated Safeguarding Lead receives information from Dorset Police when there has been an incident of domestic abuse in a Dorset household where a student lives; this is part of the national Operation Encompass programme. The information shared allows us to monitor and support the pupil. If we have additional concerns we will discuss the need for further safeguarding actions with Children’s Social Care. This information is only shared with other staff on a restricted need-to-know basis (i.e. those who are immediately responsible for the pupil’s welfare).
Being in a household where there is domestic violence is distressing and scary for children and young people. They may hear violent or controlling arguments; they may witness violence directly; they may feel powerless to protect a parent or carer. They are likely to be aware of their parent or carer’s distress and injuries after an incident. They may also get hurt themselves.
Help and advice:
- Children with a concern can contact Childline | 0800 1111
- Adults with a concern about a child can contact NSPCC | 0808 800 5000 or the local authority multi-agency safeguarding hub
- Adults with concern about themselves can contact the National Domestic violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
Specialist support for issues such as: stalking, sexual assault, refuges, survivors of abuse, honour-based violence, men experiencing domestic abuse and for people carrying out domestic abuse are also available.
Our approach to online safety
Technology, the internet and digital platforms are integral to our pupils’ personal, social and educational lives.
Milton Abbey is committed to educating pupils to be digitally literate, to recognise and manage risk, and to be resilient online. We also have a duty of care to ensure our technical infrastructure, policies and procedures, and staff training result in as safe as possible an online environment at school.
Advice for parents
Milton Abbey is also committed to supporting parents in this ever-changing digital world. Articles on relevant topics are published in the 'View from the Abbey' parent newsletter.
The following online safety resources are suggested if parents wish to find out more:
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A comprehensive website covering all aspects of online safety including:
- Talking to young people about their online activity and the risks
- Articles on topics such as bullying, gaming, pornography
- How to use Parental Controls
The NSPCC also run an advice line, sponsored by O2, available on 0808 800 5002 between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. |
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Advice and resources for parents and carers of children and young people. In particular check out the guide 'Let’s talk about life online' for advice on how to start conversations with young people about keeping safe online |
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From internet service providers such as BT, Sky, BBC and Google:
- Material is divided by topic and age
- Useful information sheets to download
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- Articles and blogs about all aspects of digital parenting
- Reviews of popular games and apps
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- Educational material for parents and carers from CEOP Education
- With separate sites for children of different ages
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- Gives advice on how to remove inappropriate or illegal content
- You can also make a report to assist in getting content removed, if you have already reported it to the platform and no action has been taken
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- Gives parental reviews of lots of games, apps (and also movies)
- Also available as an app
- Provided as a link to a useful resource, but we do not endorse the content of any third-party reviews
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It is vital that parents undertsand the online world in which their children spend a lot of theire lives, and that they teach them how to navigate this space safely. Parents can download a useful guide from the IWF website by clicking here. It contains three parts:
Part One - understand more about online child sexual abuse: what it is, who does it, and how it happens. It also tells you more about the ways children use social media to explain why simply 'banning' it doesn't work.
Part Two - answers the question 'What can I do?' and gives clear, practical advice to help keep children safe. Advice is given on starting conversations in an age-appropriate and non-judgemental way.
Part Three - tells you what to do if you suspect or know that a child is being sexually abused online, and lists organisations that can help.
If you have any specific questions, you can also contact our dedicated Online Safety Coordinator.