Whatever the difficulty is that you are experiencing, you are not alone. There are many ways that we can help you, both from inside, and outside of school. Whatever it is that's bothering you, please find someone you can talk to. That is the first step towards making things better. Don't suffer in silence.
CEOP Reporting
CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind. This can be something that has taken place either online or in ‘the real world’, or both. The CEOP Safety Centre has clear information and advice on what can be reported to CEOP, the reporting process and what will happen if you do decide to make a report. You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button.
If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.
Help in school
Heathfield offers all kinds of support from staff mentors to professional counselling. Here's a list of some of the support available via your tutor, year head or Mrs Patmore (in fact any member of staff would help you, so find someone you are comfortable talking to). See your planner and/or the posters around site for more details.
An LSA Staff mentor can meet you once a week during tutorial. They can provide a listening ear, or help with things like organisation.
We have two staff who specialise in supporting students who self harm. They have a drop in clinic and also see students on a 1:1 basis.
Teaching staff mentors usually support year 10/11, and their main role is to provide a helping hand through the GCSE years.
The school clinic is run by the NHS school nurses weekly on a Thursday. You can book an appointment through your Year Head, or via the SafeHub (next to student reception). If you prefer, you can drop in to the clinic when it's on, they meet in the SafeHub Meeting Room in the science corridor on Thursday lunchtimes.
NHS staff run the school clinic and are available to talk with students about any issue, from bullying to ingrown toenails, or sexual health. NHS school nurses are trained to discuss healthy teenage relationships and at at Heathfield they are able to give the c-card to students in year 9-11 at the clinic. The c-card is an established somerset initiative which enables students to get free condoms at various places in town. Before giving the c-card, the school nurse will discuss healthy relationships and choices. The school nurse team are also on Facebook and Instagram.
You can find most of the Heathfield Safeguarding Team in the Safe Hub via Student Reception, we wear a blue lanyard.
You can email us on: safeguardingteam@heathfeildcommunityschool.co.uk
Parent Info
Parent Info is a website for parents, covering all of the issues amplified by the internet. Its newsfeed function enables schools and family-focused organisations to host and share expert advice and information through their own websites. Parent Info is a collaboration between NCA-CEOP and Parent Zone.
Parent Zone are the experts in digital family life. They provide support and information to parents, children and schools, working globally to help families navigate the internet safely and confidently.
NCA-CEOP is the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency, reaching over five million children and young people a year through its Thinkuknow education programme and regularly conveys its vital online safety messages to over 145,000 practitioners (such as social workers, teachers and police officers) registered to their network, who cascade these messages directly to children and young people.
Click here to view the Parent Info Feed.
Help out of school
The following services are run externally. We have checked these as far as possible, but we are not affiliated with them. This means that you can contact them without the school knowing. Sometimes it's helpful to get some support before you feel like letting people know.
Although we have tried to ensure that these resources are as safe as possible, we have no control over the content of these external sites. If you have any concerns over the content of these pages, please contact the site directly, we would also be grateful if you could alert the school.