Safeguarding and Welfare

Your child may mention they have been made aware of a service called Kooth. It provides early intervention mental health support to children and young people. Kooth works with schools and professionals across over 90% of the UK.

Kooth is free to access via any internet-connected tablet, computer or smartphone. There are no waiting lists or thresholds to meet and a referral from a medical professional is not needed. Your child can join Kooth anonymously simply by visiting:

www.kooth.com

Kooth offers young people a range and choice of support options under one digital roof. It has services that are accessible 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This includes one to one text based sessions with experienced counsellors and wellbeing practitioners run from midday to 10pm on weekdays, and from 6 -10pm at the weekend. Appointments can be booked in advance or accessed via a drop-in text-based chat. Kooth also provides a fully safeguarded and pre-moderated community with a library of peer and professional created articles. And there are discussion forums too. All content is pre-moderated and age appropriate.

Kooth covers many topics on the website including relationships, LGBTQ+, exam stress, anxiety, eating difficulties, self harm, suicidal thoughts, body image, social media, bullying and family worries. All of these subjects affecting young peoples’ mental health are presenting issues that Kooth and other mental health providers see from all age groups. Kooth is commissioned by the NHS and clinically approved for children from the age of 10, and is the only digital mental health provider to hold a BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) accreditation across the Country.

Kooth have sent us this short session as a guide for parents and carers:

Parent and Carer information session (11 minutes)

We will also send students a short ‘how to’ guide so they can join Kooth if they feel this would support them.  If you have any questions please let us know.  If you would prefer to contact Kooth directly, please email parents@kooth.com.

Thursday 17th July 2025

RE: Safeguarding Updates: 

Dear Parent / Carer, 

I write to you as we end the Summer Term as well as the Academic Year, to make you aware of the most recent issues around student safety and welfare. If you have any concerns or further questions on anything listed below please do not hesitate to contact the Safeguarding Team before the start of the Summer break at 1pm tomorrow or on our return on Monday 1st September 2025. 

Community Safety & Support:

Local Support

Just a reminder that Essex Frontline  is a community project to help front line workers and members of the public quickly find details of local health and wellbeing services and to contact services through call back and referral options. https://essexfrontline.org.uk/ 

Summer Activities 

This is a link to the CVS Tendring webpage which includes various free events for children and families during the school holidays. Some include a food provision too, which is ideal if families are struggling with holiday hunger or struggling to find affordable things to do with the children during the school break.

Water Safety 

We know many of our students and families will want to enjoy the local beaches during the summer break so we just wanted to raise awareness of the huge dangers associated with the sea and hopefully raise awareness of this. Please have a look at the Royal Life Saving Society website for lots of guidance and safety tips for the whole family. https://www.rlss.org.uk/ 

Something else that would be great for some of our students to get involved in is a local opportunity for all those aged up to 14 who can already swim, can book onto a swim safe session to learn basic survival tips for swimming in the sea. Sessions are free but limited and can be booked using the link below. There are locations around the country including Dovercourt during the first week of the holiday. https://swimsafe.org.uk/locations/harwich?switchBooking=public#results

Community Safety 

As students spend more time out and about in the local community during the summer, as parents /carers please consider and question what emerging contextual risks we should be aware of? And how we can help young people stay safer in less supervised environments? 

Possible Answers: 

• Local hotspots or recent incidents (e.g. anti-social behaviour, child-on-child harm, exploitation risks, trying out drugs, dares)

• Protective factors (e.g. trusted adults, safer routes, peer influences)

• Practical ways parents/carers can raise awareness before the summer break

Loneliness during the holiday 

The NSPCC has recently published a news story about children and young people experiencing loneliness, particularly during the summer months. New data from Childline shows that in 2024/25, there were 4,564 counselling sessions in which young people mentioned loneliness, with a higher than average amount taking place in July and August. The news story sets out tips to support young people who may be experiencing loneliness. Childline prepares for a rise in children reaching out about loneliness this summer 

Online behaviour and risks: 

The Online Safety Act 2023 

The Online Safety Act 2023 which is in force from 25th July 2025 introduces stronger protections for children online, including a legal requirement for all pornography sites accessed in the UK to have effective age verification in place by 25th July 2025. Major sites have agreed to comply using tools such as facial age estimation and ID checks. Ofcom will enforce this duty and can fine or block services that fail to meet the standard.The Act also requires platforms to carry out risk assessments, apply age-appropriate controls, and remove illegal content such as child sexual abuse material, grooming, and incitement to violence. Platforms must now consider how their design, including algorithms, anonymity, and livestreaming, may expose users to harm. Schools should ensure staff are aware of these changes and review how online safety is addressed through curriculum and safeguarding procedures. In addition to age verification, the Act introduces new criminal offences. These include cyberflashing, epilepsy trolling, and encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, which are now illegal even if done anonymously. It is also a crime to share deepfake pornography or send false information with intent to harm. Laws on non-consensual intimate images have been strengthened to cover threats to share, and images altered using AI. You can find out more of the Ofcom website here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/parents 

The Internet Matters website also has a useful article here: https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/rising-harms-new-rules-why-the-online-safety-act-matters/ 

Children's Online Activities 

Ofcom has also recently published three reports on the online lives of children in the UK. The reports cover: children’s online spending and potential financial harm; passive measurement of children’s internet use; and platform design and user behaviour. The reports look at different activities and themes that contribute to children’s experiences of the online world, including children’s internet use, children’s online spending and potential financial harm, and platform design and user behaviour. Selected findings include: UK child internet users aged 8-14-years-old spent an average of 2 hours and 59 minutes a day online with girls spending more time online than boys; there is a steep growth in take up of popular social media services during the age range of 10-12-years-old; over half of children (58%) said they spent money online in the past month; and there are minimal differences between child and adult accounts across services. Read the reports:  Top trends from our latest look at UK children’s online lives

Online Gaming

When discussing online safety with your child we really recommend not only keeping a check on age ratings of games being played but possibly use some of the family time to play games with your child or peruse the internet so that they have a better understanding of potential risks they may be facing and have a discussion based around this. Many students often inform us they are not aware of the dangers linked to online gaming. 

Safeguarding measures parents and carers can support us with: 

Parking and collection 

Just a reminder that we do really understand that a safe collection of your child at the end of the school day is a priority for us all. However there has still been an increase in parents/carers collecting students on the yellow zig zag no stopping areas in front of the school gates. It is becoming a concern and causing health and safety issues on site and on Hall Lane. We have personally again reported these issues to the local policing team and traffic enforcement but we really need your support to keep these areas clear and safe at all times. Please do not park either side of the main gates / no stopping areas. These areas are usually completely clear by 3.20pm, could you arrange a slightly later collection time? There are plenty of clubs your child can attend or even complete some homework for 15 minutes before they meet you. Or alternatively could your child meet you slightly away from the school gates? 

Medical Updates 

Just a reminder that we need to be fully up to date with all of our students' medical needs in order to support and safeguard them on site. Please respond to our email request for medical information and updated Individual Healthcare Plans or contact the relevant year team with any updates as soon as possible if they need to be discussed further. We will then be able to liaise with you and get their Individual Healthcare Plan updated together. 

Mental Health Support: 

Teentalk 

Just a reminder that Teentalk is a local ‘Listening Ear’ service. They are still based on site one day a week and can also offer their services throughout the school holiday at their local office. Please have a look on their website for further information and how to refer your child: https://teentalkharwich.co.uk/

Kooth reminder 

Kooth is free to access via any internet-connected tablet, computer or smartphone. There are no waiting lists or thresholds to meet and a referral from a medical professional is not needed. Your child can join Kooth anonymously simply by visiting www.kooth.com.  We have been sent this 10 minute video to promote the service and is well worth a look: https://vimeo.com/1015566218 

And lastly we know that term time creates routine and stability as well as access to staff, whereas the holiday periods change this support that school offers. We have therefore reminded students of all of the out of school support they can access. Many students have picked up one of our ‘Feeling Stressed?’ cards that remind them of all of the external support platforms while school is closed. We also have our ‘What do I do?’ poster on the website that gives lots of support options for students to access independently or with parents/carers support. 

Out of hours safeguarding concerns: 

During the Summer holidays, if you have any urgent concerns regarding the safety or wellbeing of a child, please call the Children and Families Hub on 03456037627 or Essex Police via 999 in an emergency or 101, or via text (18000).

Any concerns sent in from 1pm on Friday 18th July to Monday 1st September may not be picked up immediately, so please refer to the sources above during this period. All non-urgent concerns can still be sent to school or reported via the Whisper button but will not be picked up until 8am on Monday 1st September.  https://www.swgflwhisper.org.uk/report/har4 

Have a safe and restful Summer break. 

Yours faithfully, 

Charly Doyle

Deputy Headteacher

Fearless is a site where you can access non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. You can find more information via Be FEARLESS against crime.

What makes this site different is they also provide you with a safe place to give information about crime – 100% anonymously. If you have any information about crime and are unsure who you can pass this onto – you can let Fearless and let us know 100% anonymously. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – 365 days a year for you.

If you know something that has happened, have information about a place or person that has been involved in a crime or you know a crime is being planned you can let Fearless know safely without passing on any of your personal details using the Secure Online Form –
 

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/fearless
It’s important to remember that they are not a replacement for the emergency services so our advice if something is happening that needs immediate action – ring 999.

Remember that you can also contact the school using ‘The Whisper Button’ at the top of this page.

All of our safeguarding processes and procedures conform to Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024):

Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024

Please also see our our:

Child Protection Policy

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and an extremely harmful practice with devastating health consequences for girls and women. Some girls die from blood loss or infection as a direct result of the procedure. Some women who have undergone FGM are also likely to find it difficult to give birth and many also suffer from long-term psychological trauma. For more information, please visit the NWG Network website.

The symbol on the ‘Report Abuse’ button, which looks a bit like an eye on legs, represents the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), a group of law enforcement agencies who work together to fight online abuse relating to children. If you click on the button you will be reporting a problem directly to someone at CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency). You are then likely to be contacted by a social worker or a police officer, to talk through your report in more detail. They need to do this to make sure you are safe. It is also a good idea to talk to your parents about your report to CEOP, although if your report concerns a family member, CEOP will not make contact with them until an investigation has been completed.

If you do not want to make a report by pressing the CEOP button but are still worried about something that is online, related to self harm, mental health or anything you consider abusive, then please talk to your Key Stage 3 or Key Stage 4 hub or to an adult you can trust. Alternatively, you can make a report 24/7 by clicking our ‘report an issue’ button and key people in the school will be notified straight away. This allows us to support you even more effectively.

You can also get guidance from NEFLT NHS Foundation Trust. Any young person up to the age of 18 (25 if you have Special Educational Needs) can contact NEFLT’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service (EWMHS), or any parent, guardian or teacher of a young person who is experiencing emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.

You can find out more about NELFT by accessing: www.nelft.nhs.uk

Harwich and Dovercourt High School is a subscriber to the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) who are international leaders in providing support to stay safe online.

Please use this link if you have any concerns, or require specialist advice on how to respond and deal with online issues.

http://swgfl.org.uk/products-services/esafety/resources

You can get support that relates to Facebook, AskFM and Sexting, amongst others. For families, there is a toolkit as well as more specific support for early years or older children progressing onto university.

REMEMBER: If in doubt, don’t hesitate to contact the school and we will support you.

The media is alive with reports of concern over radicalisation, extremism and terrorism. There are worrying numbers of young people who are putting themselves at risk by travelling to Syria and other conflict zones. There are steps that can be taken to intervene early on to protect our young people before they have started to consider travelling to Syria or high risk countries. Mothers are often, though not exclusively, the ones in a family who are most likely to spot signs and notice changes in their children’s behaviour.

Through active steps such as taking an interest in what children are looking at online, and encouraging open conversations about issues that are of concern, we will all be able to help prevent further tragedy.

If you have a concern you should call the Police on 101. Call 999 in an emergency. They will provide confidential help and advice.
If you feel uncomfortable speaking to the Police direct about your concerns, there are other people who are trained and able to provide practical help and advice for you and your family. This includes healthcare professionals, social workers, teachers and local authorities.

The most important thing is that you seek help from someone at an early stage.

HDHS has colleagues trained under the PREVENT Duty and there is monitoring within the school. Should the school have any concerns, our safeguarding protocols will be followed alongside the guidance offered by the PREVENT Duty.

Someone taking an indecent image of themselves, and sending it to their friends or boy/girlfriend via a mobile phone or some other form of technology is sometimes referred to as ‘sexting’. Once these images have been taken and sent to others, control is lost of them and they can end up anywhere. They could be seen by friends and family, a future employer, or even, in some cases, end up in the possession of an offender!

This also puts the person who originally sent the images in a vulnerable position, as somebody they may or may not know now has these images and could use technology to bully, harass or even try to locate them. Just think – if you wouldn’t print and pass these images around your school or show your Mum or Dad, they are not appropriate to share via phone or other technologies.

We are aware that many students have people in their “friends” list on social networking accounts who they do not actually know. We are advising all our students to delete ‘friends’ from Facebook, or similar social networking accounts, if they do not know them in person,
and are not actually friends with them.

Please take this advice very seriously, and parents should always be vigilant. The dangers of having strangers on these sites are increasingly concerning. Our staff have supported a number of our students through differing social networking incidents and we know that there are still some students who are accepting strangers as ‘friends’.

Parents, please encourage your children to:

1. Delete anyone who they do not know in person as a friend.
2. Talk to yourselves or staff at school if they feel compromised.
3. Report anything they feel uncomfortable about to CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection) via their website https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/.

Inform a member of the Safeguarding Team

Where a child is at immediate risk of significant harm, call the Children and Families Hub on 0345 603 7627 and ask for the ‘Priority Line’ or call the Police.

If you are concerned that a child or young person is being harmed or neglected, or is at risk of this, you should go to the Essex Effective Support website where you can make a referral to the Children and Families Hub.

​Please note: During out of hours (Mon-Thurs 5:00pm-9am or Fri & Bank Holidays 4:30pm-9am), please call 0345 606 1212 or email Emergency.DutyTeamOutOfHours@essex.gov.uk

The Children and Families Hub also offers a consultation line for professionals providing advice and guidance. This can be accessed by calling 0345 603 7627 and asking for the ‘Consultation Line’.

Harwich and Dovercourt High School is committed to develop provision for young carers and their families.

We are determined to support young carers as well as we can.

How we will achieve this:

• The whole school is committed to meeting the needs of young carers so that they can attend and enjoy school in the same way as other pupils and achieve their potential.
• Appointing Mr Garnham as a designated Young Carers’ School Lead with responsibility for young carers and their families. Mr Garnham is available to support all young carers and will be supported in this by Mrs Helm.
• The school only shares information with professionals and agencies on a need to know basis in order to support pupils and their families.
• Harwich and Dovercourt High School will actively seek feedback and ideas from young carers and their families to shape and improve support.
• The school has an effective referral system and strong partnership in place with relevant external agencies, including referral to Young Carer agencies providing key workers who will work with young carers and families.

We will strive to achieve best practice for students and families in our school in order to provide them with the best chance of success in their future.