Safeguarding

Sexual health is about making sure you protect your health when you are sexually active. Most young people become sexually active between 16 and 19. At New Mills School, we believe it is important that students are fully informed about their choices and how to stay safe.

Health includes several different categories, including mental health and medical advice such as the school nurse, doctors, dentists, and opticians.  It may also involve accessing help and support if you are concerned about your child’s use of alcohol, drugs or smoking. At school we provide students weekly access to the school nurse, which is in school every Thursday for a lunchtime drop-in.

School Nursing Team Support :: Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Drug and Alcohol Misuse

• Change Grow Live | Charity | We can help you change your life

• Early Break

• Talk to Frank

• Drug Rehab – Teens

• Drug Rehab – Parents Guide

• Adfam

• Childline

Mental Health is something that affects everyone. There may be times, whilst your child is at school, when they are concerned about their mental health. We believe that there is no shame is discussing mental health and we want to support our young people in navigating these difficulties.

New Mills School recognises that secondary education can be an extremely anxious and stressful time. We have a team of staff who are specially trained in supporting students with their mental health, and we have a network with professional services, who can offer further support and advice.

If you have a concern about your child please contact their form tutor, year manager or email the safeguarding team on safeguarding@newmillsschool.co.uk.

Top tips to support someone’s mental health:

• Create a supportive environment

• Encourage open communication

• Promote healthy coping mechanisms (spend quality time together, model positive mental health practices)

Further guidance on how to support your young person can be found here.

New Mills School senior mental health leads

Useful links:

• NSPCC

• Childline

• Young Minds

• Stem4

• Kooth

• Give us a shout

• Hub of Hope

• The Mix

At New Mills School we recognise that we live in a diverse, amazing, multi-cultural society. Everybody is different and we celebrate these differences. By learning about different life choices and backgrounds, we will become a more accepting community.

If you or your young person would like further support in regard to LGBTQ+, please spend some time looking through the following resources:

Stonewall Young Futures

Mermaids

Childline

NSPCC – Guidance for Parents

We see you and we hear you

New Mills School understands the importance of safe online activity. Please click on this link to access our E-Safety and acceptable use policy to see how we protect your child.

Any concerns you should report your concerns to the Safeguarding Team.

Online safety, is the knowledge of maximising the user’s personal safety and security risks to private information and property associated with using the internet, and the self-protection from computer crime in general.

If you have concerns about your child’s online activity or their social media profile it would be advisable to report it to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Service (CEOP).

CEOP Report or contact school at safeguarding@newmillsschool.co.uk.

Useful Online Safety Links:

• Internet Matters – This resource provides information on how to increase security settings and provides step-by-step guides, which can be filtered to a specific device and model. There is information on how to set Screen Time limits, information about popular apps and platforms, and advice on what to do if you have concerns about online safety.

• Online Teen Safety Guide

• E-Safety Advice from NSPCC: E-Safety Advice

• NSPCC – Bullying and Cyberbullying

• Parents – Scare or Prepare

• Netaware

• Shareaware

Anti-bullying is one of the most important areas of our school linking to our school values “do the right thing” and “team spirit”.  New Mills School is proactive in its anti-bullying efforts.

What is bullying?

Bullying is a range of unacceptable behaviours that hurt, intimidate, frighten, harm, humiliate, undermine or exclude an individual or group. Bullying is deliberate and repeated over time, and is difficult for the sufferer to defend themselves against.

Anybody can be bullied because of how we look or where we are from, what we believe, what we have or don’t have, what we can or can’t do – bullying behaviours are focused on our vulnerability. It is always about someone more powerful acting against someone else who is less powerful and less able to resist.

Bullying is different from an argument or a fight. It is regular, systematic and deliberate, and an abuse of power. It can impact on learning and attendance and most importantly on children’s self-esteem and confidence. It can give the message that force, and intimidation are the way to get what you want and become a pattern for future behaviour and relationships.

It can take a range of forms:

• Physical

• Verbal

• Emotional - being excluded from games with friends etc.

• Damage to property or theft

• Intimidation through gesture and threat, both verbal and non-verbal

• Cyber –through a range of technologies – mobile phones, email and social networks

• Exclusion or non-communication

Bullying concerns all of us, not just those who are bullying and those being bullied: it also affects less assertive children who may be drawn in, and those who witness bullying and feel unable to do anything. Bullying can happen in secret and a child being bullied can feel unable to report what is happening to them. 

We take bullying very seriously as a school, across the whole community, and will not tolerate bullying in any form. 

We follow up on all concerns expressed by children, staff or parents and make sure that we feed back the results of any investigation. Sometimes what is seen as bullying is simply unacceptable behaviour and we address this differently. 

We always encourage children to tell, making it clear that we act when we know. 

We act proactively to educate learners about positive relationships and how to resolve conflict: 

• Using assemblies and discussion time in form time

• Making this an annual school focus in National Anti-Bullying Week

• Addressing the issues through the curriculum

• Adults on duty at lunch and break

• Encouraging people to talk, with a commitment to listening and responding to what we are told

• Making clear what you should do if you are being bullied and consequences of bullying behaviour If, we suspect bullying

• Talk to the children being bullied, the child suspected of bullying behaviour and any witnesses

• Offer help, support and counselling as appropriate for as long as necessary

• Discipline and support those involved in line with our behaviour policy

• Involve parents

• Involve the police if necessary 

We record any incidents of suspected bullying, and our actions, and report any incidents of bullying on a termly basis to the Governing Body.

If you, or your child, has a concern, please report it either in person or via safeguarding@newmillsschool.co.uk.

Further support and guidance can be found on the Childline website, which can be accessed here.