Support
Well-being, Mental Health & Safeguarding
We’re committed to supporting our children and families with their well-being. We have won awards for going above and beyond to meet the needs of our children and our community.
A stand-out offer at Parklands is the mental health support we provide. We have a wealth of experience within our school team, including two dedicated learning mentors who are always happy to listen to children and parent/carers.
If you would like support with any aspect of parenting, or have any concerns, please contact the school office. They will direct you to the best person to speak to.
Useful Links for Parents
Help in Emergencies for Local People (HELP) https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/housing-benefit-council-tax/help
Home energy help for residents https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/energy/home-energy
Support Groups and Help in Cheshire http://www.welcomenet.co.uk/get-support.html
Household support fund https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/education-and-learning/household-support-fund
Money and Debt Advice https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/housing-benefit-council-tax/benefit-advice/financial-help
Free School Meals and Pupil Premium Funding for your Child https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/education-and-learning/free-school-meals
Healthy Start Funding if you're pregnant or have a child under 4 https://www.gov.uk/healthy-start
Support with mental health and additiction https://www.rehab4addiction.co.uk/country-wide/drug-alcohol-rehab-cheshire
Well-being Support for Pupils
Children at Parklands are supported by caring, well-trained adults who understand mental health and have the skills to listen and advise accordingly. When we feel more support is needed, we can refer to other agencies who we work closely with. For example, some children sadly experience bereavement and for those children wanting more help, we can refer to The Hospice of the Good Shepherd. This includes for support during terminal illness as well as for those who experience sudden death.
We were one of the first schools to be part of the NHS Trailblazers project. As a result we have now embedded a wide range of support led by both the NHS Mental Health Team (located at the Children's Centre on our site) and led by our own team. Pupils experiencing low level anxiety are offered counselling and activities through interventions such as Worry Warriors. We have shared our work at various events including at the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership’s Mental Health Support Teams Best Practice Event. Click here to see our presentation.https://www.mymind.org.uk/services-and-contacts/mental-health-support-teams-mhsts/mhst-best-practice-event
We also work with Healthbox and other agencies who provide 1:1 counselling for more complex anxieties or mental health difficulties.
There are lots parents can do to support their child too. We recommend https://parentingsmart.place2be.org.uk/
Mental Health Support
What to do if you need urgent mental health help:
- Please call 0300 303 3972 and our dedicated local NHS staff will support you to access the help you need
- The helpline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is open to people of all ages – including children and young people
- The helpline is now the first port of call for mental health help – it is operated by people in your local area who will know how best to support you. If you call NHS111 you may have to wait longer for help and will be re-directed to this local service – so call 0300 303 3972
- Please note, A&E and 999 are not the best places to get help for the majority of mental health problems – call 0300 303 3972 to be directed to the best local service to support you
- You should still call 999 or go to A&E if you have an immediate, life-threatening emergency requiring mental or physical health assistance
- For non-urgent help and general wellbeing advice, the CWP website contains information and links to resources to support people with anxiety, low mood, and worries relating to the current Covid-19 pandemic https://www.cwp.nhs.uk/
- For children and young people there is also a dedicated website https://www.mymind.org.uk/
CAMHS out of Hours
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Safeguarding
At Parklands Community Primary & Nursery School we want all our children to feel safe and secure so that they can grow, thrive and achieve their best.
We believe that keeping children safe is the responsibility of everybody.
We teach the children that we are a ‘listening school’ - we will always hear our pupils' voices. We regularly ask our children if they feel safe at school and receive a resounding yes and work together on any areas for improvement.
We also teach the children that we are a ‘telling school’. Bullies rely on people standing by and keeping quiet, we encourage our children to tell a trusted adult so that we can work together to keep everyone safe. We deliver key messages through our curriculum and anti bullying work each year.
If you have any concerns about the safety or well-being of a child in our school, please talk to one of our Safeguarding Leads.
- Mrs Cairns, Headteacher, Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Ms Hughes, Deputy Head Teacher, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Mrs Millett-Reid, Safeguarding and Pastoral Lead
- Ms Kennedy is our Safeguarding Governor.
- If you are worried about a child, take action. During the holidays and weekends, you can contact the NSPCC to talk to professional counsellors 24/7 for help, advice and support. Call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk
If you are worried about online abuse or the way someone has been communicating with you online, contact CEOP by clicking the link below.
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
https://www.safeguardingresourcehub.co.uk/Resource-Hub?user_group=1
The role of the school:
Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children. School staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children, to prevent concerns from escalating. (Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2018)
Safeguarding is what we do for all children and young people to keep them safe whilst in our care. Child Protection describes the policy and procedures specifically for those young people who are at risk of serious harm or have been seriously harmed.
Safeguarding starts as soon as children enter the school and aims to ensure that all our staff are well trained and know how to behave appropriately. Our staff and volunteers go through all safeguarding checks on successful appointments to the school. When staff have concerns they know who to speak to and understand the next steps that will take place.
At Parklands Community Primary & Nursery School we treat safeguarding as our highest priority, ensuring that all children in our care are safe and secure at all times. We work with parents, the Local Authority and other professionals to maintain children’s safety. All members of staff are responsible for safeguarding but in addition we have a number of people with designated safeguarding responsibilities. (Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2018)
Staff with designated responsibilities for safeguarding undertake regular specialist training. All staff members and anyone who volunteers with us undertakes training in child protection, this is refreshed yearly. We also undertake comprehensive background checks on all staff and any volunteers.
All staff members, including governors, are required to complete PREVENT training. This ensures that we extend a duty of care to all pupils to prevent them being drawn into extremist behaviour and is part of our safeguarding remit.
Operation Encompass
Our school participates in a police led initiative called Operation Encompass. This is a partnership between schools and the Police that helps schools to better support any child where a domestic incident has been reported to Police from their home.
Following a domestic incident, the police will make contact with the child’s school via telephone and secure email (usually the next day) and will communicate relevant information to nominated, fully-trained school staff. to communicate relevant information to a nominated, fully-trained member of school staff. This will ensure that as a school, we are made aware early enough, to support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe, supported and listened to. It will also provide an opportunity for school to offer support to the whole family
The initiative was launched county-wide at the beginning of 2016. It is active in all Cheshire schools. You can find out more about Operation Encompass via the following site https://www.operationencompass.org/
Safeguarding Contacts
Designated Safeguarding Lead – Mrs Cairns (Headteacher)
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead – Ms Hughes (Deputy Headteacher)
Safeguarding & Pastoral Lead – Mrs Millett-Reid
PREVENT Single Point Of Contact – Mrs Cairns
PREVENT Deputy – Ms Hughes
Nominated Governor for Safeguarding- Ms Kennedy
Chair of Governors – Ms Claydon
If you are worried about a child, take action. During the holidays and weekends, you can contact the NSPCC to talk to professional counsellors 24/7 for help, advice and support. Call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk
Essential contacts at Cheshire West and Chester Council
Integrated Access and Referral Team
Click here to report a concern about a child
Tel:0300 123 7047
Local Authority Designated Officer- Paul Jenkins
Email:LADO@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Local Authority Safeguarding Children in Education Manager
Kerry Gray
Email: Kerry.Gray@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Emergency Duty Team
(Out of hours)
4.30pm-8am Mon-Thurs
From 4pm Friday
24hours weekends and bank holidays
Tel:01244 977 277
Safeguarding Children’s Partnership
Website: www.cheshirewestlsb.org.uk
Safer Schools Partnership Police Officer: Sarah Bayliff
