Dear parent/carer,
Today – Thursday 18th March – is National Child Exploitation Awareness Day.
Because we work closely with colleagues in social care and with the police, we are all too aware that even in our small part of the world, our children face risks from adults who will sexually exploit children and/or exploit them through involvement in criminal activity, for example related to drugs. On our Facebook page we are sharing a poster outlining signs that a child may be experiencing exploitation. Here is a link to a short video which explains how to ‘spot the signs’:
https://paceuk.info/for-parents/film-knowing-the-signs/
As part of this campaign to raise awareness of risks to children in our community, Staffordshire police have also shared information about online apps, to remind us that there are also risks to children and young people’s safety and wellbeing, online. Please talk to your children about the safety controls they have in place when online. The most important aspect is that our children and young people know they have trusted adults they can turn to when they feel they have made a mistake.
Thanks to the vigilance of one of our parents, we are also now aware of an app being used by children and young people called ‘wink’. This is an app for making online friends with people you don’t know. You can find, add and chat to people on the app, as well as sending requests to become snapchat friends:
Wink: A guide for parents – Net Aware
Wink. Wink is an app for making online friends with people you don’t know. You can find, add and chat to people on the app, as well as sending requests to become Snapchat friend.
www.net-aware.org.uk
Staffordshire Police Apps information and Help sites
Please always consider sharing any concerns you may have for a young person, with school or other relevant services. Your main school contacts are:
Celia Teague, Designated Safeguarding Lead: cteague@ctkcc.co.uk
Julia Vodrey, Deputy designated Safeguarding Lead: jvodrey@ctkcc.co.uk
Kind regards,
Celia Teague
Assistant headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead
