Advice and Support
We aim to keep the following advice and guidance as up to date as possible to support our children and their families.
Follow the attached link to help keep your child safe online (Internet Watch Foundation)
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) tells us that 'since the start of the pandemic, the amount of ‘self-generated’ child abuse imagery has increased dramatically. In 2020, the IWF confirmed 68,000 cases of such imagery, a rise of 77% on the year before. It accounts for nearly half (44%) the imagery we took action on last year. In 80% of these cases, the victims were 11- to 13-year-old girls.'
The IWF has created a resource to help parents and carers understand the risks of 'self-generated child sexual abuse imagery' using the acronym 'TALK'.
To find out more, go to: https://talk.iwf.org.uk
DART
In the NSPCC's 'Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART™)' groups, children and mothers can talk to each other about domestic abuse, learn to communicate and rebuild their relationship.
The service, which has been recognised by the Home Office, also provides children and mothers with an opportunity to meet others who have lived through similar experiences.
For further information: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services-children-families/dart
Buckinghamshire Family Information Service: Helping Hands
Website: https://familyinfo.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/
Domestic Abuse: Domestic abuse | Family Information Service (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)
Let's Talk (All Change)
Let’s Talk is a creative project that involves using the arts to develop innovative services for families affected by domestic violence. Let's Talk have some good resources to encourage children to talk about their experiences and feelings, including a book of creative ideas.
Website: https://theletstalkproject.org/
Support for parent/carers with children who have mental health concerns
Parenting Smart (Place2Be)
The children's mental health charity, Place2Be, has launched a new website aimed at helping parents with typical situations they can find themselves in with their children.
Advice can be found on over forty topics including:
- Understanding sibling rivalry
- My child is lying, what does it mean, what should I do?
- My child has trouble going to sleep
- My child says ‘I hate you!’
- Cultural identity: who am I?
The Parenting Smart website can found here: https://parentingsmart.place2be.org.uk/
Ukraine Advice
Here are some background reading resources to help you think about how adults can support children with what they are seeing or feeling. Please read through these links before sharing, to ensure that they are suitable for your community and situation.
Supporting your child if they see upsetting content online about what is happening in Ukraine (Childnet)
https://www.childnet.com/blog/supporting-your-child-with-upsetting-content/
We should not hide from children what is happening in Ukraine (Schools Week/Children's Commissioner)
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/we-should-not-hide-from-children-what-is-happening-in-ukraine/
How to talk to children about what’s happening in Ukraine and World War Three anxiety (Metro)
https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/24/how-to-talk-to-children-about-whats-happening-in-ukraine-16163133/
Help for teachers and families to talk to pupils about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to help them avoid misinformation (Department for Education)
Further agencies and guidance: