Well-being
Online safety hub
Northern Education Trust has partnered with Smoothwall to create a free online safety hub for parents and carers to help keep their children safe online. Smoothwall is a system used by the trust to monitor the content our students access and digitally safeguard against any dangers or risks.
The Online Safety Hub offers an abundance of expert advice and guidance to help parents and carers manage their child’s safety online. It also includes information on several topics when it comes to keeping children safe, such as how to manage your child’s screen time, understand the latest gaming platforms and what they mean for your child’s safety.
Useful websites
Prevent – Report online material promoting terrorism or extremism.
https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism
Take It Down – A free service that can help young people remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of them when they were under 18 years old.
https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/
Report Remove – Created to help young people under 18 in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves and remove them from the internet.
https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/professionals/guidance/report-remove3/
Inclusive Digital Safety Hub – So you got naked online (SEND version), a guide for children and young people. This resource helps and advises young people who may find themselves in a situation where they (or a friend) have put a sexting image or video online and have lost control over that content and who it’s being shared with.
https://www.internetmatters.org/inclusive-digital-safety/so-you-got-naked-online-guide-for-young-people/
What I wish my parents or carers knew… – A guide for parents and carers on managing children’s digital lives.
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/what-i-wish-my-parents-or-carers-knew-a-guide-for-parents-and-carers-on-managing-childrens-digital-lives/
Student Voice
Student voice is a key cog in the decision making process in every NET academy. Each academy has a Junior Leadership team that runs a very active academy council with nominated Junior Leaders and Class Secretaries who represent each class. School council meet on a fortnightly basis to discuss current issues effecting academy; the Junior Leadership team vote on any action that needs to be taken. Students learn how a democratic system works from an early age and they develop skills in public speaking, decision making and listening to one another’s ideas. Students are empowered by the process and are valued as key stakeholders in every NET academy.
Praise culture
All Northern Education Trust academies have an incredibly strong praise culture that is evident as soon as you walk through the door with ‘applause moments’ to be heard, displays dedicated to praise and the way teachers and students interact with one another.
Other rewards include:
- Positive affirmation of effort and achievement in a ‘STEPs to Success’ report shared with parents at various intervals during the year
- Staff verbally congratulating/ praising children
- Extra privileges
- Being given positions of responsibility such as head boy/girl, leading on the school council or being an ambassador for the academy.
- Postcards home from the staff to recognise outstanding effort and/or application
- Applause moments – children are encouraged to applaud any noteworthy response from their peers in all lessons
- Collaborative learning and praise – teaching structures used on a daily basis encourage children working together collaboratively and their subsequent praise for each other for their contributions.
Praise is also the bedrock of our ‘Expectations for Learning Policy’, which encourages children to make positive choices through praise and rewards.
Academy approaches
The students at The Blyth Academy are able to access wellbeing support through their vertical mentoring tutor, learning manager, the Safeguarding & Wellbeing Officer and wider safeguarding team. Where appropriate students are referred to the onsite counselling team or the locality hub which can lead to work with the school nurse team, Primary Mental Health, Children & Youngs Peoples Service, Early Help Team/Children’s Social Care and the Northumberland SEND team. Students have access through their devices to the Tootoot app to report their concerns and to the Kooth app to access a confidential counselling service out of academy hours.
Local contacts
Mrs C Southern, Blyth Academy Safeguarding & Wellbeing Officer – 01670 798100 / [email protected]
Primary Mental Health – 01661 864588 / [email protected]
Crisis Team (Mental Health) – 01670 394289
Children & Young Peoples Service – 01670 798265
Northumberland SEND team – 01670 623555 / [email protected]
Northumberland Children’s Social Care – 01670 568400
Northumberland Youth Offending Service – 01670 852225
Tootoot app – https://tootoot.co.uk/
Kooth app – https://www.kooth.com/
Blyth Foodbank – https://www.facebook.com/blythfoodbank/
We are an operation encompass school
What is Operation Encompass?
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident. Following an incident at home, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset and unprepared for the day. Northumberland Council, the police and nominated Key Adults in school will be working together to make sure that school staff are made aware of an incident early enough to support pupils in school.
Why was Operation Encompass introduced in Northumberland?
Operation Encompass was initially launched in Plymouth in February 2011 to address a shortcoming in the early sharing of information with schools. Since then several pilots have been set up across the UK, including Gateshead and South Tyneside, and have proved to be very successful in providing appropriate support in a timely manner. Pilots across the UK have reported positive outcomes for many children and young people. Northumberland Council, Northumbria Police and all schools in the borough are now also taking part in the scheme, to help provide additional support which will benefit children and young people in Northumberland and improve multi-agency sharing of information.
10 things you should know about operation encompass
Please follow the links below for more information on operation encompass as provided by Northumberland County Council:
- https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/NorthumberlandCountyCouncil/media/Child-Families/Looked%20after%20children/Virtual%20School/10-things-Encompass.pdf
- https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/NorthumberlandCountyCouncil/media/Child-Families/Looked%20after%20children/Virtual%20School/x184078_NCC_leaflet5_p7_lh.pdf
We are an operation endeavour school
What is Operation Endeavour?
Operation Endeavour, which commenced in November 2018, aims to support children and young people who go missing from home. Children who go missing from home are at risk of significant harm and they may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, violent crime, gang exploitation, or to drug and alcohol misuse.
As a result, following any report of a child going missing to the Police, the Police will make contact with Children’s Social Care who will then communicate relevant and necessary information to nominated school staff.
Each school has members of staff (key adults) who have been fully trained in liaising with the Police and Children’s Social Care when required, and will ensure that the necessary support is
made available to the child or young person following their return.
We believe that this project demonstrates our school’s commitment to working in partnership to safeguard and protect children, and to providing the best possible care and support for our
pupils.
How does operation endeavour work in Northumberland?
A safeguarding arrangement between Northumbria Police and the six Local Authorities within our area and educational setting for children aged 4-17 years to safeguard children and young people at risk of harm from going missing.
It involves the early sharing of missing from home episodes with schools and colleges to offer appropriate support to young people on their return. The process is managed by the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH).
10 things you should know about operation endeavour
Please follow the link below for more information on operation endeavour as provided by Northumberland County Council:
National contacts
Anti-terrorist hotline – 0800 789 321
Barnardos – https://www.barnardos.org.uk/
Big White Wall – https://togetherall.com/en-gb/big-white-wall/
Calm Harm – https://calmharm.stem4.org.uk/
CAMHS – (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) – Tel: 0300 013 2000
Change Grow Live – https://www.changegrowlive.org/
Childline – https://www.childline.org.uk – Tel: 0800 1111
Child Bereavement UK – https://www.childbereavementuk.org – Tel: 0800 02 888 40
Chill Panda App – iOS app / Android app
Disclosure and Barring Service – Tel: 03000 200190
Family Lives – https://www.familylives.org.uk/
Kooth – https://www.kooth.com/
Mind – https://www.mind.org.uk/
Mindler (previously ieso) – https://www.iesohealth.com/
NSPCC – https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
NSPCC Whistleblowing Helpline – Tel: 0800 028 0285
Ofsted – Tel: 0300 1233 155
Qwell – https://www.qwell.io/
Talk to Frank (drugs and solvent/volatile substance misuse) – https://talktofrank.com – Tel: 0300 123 6600
Teacher Regulation Agency – Email: [email protected] – Tel: 0207 593 5393
Tootoot – https://tootoot.co.uk/
Young Minds (mental health support) – https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Northern Education Trust takes safeguarding very seriously. Our academies ensure that safeguarding is a key priority in all aspects of academy life, and that safeguarding is a key part of our curriculum content. We see safeguarding as being the responsibility of all members of our academy communities.
Please click the following link to view the latest ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance from the Department for Education.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025
‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ is also available in other languages here: https://national.lgfl.net/digisafe/kcsietranslate
Northern Education Trust is not responsible for content on any external websites linked to from this site.
Please click the following link to view an illustrated guide to explain how different people and organisations work together to help, support and protect you.