Abuse, neglect and exploitation

28. All staff are trained on the indicators of abuse, neglect and exploitation and understand children can be at risk of harm inside and outside of our school, and inside and outside of the home and online. Staff will exercise professional curiosity and know what to look out for because this is vital for the early identification of abuse and neglect to identify cases of children who may be in need of help or protection.

29. We believe that abuse, neglect, exploitation and safeguarding issues are rarely stand-alone events. All staff, but especially the DSL and their deputies will consider whether children are at risk of abuse or exploitation in situations outside their families. Extra-familiar harms take a variety of different forms and children can be vulnerable to multiple harms.

30. All staff are aware that technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues. We understand children are at risk of abuse online as well as face-to-face. In many cases, abuse will take place concurrently via both online and offline. Children can also abuse other children online, this can take the form of abusive, harassing, and misogynistic/misandrist messages, the non-consensual sharing of indecent images, especially around chat groups, and the sharing of abusive images and pornography, to those who do not want to receive such content.

31. Abuse: a form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child

by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. Harm can include ill treatment that

is not physical as well as the impact of witnessing ill treatment of others. This can be

particularly relevant, for example, in relation to the impact on children of all forms of

domestic abuse, including where they see, hear or experience its effects. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community

setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others. Abuse can take place wholly

online, or technology may be used to facilitate offline abuse. Children may be abused by

an adult or adults or by another child or children.