Reporting concerns

If you think a child or young person is being harmed or at risk of being harmed you must contact the First Point of Contact (FPOC), Children’s Services and tell them your concerns. It might be you that’s being harmed. Don’t delay, please contact us straight away – we’re here to help you.

Please report your concerns to FPOC on 0345 678 9021.

If you need to report concerns out of office hours then please contact the Emergency Social Work Team on 0345 678 9040 selecting option 1

Alternatively, you can report your concerns online to the NSPCC via the ‘Report child abuse online – NSPCC website‘.

You can also speak to:

• Protecting Vulnerable People (West Mercia Police): 0300 333 3000
• NSPCC: 0800 800 5000
• Childline: 0800 1111

If a child is in immediate danger

Children and young people who have been victims of a crime may need support to cope and recover. You don’t have to report the crime to the police to get support. You can find free, local support teams across England and Wales on the Victim and Witness Information site.

Help for Parents/Carers to keep children safe online

Visit The Key Parent Hub here: https://parenthub.thekeysupport.com/ It is full of online safety resources for parents. There are easy to use, interactive mobile-friendly guides for setting parental controls on devices.

All the information you need to help keep your child safe on popular devices and apps including those listed below.

Further support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online includes:

• Child Exploitation in Shropshire. How to recognise if your child may be
  being exploited, and what you can do to help reduce the risks. Shropshire Child Exploitation – Leaflet for Parents Carers
• Internet matters
• London Grid for Learning
• Net-aware – from the NSPCC
• Parent info – up to date information from Parent Zone
• Thinkuknow – for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
• Thinkuknow – the latest resources and advice for parents
• UK Safer Internet Centre – advice for parents and carers
• Vodaphone Digital Parenting Checklists– Vodaphone produce some useful checklists for parents of different aged children to support them with addressing online safety issues. It is advised that all technology children use has parenting controls installed on it. Additional information including links to using technology during the COVID-19 period  https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/digital-parenting

• Advice to parents and carers on keeping children safe from abuse and harm – Website with DfE and PHE guidance including tips, advice and information for parents about keeping children safe. Updated 22nd February 2021
• Parents Protect Website – Useful information page for parents.
• Parents and Carers – Advice from the Safer Internet Centre – Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online 
• vodafone digital-parenting guides – Digital Parent guides from Vodafone
• WhatsApp_parent_factsheet

NSPCC: Keeping children safe online

Parent Guides:

NSPCC – A Parents’ Guide to being Share Aware: share-aware-booklet

Your child’s online world: o2-your-childs-online-world-booklet

Creating a secure password: ESS_Password_Guidance

Guide to Live streaming: quick-guide-to-live-streaming-for-parents

Parental Controls Offered by Your Home Internet Provider

This guide explains how to set up parental controls on a variety of devices: Parental-Controls-booklet-2023

There are Parental controls offered by your home internet provider. You can contact them for more details on how to protect your family online. Below are some tips on how to activate free parental controls from the 4 big internet providers in the UK – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. They have produced these helpful video guides to help you to download and set-up the controls offered by your provider.

BT: BT Setting Up Parental Controls

SKY: SKY setting up parental controls

Virgin: Virgin setting up parental controls

Take a look at our monthly Online Safety Newsletters.