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Safeguarding Update: Term 4

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Dear Parents/Carers,

Sadly, we find ourselves once again mourning the loss of a young life, following the tragic events of Wednesday 14th February 2024; our thoughts and sympathies are with Darrian Williams’ bereaved family and friends. Our community is processing the loss of several young lives from within our city in recent weeks.

This is an incredibly challenging time for our community and the wider region and we know that you will have concerns, especially with it coming so soon after other terrible events. Now, more than ever, is the time for us to come together to support each other and our children and to do so from a place of respect, positivity and hope.

As part of this effort, please continue to check on your child’s social media activity. There are unhelpful social media posts being circulated, which are sharing misinformation or rumours. Our students are not the cause of this but it is really important that they do not share, like or comment on such posts. We also strongly recommend that they leave any groups where such posts are being shared.

Local agencies continue to work closely with all educational settings to ensure young people remain safe across the area and we will continue to pass on any relevant advice and information for parents/carers as and when it is made available to us.

Losing a child, friend, sibling, and member of a community is devastating and these feelings maybe delayed or instant. Many people will feel affected by the recent incidents and the death of the young person. There is help available for people impacted by these events and experiencing a trauma-related reaction. Common signs of the impacts of trauma include:

  • Feeling unable or not having anyone to talk to about what happened.
  • Poor sleep due to intrusive thoughts or disturbing dreams impacting rest.
  • Experiencing overwhelming emotions or feeling emotionally numb.
  • Feeling as if your relationships are suffering since the incident.

In the first instance it’s important that if someone’s wellbeing or mental health is suffering, they call 111 or contact their GP.

Within the Academy we have taken a number of proactive measures to educate students to keep them safe:

  • Regular safeguarding assemblies on how to stay safe in the community and how to access support.
  • Working closely with local Police Officers who came into the Academy in Term 2 to deliver assemblies to all year groups on knife crime.
  • A flexible PSHE curriculum which enables us to respond to such events and deliver bespoke sessions.
  • Working closely with the local authority’s violence reduction unit to support further educational opportunities within the Academy

Signposting for Parents:

We would also like to share this update from Avon and Somerset Police which provides further support: Letter for parents: A&SP

Signposting for Students:

We are aware that such news can be distressing for our community, students and families, and we encourage you to contact the Academy should you need more support.

Dream BIG // Work Hard // Be Kind

Mr S O’Callaghan | Academy Principal