Support: Helpful Websites and Information
In this section you will find useful websites and information regarding the support available for parents and students from a range of external partners.
Please contact your child's Director of Learning should you need to discuss a pastoral matter regarding your child.
STUDENT: Advice and Support
Students are encouraged to speak to a member of staff or a trusted adult if they need guidance or advice. However, we understand that this can be difficult at times and therefore encourage students to contact one of the external partners if they need confidential support.
Hertfordshire Services for Young People
Specifically aimed at young people in Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire Services for Young People gives a wide range of information and advice, including links to options guidance, jobs, training opportunities & work experience. It is an extensive website with links to many other resources.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) works across the UK to tackle child sex abuse and provides advice for parents, young people and children.
Childline provides information and advice regarding a wide range of issues young people might face. Childline can also provide access to an online counsellor.
The NSPCC can offer help, advice and support to children and families regarding a range of safeguarding matters.
Young people in care and leaving care
Advice and support for children in care and those leaving care.
Information for children and young people regarding the dangers of knife crime.
Advice and guidance regarding exploitation, county lines and gangs.
Non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. A safe place to give information about crime - 100% anonymously.
Hope Again is a safe place where you can learn from other young people, how to cope with grief, and feel less alone. You will find information about our services, a listening ear from other young people and advice for any young person dealing with the loss of a loved one.
Hope Again provides somewhere to turn to when someone dies.
Shore is a safe space for teenagers worried about sexual behaviour. This includes worries about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts, feelings or actions.
Shore has anonymous advice and support to help teenagers to manage worrying thoughts and learn more about living safely both online and offline. Shore services are anonymous, which means you don’t have to say who you are.
REPORT REMOVE helps young people under 18 in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves and remove them from the internet. You can fill out a form on their website to report it.
GALOP is the UK’s LGBT+ anti-abuse charity. They work with and for LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence. If you are part of the LGBT+ community and need help or support, you can reach out to them through their website:
is an independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. Get in touch with them to receive free and confidential advice.
Call: 08 08 16 89 111
Live chat or fill out a form on their website.
BROOK is a charity supporting people with their sexual health and wellbeing. Get help and advice with anything connected to sex, STIs, contraception, sexuality, gender, abuse, your body and wellbeing.
Herts Young Homeless is an independent charity focused on finding shelter for young homeless. If you need help with your living situation or are on the verge of homelessness, you can call them Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm. Or email any time.
Call: 03003 230130
Email: info@homelesshub.help
PARENT: Advice and Support
We work closely with external agencies to provide the appropriate help and support for families.
Families First
We work closely with Herts County Council to ensure that parents can access independent advice when it is needed the most. We are therefore pleased to signpost parents to the Families First portal. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/familiesfirst
Families First is Hertfordshire's programme of early help services for families. It is aimed at taking action to support a child, young person or their family, as soon as a problem emerges. This can be at any stage in a child's life from pre-birth to adulthood and applies to any problem or need that the family cannot deal with on their own.
Childhood Support Services
Hertfordshire County Council’s Childhood Support Services have developed a directory that shows all parenting provision in one place so that both parents and carers can see what support is available in Hertfordshire.
The parenting directory lists all courses that are available to parents and carers in Hertfordshire and cover a range of topics including:
• parenting a child with additional needs
• healthy relationships healthy baby programme
• confident fathers programme
• caring dads
• understanding teens.
The parenting directory is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/parentingsupport
South West Herts Partnership is a family focussed / needs-led partnership working alongside children and their families to ensure access to a wide range of early support with a non-judgemental friendly approach.
Family Lives - bullying advice
One in five young people has experienced bullying by text message or via email. This website gives advice for children and parents on bullying.
Dignify
We are proud to work closely with Dignify to champion healthy relationships for children and young people by equipping and empowering them to be protected from the harmful effects of pornography. Dignify is a local charity that works with local schools to raise the awareness of this important topic and their parent workshop provides guidance, advice and support for parents. A copy of their 2022 parent workshop is available below.
Parenting Digital Teens - Rickmansworth School Presentation
DSPL9
We have very strong links with DSPL9 who support Children, Young People (0-25 years) & Families. DSPL9 provide a service that finds positive solutions to multi-complex needs.
The team will consider service requests to support families, children or young people with multi-complex/agency needs that require intensive involvement. DSPL9 use a triage technique to identify services or organisations that will meet the need. In cases where this cannot be accomplished DSPL9 will endeavour to design and apply an appropriate solution.
Service Requests are accepted from Parents, Carers and Young People http://dsplarea9.org.uk/triage-team/. If you prefer to have a conversation you are welcome to call Jan on 07715 415894
Guidance for parents and carers on safeguarding children in out-of-school settings
Confirming if a community organisation, club or activity provider is safe in an environment for your child to attend can sometimes be difficult to establish. We are therefore pleased to share the DfE guidance 'Keeping children safe during community activities, after- school clubs and tuition' which provides parents and careers with guidance regarding questions to ask in order to choose out-of-school activities that meet the appropriate safeguarding requirements.
My Teen Brain - Advice and tips for parents of teenagers
CEOP
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) works across the UK to tackle online child sex abuse and provides advice for parents and carers.
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
Knife Crimes
This Home Office approved website offers advice and resources for parents and carers about the dangers of knife crime and staying safe.
www.knifecrimes.orgNo Knives Better Lives is a further resource for guidance and advice.
https://noknivesbetterlives.com/parents
The Children's Society
This website offers advice and resources regarding child exploitation, county lines and gangs.
Bereavement support and guidance for parents, families and children.
Safe4Me
Advice and guidance for anti-social behaviour, cyber bullying, domestic abuse, drugs and legal highs, radicalisation, sexting, abuse within teen relationships and teen sexual harm advice.
https://www.safe4me.co.uk/parents/
Fearless
Non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. A safe place to give information about crime - 100% anonymously.
Families Together London
Families Together London is a support group for parents of LGBT+ youths set up to support parents in coming to terms with the sexuality or gender identity of their child.
https://www.familiestogetherlondon.com/
Talking to your child about online sexual harassment (a guide for parents)
This guidance is an excellent resource produced by the Children's Commissioner to provide parents and carers an overview of how to protect their children from online sexual abuse. It provides useful tips and hints, including how to start conversations, indicators of sexualised bullying and how to respond to concerns. Parent Guide: Talking to Your Child About Online Sexual Harassment
Vapewatch
VapeWatch provides online advice and information regarding the use of vapes and the risks of vaping.
PARENT: Information Evenings
Parent Information Evenings
PARENTS & STUDENTS: Wellbeing and Mental Health Support
We recognise that the mental health of our students is fundamental to their personal development and academic achievement. Our mental health provision is summarised in our Mental Health Provision Pyramid and is recognised for its excellence in being awarded the Hertfordshire Mental Health and Wellbeing Kitemark.
We are also proud to host the NHS Mental Health Support Team (MHST) at Rickmansworth School. The MHST team offer research-based interventions to support students and staff. MHST work with individuals, small groups and run workshops to help support our children and young people.
Students, parents and carers are encouraged to speak to a member of our pastoral team or one of our Mental Health First Aiders if a child or young person needs support. Alternatively, guidance and support can be sourced via the links below.
Students can access support from the Mental Health and Wellbeing page of the Student Dashboard. You will need to have a school login to access this page.
Mental health and wellbeing support for all ages.
Sandbox Mental Health Support for 10-25-Year-Olds
The Sandbox is an NHS-funded service to support children and young people in South Staffordshire and Hertfordshire with their mental health and well-being.
The Wellbeing Hub is designed to be a single place where someone concerned about their wellbeing can unpick their needs and be supported to get to the right.
Anna Freud aims to create a world where children and families are supported effectively to build on their strengths and to achieve their goals in life.
Charity provides support if you have been diagnosed with an anxiety condition. Phone.
Action for Happiness helps people take action for a happier and kinder world through effective resources and support.
Less stressed. More resilient. Happier. It all starts with just a few minutes a day.
Information about the challenges parents face with teenagers and how to deal with issues as they arise.
The OLLIE Foundation works with the NHS, Public Health Herts and Hertfordshire Constabulary to provide support and guidance for suicide prevention.
24/7 stress support for men by text, chat and email.
Mind promotes the views and needs of people with mental health problems.
Just Talk in Herts offers guidance regarding mental health and wellbeing.
Signpost is a charitable organisation that provides free counselling, coaching and other support to help young people aged 10-25 to help overcome problems in their lives.
PARENTS & STUDENTS: Online Safety Advice
We consider 'Online Safety' as essential in ensuring our students stay safe and develop into well-rounded global citizens. We teach students how to stay safe online through PSHE lessons, assemblies personal development days and the wider curriculum. The school uses appropriate filters to prevent any inappropriate access to the internet via the school system.
Students are encouraged to report online concerns to a member of staff, a trusted adult or via CEOP.
Our commitment to protecting our students online is demonstrated by working with National Online Safety to provide resources for parents and carers to help keep their children safe online. The resources include courses, online videos and guides covering a huge range of topics. We strongly recommend all parents access these resources by creating an account via the registration link to complete their details and by selecting ‘Parent/Carer’ as the user type.
We also recommend parents and carers to familiarise themselves with the websites below.
www.thinkuknow.co.uk - The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has set up its own educational website which has been designed and written specifically for children, young people, parents and carers.
http://www.internetmatters.org This website contains information about staying safe online, with tips about games, social networking, mobile technology and more.
www.kidsmart.org.uk/ - Kidsmart is an award winning internet safety website for parents and those working with children. It has been developed by the children's internet charity Childnet International and has excellent information on many of the technologies used by children, with guidance on how to ‘stay safe’ online.
http://www.chatdanger.com/ - This website is about the potential dangers with interactive services online like chat, IM, online games and email. It provides information, advice, case studies and games.
Some Key Advice for Children and Young People
- Be nice online.
- Keep your personal details private.
- ThinkB4Upost, send or forward.
- Do not share your password with others.
- Don’t arrange to meet up with someone you only know online, and tell a trusted adult if someone asks.
- Be careful who you webcam with.
- Know how to keep yourself safe.
- Don’t open an attachment unless you are 100% sure it is safe.
- Tell a trusted adult if anything happens online that worries or upsets you.
Advice for popular apps and social media platforms
Instagram - Parent FactsheetSnapchat - Parent FactsheetTikTok - Parent FactsheetWhatsApp - Parent FactsheetYouTube - Parent FactsheetFacebook - Parent FactsheetOnline Safety - Top 10 Parent Tips
