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Safeguarding Briefing - 5th December 2022
Dear Colleagues,
Safeguarding and Nativities
Christmas is just around the corner. For schools, as in many workplaces, a gradual slide into the holidays is near. Christmas card writing, end of term balls and staff Christmas parties are all being planned, in schools up and down the country. Yet it also means that the difficult task of corralling together a nativity play, is just beginning. At this time, educational staff must be as aware as ever. Phone camera's, an unusual number of non-staff adults, video recording equipment and the complex issue of consent, are now joined by the new difficulty of those wanting to broadcast the event live. Raising to prominence during the pandemic, the concept of 'hosting' an online performance for distant or frail relatives is now a certain presence at any school play. Thankfully, the London Grid for Learning has published a piece on their blog about how to manage performances, which may be broadcast live.
To read more please follow the link: https://safeblog.lgfl.net/2020/11/what-goes-on-in-nativity-stays-in-nativity
What to Do When a Child Goes Missing - A Toolkit Guide
This time of year, when the nights have completely closed in and a long winter awaits, thinking of those without homes or without support structures comes naturally. For children and young people, to find themselves in such a situation creates unique vulnerability factors. Most notably sexual and criminally motivated abuse. Missing children can often end up in these situations, and according to the National Crime Agency’s 2018/2019 data 75,918 children went long-term missing in a two year period. This number is likely not an anomaly and as often is the case, prevention is the best medicine. As safeguarding professionals, preventing missing children from becoming long-term cases should be top of the priority list. The moment a child goes missing, their chances of being abused increases exponentially. When this occurs it is tempting to spring blindly into action. But to increase the chance of finding a vulnerable person, before harm can come to them a thorough assessment of the situation is necessary. That’s why the Children’s Society has published its Missing Children Response Assessment Tool.
If you're interested in reading this helpful document please follow the link: https://www.surveygizmo.eu/s3/90245008/Benchmarking-Tool-Missing-Children
To read more about the statistics around missing children please follow the link:
https://globalmissingkids.org/awareness/missing-children-statistics/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20Kingdom%2C%20an,are%20reported%20missing%20every%20year
Did Someone Forward this Safeguarding Briefing to You?
If you would like to receive your own copy of the Safeguarding Briefing, simply go to: https://www.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/safeguarding-briefing-joining-page
Register for an Upcoming Free Safeguarding Seminar with Helena Wykes-Dart
On Monday the 9th of January, Safeguarding firm - The Student Voice, will host a webinar on Contextual Safeguarding. Through their 'Student Voice' app, the company's mission has been to promote student led reporting. The overall objective being to break down teacher-student communication barriers, which they believe often stand in the way of keeping children safe. The innovative team behind The Student Voice will be joined by specialist Adolescent Social Worker Helena Wykes-Dart, who herself works as the director of the Adolescent Safeguarding Consultancy.
Based in Sailsbury, Wykes-Dart served first as a Senior Team Lead for the National Citizen Service trust (An organization geared towards aiding young people further their goals), before joining a local Youth Offending Team. Whilst there she began to specialise in her work with young people, and kick-starting a passion for child and adolescent protection. After moving on to become a Child Social Worker, she deepened her skills in the area, particularly in safeguarding. In 2021 after a stint as Wiltshire Council's Safeguarding, she began the Adolescent Safeguarding Consultancy. As such she is a highly experienced safeguarding professional with an awful lot of original ideas on the topic.
If you're interested in hearing from both Helena Wykes-Dart, and the excellent team at The Student Voice, then follow the link to register: https://www.thestudentvoice.co.uk/cs-webinar/
A Dangerous New Online Trend - Child Abuse Spamming
Today’s pupil is most likely a member of the permanently online generation. Whether in regards to the use of smartphones in class, or social media engagements on school computers, the internet sphere constantly resides in classrooms all over the country. But throughout late November and into December a new trend began to emerge from the internet’s criminal elements. The trend involves paying abusers for every link they distribute to child abuse websites. The objective is to drive people to sex abuse sites in order to increase their internet traffic, in order to take a greater slice of revenue from their consumer base. By increasing awareness of their presence, these sites augment their web presence and become known within the offender community. The danger to the ‘always online’ generation, from accidentally stumbling on such links is great. The consequences might lead the recipient to be ostracised from their peers, be the victim of allegations from others or in the worst case, to become sucked into a cycle of online abuse. The trend is wholly dangerous, and safeguarding personnel should be aware of its presence.
To read the whole article follow the link to the Internet Watch Foundation’s website: https://www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/public-warned-as-distrubing-new-trend-risks-exposure-to-child-sexual-abuse-material-online/
A Podcast Recommendation - Pixels from A Crime Scene
Pixels from A Crime Scene, is the Internet Watch Foundation’s own podcast. The series tackles the matter of online child sex abuse and the insidious nature by which it spreads on the internet. Their objective is to tackle a difficult subject, but one which safeguarding professionals have to engage in, in order to protect children as best they can. For over 25 years, the Internet Watch Foundation has been attempting to aid child victims of sexual abuse, by recording and analysing its presence. By doing this they aid UK law enforcement bodies to prosecute online sexual abuse perpetrators. Their most recent episode: ‘It can happen in any home’ tackles the danger of unknown sexual exploitation in children’s private spaces, through the computer without their parents knowledge.
To listen to the podcast follow the link: https://www.iwf.org.uk/about-us/why-we-exist/our-podcast/
Victim Blaming Prevention
The ‘Challenging Victim Blaming Language and Behaviours’ document from the UK Council for Internet Safety, looks at how blaming victims of abuse is counter-productive to protecting children and young people. The guidance comes with three discussion scenarios, as well as a textual discussion as to why such a document is necessary. In its third part it also proposes a code of practice, when dealing with post-event victim care.
To find this document follow the link below:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1104000/Victim_blaming_and_the_online_experiences_of_children_and_young_people_v3.pdf?utm_campaign=DigiSafe&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_7VNOGtrw9TXx-EtG9ZCRNSf9z9AkNW4apUKyqJsR-1z_npi8pXGBZspwBNkZW4bqICjxD
The NSPCC Relationships & Sexuality Survey
The NSPCC is currently embarking on a research project to map 14 – 17 year olds attitudes towards sex and relationships. Understanding the mindset of the people that safeguarding is designed to protect is vital, to the work of looking after the security of children and young people. The more pupils that take part in the survey, the better picture safeguarding professionals can have of what their idea of healthy and unhealthy sexual behaviour is.
To inquire about your school participating please follow the link: https://thecpscu.org.uk/news/2022-11-nspcc-sexuality-education-survey/
Forthcoming Courses
Implementing the role of the Senior Mental Health Lead (DfE Course Code SMHL105)
This is our DfE Quality Assured course for Senior Mental Health Leads. The course offers self-paced learning using the resources in our SMHL.Pro Hub, which is available for 12 months. Each month there is a live online member check-in to catch up with your tutors and each other. The course cost £397+VAT, some schools are eligible for a grant to cover this cost.
For more details, go to: https://www.smhl.pro/course
Advanced Safeguarding for DSLs
This is a four-session course for DSLs over a full-day. The course is offered live and as a recorded replay. When the course is live, there are plenty of opportunities to contribute with observations, questions or answers. As a recording, the interactions from other people are included and feedback notes that this makes it feel like you are not on your own.
"I came to a session in Birmingham back in 2019 (the day after the GE I think) and it was superb. Today [online] was just as good, if not better. The use of video mixed with live speaking was excellent and goes way beyond what other safeguarding courses provide. You've been there and done it, and your openness with your own story is inspirational."
LIVE ONLINE Thursday 8th December 2022 BOOK NOW
...and available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience BOOK NOW
LIVE ON LOCATION remember that you can book Andrew to visit your school, cluster or MAT to share his DSL course. Please contact us for details and bookings.
Whole School Safeguarding CPD Online Session for 2022/2023
In this two and half hour online presentation aimed at staff in all roles, specialist safeguarding consultant, Andrew Hall, explores important aspects of safeguarding in schools including child protection, learning from case studies and the latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education.
"In my excitement, I forgot to add our star rating to the Safeguarding training we have just watched. If we could, we would give it 10 stars! That was the best Safeguarding training we have ever had, thank you so much. Feedback from staff has, so far, been overwhelmingly positive…I can't thank you enough."
"I would like to extend my thanks to Andrew for his fantastic online training. It was filmed so well - almost as if he were here with us! We were kept engaged throughout and felt so well informed - a huge thank you. It was a real success, and we look forward to booking you again in the future - with the staff team saying it was the best safeguarding training they have ever had. We really appreciated Andrew's real-life storytelling and the way such sensitive information was shared - it was excellent training."
You book your online session here: https://www.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/availablecourses
Until next time, keep safe and thank you for all the work you're doing,
Andrew Hall
Specialist Safeguarding Consultant,
Success In Schools Ltd.
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