Are you safeguarding for LGBTQ+?

‘I felt like whatever I was doing was worthless. Even if I did well in school, it wouldn’t matter to people because all they would care about is me being gay.’ ZOE, 12, SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPIL, ENGLAND* It’s February, LGBTQ+ history month, and a good time to think about the safeguarding of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender …

Are you safeguarding for LGBTQ+?

Online safety – what is a whole school approach?

‘I don’t think my dad realises how many messages from random boys I get or how many dick pics I get. And I have to deal with it every day… it’s kind of like a normal thing for girls now’ – female pupil, 14 – from ‘Learning about online sexual harm’ Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual …

Online safety – what is a whole school approach?

What on earth are County Lines?

‘ I can see them out the flat window, see the officers walking around, thinking alright, these lot are looking for something, but they don’t know who I am, cos I’m not from around here. I’m walking around the corner to where the flat is. Outside that flat, there’s two TSG vans, two cars, sniffer …

What on earth are County Lines?

Are you safeguarding for good mental health?

The current definition of Safeguarding is inclusive, ambitious and broad. It is not a concept that is interchangeable with Child Protection, rather it includes Child Protection (this is one of the most common misconceptions we encounter in our work). Safeguarding includes any aspect of care or engagement of children and young people that enables them …

Are you safeguarding for good mental health?

Online peer abuse: are you educating children to keep safe online?

“I recently dealt with a case of a child who was of p6 [Scottish Year 5] age who sent an indecent image to another pupil who subsequently distributed this to the rest of the school. This was only discovered by myself when I overheard other pupils discussing this. We were faced with a difficult choice …

Online peer abuse: are you educating children to keep safe online?

What would children vote for?

You may have missed it, but recently amongst all the political mayhem, and ahead of what seems like an imminent General Election, the Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield launched her ‘Children’s Manifesto’, setting out what young people want. What is the role of the Children’s Commissioner? The role of Children’s Commissioner is to promote and protect …

What Ofsted will need to know about supervision in your setting

It’s September and a range of settings are asking me what changes have taken place in the range of statutory safeguarding guidance they know they must comply with. Well, the good news is that, compared to last year, changes have been minimal. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018) remains the same. ‘Keeping Children Safe in …

One of the most important safeguarding documents you’ll ever read…

*STOP PRESS!*  There is a new edition of non-statutory document ‘Guidance for safer working practice for those working with children in education settings’ (2019), endorsed and recommended by the Safer Recruitment Consortium.  The original guidance was developed by a DfES network in 2005, revised in 2009 and 2015. It is essential reading for everyone who works with children …