Schools and other settings tell me a lot of their work around safeguarding is taken up with dealing with allegations made by children about other children. Recent headlines have informed us that peer abuse is rising. Last year it was reported that almost 30,000 reports of children being sexually assaulted by another child have been …
I often repeat the phrase during training that ‘People who seek to sexually abuse children will seek work which means they have increased access to children.’ Part of creating a culture of vigilance means ensuring that all the pre-employment and ongoing checks we carry out on staff and volunteers are carried out as a matter …
This week I am hearing continually on the news about the steep rise in numbers of people living in poverty in the UK – high rates of extreme poverty which are affecting millions of families with children right now. While I do talk about this on my training, often any reference to the relationship to …
My very experienced social worker colleagues have told me that changes to national laws and guidance in relation to safeguarding used to be expected every 10-15 years. Nowadays, as I like to share on my safeguarding training, the pace of change has vastly increased and major reviews of legislation and/or key guidance now occur with …
A few years ago Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) were generally long, rambling documents that seemed to be designed to sit on the shelves of strategy leaders and left to gather dust. In recent years, there has been a change of heart and now every member of the children’s workforce is encouraged to have a wide …
In 2000 in London, an eight-year-old girl from the Ivory Coast, Victoria Climbié, was tortured and murdered by her guardians. During the abuse, Climbié was burnt with cigarettes and scalded with boiling water, tied up for days, and hit with bike chains, hammers and wires. Up to her death, the police, the Social Services Department of four local authorities, the NHS, …
Many settings have been able to take a break for a few weeks over the summer, while others have worked throughout August. However you have spent the last few weeks, September always seems to offer the opportunity to review and refresh practice in many respects. In terms of safeguarding, that may mean delivering refresher training …
I am spending much of my time at the moment reviewing, updating and writing a number of related safeguarding policies for a school in Bristol. What makes it a bit easier is the fact that I have done it on many occasions for a range of different settings – but then again, each setting is …
Two weeks ago I was booked to deliver some training on the Prevent Duty. When I turned on the radio first thing on that morning, I realised it was going to be no ordinary day. I learned that the night before a suicide bomber had killed 22 people at a music concert in Manchester. Many of …
It is Foster Care Fortnight to help raise awareness of fostering and of children in foster care. I frequently deliver Safeguarding: Basic Awareness training for foster carers and have immense respect for their wisdom, humour and resilience. Children in Care are extremely vulnerable as most have faced abuse, trauma and/or neglect and the support they …
