*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 …
‘…young people were asked about their exposure to gangs and knife crime. A quarter of young people say that they know someone who has carried a knife (26%, 1790 of 6856) or who is in a gang (23%, 1583 of 6798).’ Youth Voice Survey 2018 A couple of weeks ago, I was spending most of …
Nigel Leat was a Primary School teacher from Weston-Super-Mare. For fifteen years he sexually abused the children in his Year 3 classes and filmed the abuse on a camera hidden underneath his desk. Over the years, the Headteacher of the school had received over 30 formal allegations about Leat from other staff who were increasingly …
“I took the stone, I warmed it, and then I started massaging [my daughter’s chest],” she said. “And the stone was a little bit hot. When I started massaging, she said: ‘Mummy, it’s hot!’” CAME Women’s and Girl’s Development Organisation Website As a safeguarding consultant I see it as my job to encourage professional curiosity …
I have been delivering safeguarding training since 2006, and in that time have seen the range of settings I provide support for work extremely hard to satisfy their statutory safeguarding responsibilities, making the welfare of children they work with their paramount concern. Despite the great efforts of a great many professionals though, I see the …
Today I saw on BBC news the smiling photo of a 14 year old school girl taken before she took her own life because, her parents say, of the information she was accessing which ‘glorified’ depression, self-harm and suicide on the social media site ‘Instagram’. A few weeks ago I was just introducing the subject …
‘Children can abuse other children. This is generally referred to as peer on peer abuse and can take many forms. This can include (but is not limited to) bullying (including cyberbullying); sexual violence and sexual harassment; physical abuse such as hitting, kicking, shaking, biting, hair pulling, or otherwise causing physical harm; sexting and initiating/hazing …
As the song goes, Christmas should be ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, but for many children sadly this isn’t the case. For many, Christmas is far from full of wonder and magical memories. For children in care, under special guardianship or who have been adopted, the build-up to and culmination of all things …
‘Child A (2000) was 12 when the risk of sexual exploitation became known. She was associating with a group of older Asian men and possibly taking drugs. She disclosed having had intercourse with 5 adults. Two of the adults received police cautions after admitting to the Police that they had intercourse with Child A. Child …
A few weeks ago I attended a very useful briefing on neglect and a new assessment tool in Bristol available to practitioners that will help them assess the risk of neglect. The session developed my knowledge of the subject and offered a practical method to understand and evaluate the harm that neglect imposes on children …
