Murderer worked in a school after being barred – what went wrong? I hope you all have had a good year so far. Spring has definitely sprung and warmer temperatures, longer days and spring flowers are now a reality. I am filling my time with safeguarding training, policy writing and my first safeguarding check up …
Checking adults who work with children – what people can get wrong In recent weeks my inbox had been full of enquiries concerning matters to do with safer recruitment, the single central record and all things to do with disclosure and barring checks. These matters are one area of safeguarding where I consistently encounter a …
This time of year is the start of work for many new members of staff across the children’s workforce. Along with entrance codes, photocopying keys and how the tea and coffee supplies are organised, there is also the need to ensure that every induction should include training on safeguarding for each new staff member. Induction …
I remember someone telling me once that the best ever training she ever went on involved the trainer just taking the participants through a series of serious case reviews. I have put together bespoke sessions myself at the request of settings and seen first-hand how the in-depth study of a case of child abuse has …
I recently put together the new Mandy Parry Training brochure for the next academic year 2019 – 2020, and once again it was time to revise my understanding of the statutory safeguarding training requirements for people who work with children. To be honest, while it’s one of the most common questions I am asked as …
‘…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 …
What is Pupil Premium Plus (PPP) funding and why is it in place? Children who’ve experienced trauma and loss in their early lives view the world through a different lens and need particular support to give them a chance to access (and hopefully thrive in) our current education system – see our earlier blog about …
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 …
To introduce as many professionals as we can to our fantastic new training on Managing Disclosure, we are inviting you to take advantage of a SPECIAL EARLY BIRD OFFER! Book your tickets here (deadline 8th March). ‘What questions can you actually ask a child that won’t ‘taint evidence’?’ ‘Can the DSL ask questions too after …
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 …
‘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 …
Image taken from: Bentley, H. et al (2018) How safe are our children? The most comprehensive overview of child protection in the UK 2018. London: NSPCC. Most people are aware of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – the NSPCC – which is the largest charity in the UK specialising in …
The Advanced Safeguarding course I deliver is one of the most popular and well attended sessions I run. We discuss a range of pertinent issues that I have put together from experience as being relevant to the needs of most settings. One issue that invariably comes up in most of my safeguarding training is how …
I am now a fully nationally accredited Safer Recruitment trainer as last year I spent a couple of days in the Midlands being training by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, who are experts on understanding and combatting sexual abuse. The course was a real eye opener for me personally, even though I have been delivering …
The government has published the ‘for information’ copy of the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 that will come into force on 3rd September 2018 for schools and other registered settings and childminders (until then, use Keeping Children Safe in Education (2016)). The headlines for the new statutory guidance include: Emphasis on supporting the needs of children with …
I start off every Safeguarding: Basic Awareness session with a practical exercise on thresholds and then a clear diagrammatic explanation of what exactly they mean in theory and then practice. I do this because it gives participants an overview of the safeguarding children services, and some idea of how they as professionals fit into this …
Years ago I worked as the Bristol City Council Lead Trainer for the Common Assessment Framework (CAF). I, together with a large team of co-trainers, were tasked with delivering training in CAF and a range of other brand new safeguarding initiatives to thousands of professionals across Bristol. CAFs were designed help families get the support they needed at …
A couple of weeks ago I delivered my course on Effective Supervision. To be honest, despite having delivered this session dozens of times in the past to project managers and social workers at Bristol City Council, it’s been many years since I’ve actually been called to deliver it, as there hasn’t been much demand. This …
As I enter a school I see a really lovely colourful display entitled ‘Fundamental British Values’. There are the headings – Democracy, Rule of Law, Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect and Tolerance for different faiths and beliefs – and posters and quotes from children about what these ideas mean to them in real life. Interestingly, …
My Safeguarding: Basic Awareness training courses now all set out a list of interesting and important Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) that I advise participants to read and to which I make copious reference to during the training. All SCRs can teach us a tremendous amount about good and poor practice. Ultimately a SCR can teach …
Results from a recent survey (Adoption UK, published November 2017) suggest that adopted children are 20 TIMES more likely to be permanently excluded than their peers. These figures are clearly a huge cause for concern. But what is going on for many of these children at school that’s leading schools to exclude them? The crux of …
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 …
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 …
I am frequently asked exactly what safeguarding training is needed for staff who work with children in registered settings. Unfortunately this important information is not collated in one key document – instead it must be derived from a series of national and local guidance documents. Another issue I am often asked about is the matter …
Some early years settings have recently made me aware of the new Early Years Foundation Stage 2017 – including some changes affecting safeguarding guidance. The EYFS sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All Ofsted-registered early years providers in England must follow the EYFS, including: schools, …
In January 2011 a twenty-year-old man called Paul Wilson came to the attention of West Midlands Police as a result of an accusation by a 13-year-old girl of online grooming. Examination of his computer revealed many indecent images, including a serious assault of a toddler which he had recorded on his mobile phone. Wilson was …
Are you aware that Safer Internet Day will take place on Tuesday 7th February 2017? There is still plenty of time to plan what you can do to raise awareness of online safety in your setting in a fun and accessible way. Safer Internet Day usually sees hundreds of organisations across the country get involved …
I recently attended a conference entitled: ‘Reshaping Services for Children and Families’ in Bristol. Much of the conference focused on how to best support professionals who were themselves engaged with supporting the most troubled families in our society. The key note speakers talked about ways to promote resilience in staff teams, workforce development and service …
As a Safeguarding trainer I find that one of the most difficult things for people to grasp is the concept of ‘grooming’. Broadly speaking, the process of grooming entails building an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust in order to sexually abuse them. This means the abuser is ensured continued access to …
‘Sexting’ is the exchange of self-generated sexually explicit images, through mobile picture messages or webcams over the internet. Young people may also call it: cybersex sending a nudie, picture or selfie trading nudes dirtie pic for pic. There are many reasons why a young person may want to send a naked or semi-naked picture, video …
This week I was lucky enough to attend the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board Annual Conference. One of the guest speakers was Joanna Nicolas, a Child Protection Consultant & Trainer, who spoke about ‘Disguised Compliance’ and why it is an important concept for everyone who works with children to understand. Disguised Compliance is defined by the …
Last week I delivered Prevent awareness training and facilitated an interesting discussion on fundamental British values. Since 2015 all schools and registered childcare providers must have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. The Prevent Duty Guidance (2015) says that they should also: ‘build resilience by promoting fundamental British …
From 1 July 2015 all schools, registered early years childcare providers and registered later years childcare providers are subject to a Duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. Since then, the children’s workforce has been racing …
Good, up to date record keeping of concerns and action taken is essential to help identify causes for concern at an early stage. Often it is only when a number of seemingly minor issues are taken as a whole that any general welfare or child protection concern becomes clear. Effective record keeping helps settings monitor …
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a devastating form of child abuse, highlighted in recent years by several headline cases in Rotherham, Telford, Oldham, Derby, Oxford and in Bristol. But up to now, different agencies have been using many different definitions of CSE. The Government has launched a consultation this month seeking views on a new …
