CHESELBOURNE VILLAGE SCHOOL

(UPDATE SESSION) 16TH NOVEMBER 2011

Safeguarding: Working Together to Safeguard

Children 2011

Alison GaddChildren’s Services Safeguarding Trainer

Safeguarding Officers- Angela Burr & Ginny Daniells

01305 221122

Objectives

By the end of the session you should be reminded of:

Your legal responsibilities

How to recognise abuse and neglect

What to do if you are worried about a pupil’s welfare

How to work safely

Child Protection Training

Supports your school’s child protection procedures and other safeguarding policies, which you must read

Often deals with sensitive issues – look after yourself

Keep a sense of proportion

Questions and contributions are welcome but we will not discuss specific cases, which are confidential

Safeguarding in Schools: Best Practice

Rigorous safeguarding policies and procedures in place, written in plain English, compliant with statutory requirements and updated regularly; in particular, clear and coherent child protection policies.

Child protection arrangements that are accessible to everyone, so that pupils and families, as well as adults in the school, know who they can talk to if they are worried.

Excellent communication systems with up-to-date information that can be accessed and shared by those who need it.

A high priority given to training in safeguarding, generally going

beyond basic requirements, extending expertise widely and building internal capacity.

Robust arrangements for site security, understood and applied by staff

and pupils. September 2011

Case studies

What should you do?What do you think should happen next?

MaisieRyanChristopherMrs X

10 minutes

Why are we here?

NSPCC counsellors referred a record 16,385 serious cases to Social Care/Police in 2010/11

This was a 37% rise from the previous year

67 Serious Case Reviews between April & September 2010 concerned 93 children, 39 of whom died

The tendency was to overlook the roles played by fathers & male partners. Risks were noted, but not the useful information they sometimes had.

NSPCC & Ofsted April 2011

Why are we here?

42,300 children were the subjects of a child protection plan in England at 31 March 2011 - DfE (39,100 at 31/03/10- an increase of 8%)

In Dorset 346 children are the subjects of a child protection plan (30th Spetember 2011)

Sept 2008 172 plansNov 08 Baby P first reported in the media

Mar 2009 225 plans (Lord Laming’s report published)

Sept 2009 331 plansMar 2010 346 plans April 2011 305

plans293 Dorset children are ‘Looked After’ – 141

because of abuse and neglect- 48.1% (30th September 2011)

Baby M

Child C

Baby C

Family S3

‘…a family where there were interacting risk factors which were indicative of increased risk to the children’

‘The failure of agencies to act, assess or proactively share information combined with the limited parenting capacity of the vulnerable parent of a child with a potentially life threatening condition resulted in tragic consequences’

‘This was a ‘difficult’ family to work with. Both parents were adept at complying with professionals just enough to allow a false sense of security to prevail’

‘The floor and fittings in the bathroom were covered in human and animal excrement and other rooms were in a foul state cluttered with furniture and possessions. The house as a whole smelt strongly of urine’

Safeguarding is everyone’s business

Why are we here?

Every week, (on average), in England and Wales one child is killed by his/her parents or carers

NSPCC 2009

LAUNCH OF NSPCC HELPLINE MOBILE PHONE TEXTING SERVICE

The NSPCC Helpline has launched a mobile phone texting service which will allow members of the public to contact the Helpline by texting 88858.

The public can send a text anonymously if they wish at no cost to themselves. On receipt of the text the Helpline will send an immediate automated confirmation response and then a specific response to their enquiry from a Helpline practitioner within three hours.

A reminder of your legal responsibilities

Key legislation for all agencies

The Children Act 1989Catalyst for numerous changes and modernisation for the protection and support of childrenThe paramountcy principlePartnership with parents Duty on agencies to co-operate in the interest of children

Children Act 2004 Came out of the Victoria Climbie inquiryLegislation supporting ‘Every Child Matters: Change for Children’ – To be repealed….”The Big Society”

Duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (Section 11)

Key legislation for schools

Education Act 2002 Sect 175 – Requires LAs and the governing bodies of

maintained schools (and FE institutions) to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils (same duty applies to independent schools – sect 157)

They must also have regard to relevant guidance issued by the Secretary of State

‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’ is the key guidance (Jan 2007)- Under review

This section came about as a result of the death of Lauren Wright

Every school must have....

Child Protection procedures (what to do if….) that everyone has read

Procedures for:

- managing allegations against staff (Under review)- safer recruitment and selection- ‘whistle blowing’

A DSP (Designated Senior Person for Child Protection) and at least one deputy, trained in inter-agency working

A nominated governor for child protection (Who is yours?)

Training for all staff and volunteers

Policies, legislation, structures and procedures are, of course, of immense importance, but …. It is the robust and consistent implementation of policies and procedures which keeps children and young people safe

The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report The Lord Laming, March 2009

‘The extent of the failure to protect Victoria was lamentable…there were failures at every level and in every organisation’ Lord Laming

‘…lots of times, often, she (Lauren) was covered with lots of small bruises and with major bruises about once a month. These included black eyes, bruising on her face and scratches across her back”

Class teacher

‘Baby Peter’s horrifying death could and should have been prevented’

Second Serious Case Review Haringey 2009

Child Abuse and Neglect

Do not make assumptions

Children who are abused are.....any child, any age, any background

People who abuse children can be....anyone

However, some children are more vulnerable to abuse than others.....

What constitutes abuse and neglect?

“Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for example, via the internet. They may be abused by an adult or adults or another child or children”

2010

Under Review: Due Summer 2012

Categories of abuse – A reminder

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Neglect

Taking action

Munro Report- Part Two (February 2011)

The child protection system is a multi‐professional, multi‐agency operation requiring all who work with children, young people and families to consider the effectiveness of their work

The child protection system should be child‐centred, recognising children and young people as individuals with rights, including their right to participation

The complexity of the world means that uncertainty and risk are features of child protection work and that risk management cannot eliminate harm, only reduce its occurrence

Case study

Maisie

Taking action – where there is no disclosure or evidence of abuse

If you have any concerns about a child, it is important to share them with - the class teacher (if appropriate) and- the DSP (Have you got a concern form?)

Other people might also be worried (or there might be an explanation for the child’s behaviour)

Make sure a discussion with the DSP is recorded, including the outcome

Neglect and emotional abuse

Can be difficult to identify

Try to work with parents/carersRemember to record concerns

Consider a CAF if more than one agency involved

Abuse does not consist of a single incident but is chronic and on-going

Children and Significant Harm

In Dorset 346 children were the subjects of a child protection plan on 30 September 2011, in the following categories*:

Boys Girls UnbornNeglect 151 80 69 2Emotional abuse 122 62 59 1Physical Abuse 37 23 14

0Sexual abuse 36 12 24 0

Child factors andExperiences

• Very young babies• Illness in babies• Older child hard to help• Sexual exploitation• Going missing• Bullying• Suicide• Disability• Chronic illness

Family andenvironmental factors

• Domestic violence• Substance misuse• Mental ill health• Fathers hostility• Criminal convictions• Patterns of hostility• Patterns of compliance• History of neglect• Previous child death• Poverty• Poor living conditions• Frequent house moves• Accidents

Agency context• Capacity• Organisational climate• Preoccupation with thresholds• Professional anxiety• Reluctance to act• Professional challenge• Supervision• Ethnicity challenges• Understanding neglect• Dealing with neglect• ‘start again syndrome’• Communication• Keeping track of families• Child not seen/heard

Practice/professionals andagency factors

‘Family S3’

Recognition of neglect as child abuse

Understanding that having to provide ‘significant compensatory care’ for a child should trigger a child protection referral to Social Care

Questioning ‘what must it be like to be a child in this household?’ and the importance of seeing the child in the family home to inform assessments

Understanding that because the family is ‘unconventional’ or lives in a rural setting does not make neglect more acceptable

Importance of accurate record keeping and taking account of history when making decisions

Need to take advice and escalate concerns through management structures when other agencies do not act

Responding to a disclosure of physical or sexual abuse

Case studies

Ryan

Christopher

Taking action: You Should.....

Listen carefully

Clarify the facts if necessary, using open questions (remember TED), but do not interrogate or ask more than you need to

Re-assure the young person, if required

Pass on the information only to those who need to know

Common pitfalls

You should notPromising to keep secretsAsking too many questionsAsking the child to repeat the disclosure to

anyone elseMaking judgments about whether s/he is

telling the truth, even if the s/he has been untruthful in the past or has made previous allegations

Asking the child or witnesses to write a ‘statement’

Informing parents/carers

Case study

Mrs X

In conclusion

•Education staff have a crucial role to play in helping identify welfare concerns and indicators of possible abuse or neglect at an early stage

•Over 60% of referrals to Dorset Social Care come from education staff

Any Comments or Questions ?