Incyte Safeguarding Update
June 2021
By the time this update reaches you all, I hope that you have enjoyed the glorious weather – and for those in schools a relaxing half term.
Much has been happening since the last update, both with the pandemic as well as high profile news stories resulting in government response. I do hope that the information below offers the update and provides you with helpful guidance to use with and in schools and other settings.
Safeguarding updates
Ofsted April 2021 updates
There have been changes made to how Ofsted will inspect safeguarding in response to the pandemic and other issues which have arisen over the past few months.
Whilst there is a focus on the support provided by the school for pupils during the pandemic, especially the most vulnerable, there is also a section that highlights the importance of pupils and students understanding safeguarding and reporting procedures and feeling safe, not to mention policy being translated into practice. “If inspectors cannot corroborate the evidence that they gather about the effectiveness of the school’s arrangements to safeguard pupils, by talking to pupils on inspection, then safeguarding will likely be judged ineffective.”
London Grid for Learning has a useful summary and links, alongside a clip of a headteacher’s experience of a recent inspection. Worth a visit to this site.
https://national.lgfl.net/digisafe/ofstedsafe/ofsted-2021-updates
County lines and looked after children
Research by Crest presents findings from a research project on criminal exploitation of looked after children in two police force areas of North Wales and Merseyside. The findings state that looked after children are disproportionately represented in county lines networks but are not being systematically identified by police or local authorities; a growing number of looked after children are placed in care settings that do not protect them from criminal exploitation; inadequate information sharing between agencies leads to a poor safeguarding response.
This is a useful report to heighten our awareness of the vulnerability of this group of children in our care.
https://www.crestadvisory.com/post/report-county-lines-and-looked-after-children
School visitors and coronavirus
This feature offers guidance and reminders on setting up protocols and procedures when admitting visitors onto premises.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection-schools/school-visitors
St John’s Ambulance – Seeing the bigger picture, are you professionally curious?
This is a really useful article that reminds us of the need to remain vigilant in our safeguarding work. It offers guidance on how to do this, with reminders about how to demonstrate professional curiosity in the process of ‘fact finding’:
· Remain open-minded and expect the unexpected
· Prepare for any anxiety you might have about the way hostile or resistant people might react to being asked direct or difficult questions
· Appreciate that respectful scepticism and challenge are healthy – it is OK to question what you are told
· Demonstrate a willingness to have ‘less than comfortable’ interactions when this is necessary to gain the whole picture
· Be prepared to be challenged – it should be a constructive two-way dialogue
· Question your own assumptions about how people function and be aware of the ways your conscious and unconscious biases impact your views.
· Look for signs of disguised compliance - appearing to agree with everything you say as a means of ending the conversation and avoiding any resolution of the issues.
Safeguarding in the news
NHS boosts mental health services in schools as pandemic leaves children struggling
NHS England is accelerating its mental health services for children, with plans for specialist teams to help nearly three million schoolchildren by 2023.
From this year, teams of experts will offer support to children experiencing anxiety, depression and other common mental health issues. By 2023, around 400 of these teams will be operational, covering 3000 schools in England. NHS England said the teams will offer support to almost three million pupils by 2023.
It will be interesting to see how quickly this is put into action in order to reach the most needy in our schools.
https://inews.co.uk/news/education/nhs-boosts-mental-health-services-schoolkids-992000
Rape culture
With the shocking revelation by thousands of people describing sexual abuse by other young people in schools via the website ‘Everyone’s invited’, the NSPCC has set up a new dedicated helpline
0800 136 663.
Ofsted has also been asked to review safeguarding policies in both state and independent schools. The review will consider a number of areas, including:
· Whether the safeguarding guidance to schools is sufficiently strong to safeguard children;
· How schools can be further supported to teach the new RSHE curriculum;
· Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements; and
· How well schools and colleges listen to the voices of children when reporting sexual abuse.
School leaders will need to focus on the impact of their safeguarding policies, as well as checking that their websites display the most recent safeguarding policy. Offering reassurance to both parents and pupils is also key.
Teachers ‘struggle to deal with classroom sexual abuse'
The BBC reports that teachers say they do not feel equipped to deal with peer-on-peer sexual abuse because they have had no training.
More than 1,500 UK teachers replied to a questionnaire from BBC Radio 4's File on 4 and teachers' union the NASUWT. More than half said they did not think adequate procedures were in place in their schools to deal with abuse. Many are also unsure how to deliver elements of a new RSHE curriculum, which the government says third parties might now help with.
This is a surprising revelation since schools offer an annual update on safeguarding and many offer training at key points across the year. It is important to ask school leaders for their views on this and how well equipped their staff feel in dealing with increasingly complex issues and how they have helped them to do so.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57231920
Positions of trust
The Ministry of Justice has announced that the Positions of Trust law, which currently applies to roles like teachers and social workers, will be extended to protect teenagers from abuse by making it illegal for sports coaches and religious leaders to engage in sexual activity with 16 and 17-year-olds in their care. This follows the ‘Close the Loophole’ campaign by the NSPCC.
Useful items for sharing with schools and other organisations
Headrest
Headteachers, chief executives and governors are very focused on and relentless in addressing the well-being of the pupils in their schools as they have returned to education after significant periods of lockdown.
Headrest is an organisation set up to provide support for headteachers and chief executives themselves during this challenging period.
This looks like a really useful service at a time when headteachers are under significant pressure; I am being told of many headteachers leaving the profession. This might make a difference to any senior leaders.
Supporting parents
‘Young Minds’ has developed a package for parents to help them in supporting their child’s mental health during and beyond the pandemic.
https://youngminds.org.uk/supporting-parents-helpfinder/
Safety when working online
These useful posters by Beacon House Therapeutic Services and Trauma Team offer clear guidance to both pupils and adults at a time when we are all working more on screen
https://beaconhouse.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Savers-1.pdf
Transitioning back into school – NSPCC
Although pupils are now back in school, this feature is a useful read to offer guidance on integrating pupils back into routines and looking at the adaptation of documentation accordingly.
It might be useful to share this with schools that have a group of reluctant, anxious pupils who remain at home.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/news/covid/returning-to-school-after-coronavirus-lockdown
Teaching relationships, sex and health education (RSHE)
The DfE has produced support and training materials for schools to help train teachers on relationships, sex and health education. There is now an additional module on teaching RSHE to pupils with SEND.
Domestic abuse
The following resources offer guidance for a variety of settings following a rise in the instances of domestic abuse:
· The NSPCC has introduced a service, approved by the Home Office, which offers children and mothers the opportunity to meet others who have lived through similar experiences.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services-children-families/dart\
· Another useful resource is from Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service.
· ‘Listening ear’ offers a therapeutic pathway for children affected by domestic violence.
https://listening-ear.co.uk/diamond/
Safeguarding and child protection self-assessment tool
The NSPCC has re-launched its self-assessment tool and this might be a good time for schools to evaluate their provision and its impact – see Ofsted reference above.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-self-assessment-tool
Deborah Wring
June 2021