Lead Practitioner (Safeguarding) Briefings Autumn 2013

Bruising protocol This being revised and we are advised to inform social care of all bruising on ‘Not independently mobile’ (NIM) children.

Referrals to Social Care There are many appropriate referrals being made by providers to Social Care via Professional Line, R&A and Out of Hours teams Feedback from the above teams is that professionals struggling to get through with a referral are leaving messages. We are advised that we should try the other lines if it is an urgent referral and NOT wait for someone from the professional line to respond If you don’t hear anymore after the referral has been made…follow it up and to confirm what action has been taken

Fixed Thinking.1 Supervision – effective supervision will help managers and practitioners to avoid fixed thinking and critically analyse possible signs and symptoms of abuse Without effective supervision practitioners and managers can get used to the things they see and not recognise signs of abuse

Fixed thinking.2 Early Years practitioners are valued and have a unique perspective. This presents vital information at case conferences, during planning meetings or on referral froms and may help others to avoid ‘fixed thinking’ Be confident in sharing your analysis and views

OFSTED registered person This person/company/committee is responsible for knowing what safeguarding measures should be in place and ensuring all safeguarding measures are in place How do they do this? How does this work for committees? Would this be a useful future focus for these support groups?

No anonymous referrals Professionals are not allowed to refer anonymously to social care – You are a professional even when you are not on duty so you can never refer anonymously EYFS requires registered childcare providers to have regard for the LSCB polices in response to SCR’s. Social Care may have further questions for the professional that may be vital to protecting a child. SCR’s have shown that when professionals do not share information well, children are more at risk

Important points to Remember: Never leave a referral to social Care until after the week end Maintain professional boundaries with parents even if they are friends outside the setting which sometimes happens in smaller settings and communities. Still make the referral to Social Care as the child’s safety and welfare is paramount, always Follow your policies and procedures

Interpreting training message SfYC have received a number of communications regarding the different interpretations between practitioners/managers and the trainer Please continue to feed these back at Safeguarding Support Groups as they will be followed up

Learning Lessons from Serious Case Reviews This series of multi-agency practical half day workshops will explore how agencies can work effectively together to safeguard children from lessons learned by Serious Case Reviews. FOR ALL FRONT LINE PRACTITIONERS DateTimeLocation 15 October :00 till 12:30Fleet 14 November :00 till 12:30Alton 4 December :00 till 12:30Winchester 8 January09:00 till 12:30Havant 14 January :00 till 12:30Winchester 28 January :00 till 12:30Fareham 12 February :00 till 12:30Romsey 19 March :00 till 12:30Winchester

Our aims of this briefing To increase attendance from Early Years Practitioners at all Child Protection Conferences (CPCs) To increase the confidence of Practitioners to attend CPCs To help practitioners make an effective contribution at a Child Protection Conference

Session will include How to prepare for a Child Protection Conference How to present at a Child Protection Conference How to decide whether a child should be subject to a CP (Child protection) plan How to contribute to effective planning

Introduction How many of you have already had experience of attending a CPC? How did it feel? How do you currently feel about attending CPC?

At a child Protection Conference the expectation is that: You will ‘share relevant information’ You will make an ‘assessment of risk’ You will be required to ‘make a decision’ regarding whether or not a Child protection plan is needed You will be involved in ‘effective planning’ and ‘service delivery’ designed to safeguard the child/ren

Helpful reminder Guidance framework (Remember the 4LSCB Website is full of very useful up to date information) childrenboard.org.uk/

What is a child Protection conference for? Think about which practitioner will need to attend the Conference (avoid a team member who lives next door to this child and family, etc.) Who you will need to present your information in front of Remember your information about this child and parent/s is really important as you may be the professional who has had the most regular contact with them

Stage 1 Preparation The key to contributing effectively to a child protection conference is PREPARATION NB. Parents must see and sign your report preferably prior to the day of the conference, unless it puts someone at risk. No surprises. Consider the length of time the CP Conference could take and plan alternative childcare for yourself ‘just in case’

Stage 2. How to present your information at the CPC Having prepared thoroughly for the conference you will be in the best position to make an effective ‘presentation’ of the information you bring How you present your information is important Always talk, facing the parent in response to any question from the chair

Stage 3 Decision Making Having prepared well, listened and presented effectively at the conference, you will be in the best position to arrive at a decision Let the ‘chair’ know if it your first CP Conference, and they may ask for your decision after the other professionals Do not be afraid to give a different opinion to everyone else

Stage 4 Planning Having prepared well, presented effectively and contributed to sound decision making you will be in the best position to play an active role in the planning process Be mindful and realistic about what you can provide from your setting

Activity: Risk Assessment Case Study Read the Case study on your own or quietly in small groups and decide: What are the protective factors in this case? What are the risks in this case? What is the threshold for a Child protection Plan and is it met in this case? If so why? Is the child is at risk of harm, what category of harm applies and why? What might be included in a child protection Plan?

Group Discussion: Group feed back from case study Any queries or questions about the case study Questions around issues of Child Protection Case Conferences General safeguarding issues

To Consider: How will you share this information and make available for your setting’s use? We hope this session has been useful and helped you to feel more confident when attending child protection conferences. Is there anything you feel you would like to cover as a future session?