1. Basic Introduction to Safeguarding
In partnership with Bexley Safeguarding Children Board and
London Safeguarding Children Board
Based on Bexley LSCB and London LSCB material
Aimed at all those who work with or have regular or prolonged contact with children and young people.
Is the first level of safeguarding. Once done, need to do refresher, or specialist (or management)

2. Aim:
To develop an awareness of, and the ability to act on concerns about the safety and welfare of children and young people.
Refer to EYFS
IF TIME:
Ask participants to say who they are and what involvement they have in safeguarding
(to get an idea of level of understanding and needs)

3. Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Understand the importance of managing personal attitudes to and beliefs about Safeguarding Children.
Be able to identify signs and symptoms of child abuse.
Demonstrate greater understanding and knowledge of the key pieces of legislation and guidance that underpin policies and procedures related to Safeguarding Children.
We will explore all of the above.

4. Develop skills to make a referral to Children’s Social Care.
Know what to do if they have concerns about a child including those at risk of or suffering significant harm.
Know what will happen once they have informed someone of those concerns.
Understand the processes outlined in “What to do if You’re worried a Child is Being Abused”, including how to share information.

5. Personal Perspectives:
Using the question sheet, answer as quickly as possible. Go with your “gut reaction” PS. It’s not a test…
This expertise is designed to highlight that we all think differently about children/childhood/safety etc.
This depends on our upbringing, experience and expertise
The questions are designed to provoke discussion

6. Setting the scene… There are 11.5 million children in England
390 thousand received help from Children’s Services
320 thousand are Children in Need
70 thousand are Children Looked After
50 thousand were identified as needing protection
(source NSPCC 2016)

7. Everybody's Business
‘Ultimately, effective safeguarding of children can only be achieved by putting children at the centre of the system and by every individual and agency playing their full part, working together to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children.’
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Government guidance places a duty on us all to safeguard children. This does not mean that we all have to become experts in safeguarding children but we should have sufficient knowledge and understanding to enable us to know when to be concerned about a child and to know what basic actions to take when we have a concern.

8. Legislation, Guidance, Procedure
Professionals in all agencies have a responsibility to refer a child to LA children's social care when it is believed or suspected that the child:
Has suffered significant harm;
Is likely to suffer significant harm.
(Source: London Safeguarding Children Board Child Protection Procedures, 5th Edition)
Notes for Trainers
This slide and the next slide outline the duty to refer to children’s social care whenever a it is believed or suspected that a child is suffering or likely to suffer harm. Continues on next slide.

9. Safeguarding Children
Safeguarding & Promoting Welfare
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:
protecting children from maltreatment;
preventing impairment of children's health or development;
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Inform participants that there can be different levels of need within families, requiring different levels of response/intervention.

10. Safeguarding Children
Additional Support
Where need is relatively low level individual services and universal services may be able to take swift action. For other emerging needs a range of early help services may be required, coordinated through an early help assessment ….
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Children and families may need support from a wide range of local agencies. Where a child and family would benefit from coordinated support from more than one agency (e.g. education, health, housing, police) there should be an inter-agency assessment. These early help assessments, such as the use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), should identify what help the child and family require to prevent needs escalating to a point where intervention would be needed via a statutory assessment under the Children Act 1989

11. Safeguarding Children
Child Protection
If at any time it is considered that the child may be a child in need as defined in the Children Act 1989, or that the child has suffered significant harm or is likely to do so, a referral should be made immediately to local authority children’s social care.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Child Protection is an important part of safeguarding children.

12. Safeguarding Children
Children in Need
A child in need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health and development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services; or a child who is disabled. In these cases, assessments by a social worker are carried out under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Section 17 of The Children Act 1989 states:
For the purposes of this Part a child shall be taken to be in need if—
(a) he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority under this Part;
(b) his health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him of such services; or
(c) he is disabled,
and “family”, in relation to such a child, includes any person who has parental responsibility for the child and any other person with whom he has been living.

13. Safeguarding Children
Child Protection
Where there are child protection concerns (reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm) local authority social care services must make enquiries and decide if any action must be taken under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) states, “Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care. For example, referrals may come from: children themselves, teachers, a GP, the police, health visitors, family members and members of the public. Within local authorities, children’s social care should act as the principal point of contact for welfare concerns relating to children.”
London SCB Child Protection Procedures state, “Professionals in all agencies have a responsibility to refer a child to LA children's social care when it is believed or suspected that the child:
Has suffered significant harm
Is likely to suffer significant harm
It is therefore everyone’s responsibility to contact Social Care if they have reason to believe that a child may be suffering (or likely to suffer) ‘significant harm’. It is the responsibility of Social Care to take the lead in enquiries to establish whether or not significant harm is actually occurring or is likely.
‘Significant Harm’ is described on the next 2 slides.

14. Significant Harm
‘harm’ means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another;
‘development’ means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development;
‘health’ means physical or mental health; and
‘ill-treatment’ includes sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.
(Source: Children Act 1989 as amended by the Adoption and
Children Act 2002)
Notes for Trainers
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 added the phrase “including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another”.
Significant Harm therefore also includes, for example, the emotional harm caused by living in environments where domestic violence occurs.
We should also be aware of the increased risk of physical harm to children living in homes where domestic violence is present.

15. Significant Harm
Where the question of whether harm suffered by a child is significant turns on the child’s health or development, his health or development shall be compared with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child.
(Source: Children Act 1989)
Notes for Trainers

16. Significant Harm
There are no absolute criteria on which to rely when judging what constitutes significant harm. Consideration of the severity of ill-treatment may include the degree and the extent of physical harm, the duration and frequency of abuse and neglect, the extent of premeditation, and the presence or degree of threat, coercion, sadism and bizarre or unusual elements. Each of these elements has been associated with more severe effects on the child, and/or relatively greater difficulty in helping the child overcome the adverse impact of the maltreatment. Sometimes, a single traumatic event may constitute significant harm.
Notes for Trainers
Harm could be significant because the abuse is very serious. It could also be significant because it is over a long period of time, or frequently repeated.
So even small acts of neglect over time can have a significant impact on child’s development which can be harmful.

17. Significant Harm
More often, significant harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which interrupt, change or damage the child’s physical and psychological development. Some children live in family and social circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is the corrosiveness of long-term emotional, physical or sexual abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting significant harm. In each case, it is necessary to consider any maltreatment alongside the family’s strengths and supports.
Notes for Trainers

18. Vulnerability Children who may be more vulnerable to being harmed
babies and younger children
disabled children
children who are isolated
children who are already thought of as a problem (e.g. children in care; children in secure accommodation, children with emotional/behavioural difficulties)
Notes for Trainers
Vulnerability of babies and children with disabilities is explored further on the next two slides.

19. Vulnerability
The under-ones are particularly vulnerable to abuse (although it should be remembered that abuse can happen at any age).
The homicide rate for under-ones is nearly five times greater than the average.
Babies under one have the highest rate of child protection plans.
Notes for Trainers

20. Vulnerability
Over two thirds (68%) of children killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales are aged under five years.
Infants aged under one year are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any other single year age group in England and Wales.
Source: NSPCC, 2014
42% of children who are the subject of a child protection plan are under 4 years old.
Source: Department for Education, 2013
Notes for Trainers

21. Vulnerability Disabled children are:
3.8 time more likely to be neglected;
3.8 more likely to be physically abused;
3.1 times more likely to be emotionally abused.
Notes for Trainers
(Source: Safeguarding disabled children-Practice guidance - DCSF 2009)

22. Vulnerability Professionals must take special care to help safeguard
and promote the welfare of children and young people
who may be living in particularly stressful
circumstances. These include families:
living in poverty;
where there is domestic violence;
where a parent has a mental illness;
where a parent is misusing drugs or alcohol;
where a parent has a learning disability;
that face racism and other forms of social isolation;
living in areas with a lot of crime, poor housing and high unemployment.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015)
Notes for Trainers
Children can be vulnerable due to their home circumstances. 22

23. Legislation , Guidance, Procedure
Children Act 1989 (amended 2004)
Working Together 2015
What to do if you are Worried…2015
London Child Protection Procedures 2017 (online: )
These docs represent the main legislation and Government guidance as well as London-wide procedures
These are the basics but there are other documents that can give you support

24. Legislation, Guidance, Procedure
Notes for Trainers
The slide shows part of a flowchart from ‘What to do if …..”
It highlights a basic responsibility of all staff and volunteers, i.e. to know when they should be worried about a child and know who in their organisation they must discuss their concerns with.
An important aspect of basic practice is that workers must always discuss a concern about the welfare of child with the relevant person.

25. Legislation, Guidance, Procedure
ALWAYS
Notes for Trainers
A reminder that any concern about a child must be discussed with the relevant person within the organisation.
Take this opportunity to mention that, if there is any uncertainty or disagreement about required action during such discussions, Social Care should be contacted for advice.

26. Concerns about other people who work with children and young people
Anybody can raise a concern about someone who works with children (whether in a setting or outside – in real life, whether paid or voluntary)
Where a child may have been harmed, or a crime committed, or someone is behaving in such a way as to suggest they should not be working with children – this becomes a safeguarding concern.
Where there is a concern about the children of someone who works with children – this becomes a safeguarding concern

27. Raising concerns about other adults
If you have concerns about another adult in your setting, what do you do ?
If you have a concern about someone outside of work, what do you do?

28. Concerns about other adults in the setting
If you have a concern about any other adult in your setting you must refer these to your Designated Lead for Safeguarding and/or your Manager.
They will take appropriate action e.g. referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer.
Full procedures for allegations against staff must be in your policy/procedure document.

29. Recognising Signs and Symptoms
NEGLECT
PHYSICAL ABUSE
SEXUAL ABUSE
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
A form 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 others (e.g. via the internet). They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children. .
Notes for Trainers
In deciding whether or not a child protection concern exists, consider the issue of ‘significant harm’ discussed earlier and also consider the definitions of abuse as defined on the following.
Remember, a referral to Social Care should be made if there are indications that a child may be suffering significant harm or that significant harm may be likely.

30. Recognising Abuse Physical Abuse
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015)
Notes for Trainers

31. Recognising Abuse Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015)
Notes for Trainers

32. Recognising Abuse Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical
and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious
impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may
occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse.
Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing
to:
provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or
ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.
It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s
basic emotional needs.
(Source: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015)
Notes for Trainers
From time to time, parents will fail to live up to the exacting standards of perfect parenthood. So:
note some key words in this definition. Neglect is a persistent failure to meet a child’s basic needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
However, some apparent ‘one-off’ incidents should also be referred for assessment, e.g. an incident leading to a serious injury to a child or a ‘home alone’ incident.

33. Recognising Abuse Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.
cont. ….
Notes for Trainers
Again there are some key words in the definition. In terms of the behaviour of the adult, this is referred to as being persistent emotional maltreatment. In terms of the impact on the child, this is described as severe and persistent adverse effects.
Continued on next slide.

34. Recognising Abuse Emotional Abuse (cont.)
It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.
(Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015)
Notes for Trainers
It is accepted that physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect have an emotional impact on the victim. The abuse referred to in this slide is a ‘stand alone’ form of emotional harm involving parental coldness, rejection or hostility towards the child or the impact of living in a household where verbal and physical violence is a feature.
Research informs us that children growing up in households that are ‘low in warmth and high in criticism’ can be emotionally damaged as a result.

35. Recognising Abuse Exercise: What are the signs and symptoms of:
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Neglect
LIST 3/5 etc. under each category. Think about overt (obvious) signs and covert (more subtle) ones.
Notes for Trainers
Divide group into 4 small groups . Each has sheet of flipchart paper. Move groups round in rotation so that each group has a chance to list each area.
for discussion with subsequent feedback to the whole group to complete the task.

36. Being aware Take time to read local C.P. procedures and guidelines.
Try to be available to be spoken to. The child may not be ready when you are.
Take any disclosure seriously, even if you cannot see any injury which would support the story.
Keep an open mind about what you are told.

37. Have you read your policy?
In your establishment, the person you should talk to is:
or, in their absence:
(NB. Your policy should follow the London Child Protection Procedures)
This information should be given to new workers at induction and should also be displayed publicly in settings so that anybody – visitor, parent etc – knows who to go to if they have a concern.

38. Responding Questions should be:
Necessary – the purpose of questions at this stage is to establish whether or not there is a concern, not to interrogate the child or conduct an investigation.
Non-leading – do not use questions that suggest an answer.
Open – avoid questions that invite only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

39. Responding Stay calm - don’t show shock or horror.
Be honest - don’t make promises that you can’t keep - Don’t promise confidentiality.
Be supportive - put arrangements in place for initial support.
Don’t delay action in response to a disclosure.
Don’t be afraid of being wrong, or be concerned about starting an investigation - you will be supported
Don’t pre-judge what you are told or make assumptions.
At the earliest opportunity make a written record.
Explain where the diagram comes from
Signpost to the document
Training copies of pages

40. Child protection needs
Thresholds – Continuum of Need
s47
s17
Early Help
Child protection needs
Complex support needs
Simple support needs
Everyday needs
Notes for Trainers
Everyday, universal needs met by universal services.
Simple support needs can be assessed and met via the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) if the family want this approach. This is a tool to assess the situation and plan for a multi-agency approach to needs
Referrals to Social Care as a ‘child in need’ can be made, if necessary, following an assessment under the CAF.
HOWEVER:
Whenever there are indications that a child may be suffering significant harm (or indications that there may be a likelihood of significant harm) a referral should be made immediately to Social Care, following London Safeguarding Children Board Child Protection Procedures.
Child Protection Referrals should be made by telephoning Social Care, with written confirmation being forwarded to them within 48 hours.
The following slides illustrate the issues further (ask for participants’ opinions at each stage of the following evolution.)

41. Effective support for children, young people and families in Bexley
Explain what the document is
Signpost to this for all information on safeguarding

42. Exercise:
Take a slip of paper
Read the scenario
Decide where this case fits on the continuum of need

43. How can professional curiosity support practitioners to safeguard children?
There are four key steps in the guidance to help practitioners identify and respond to possible abuse or neglect.

44. Be Alert Know the indicators of abuse or neglect
Be alert to the way in which the child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity and family / environmental factors come together.
Consider information from different sources; the child, case history, family members, friends, neighbours, other professionals.
Ascertain the child’s views, what is their lived experience?

45. Question Behaviours
Does the narrative fit with information from other sources? Adopt a position of respectful uncertainty and ask questions.
Are there any patterns or connections?
Consider all alternative hypotheses.
Hold the child in mind, is this good enough?

46. Ask for help
Discuss the case in supervision and be open to helpful challenge to provide further analysis.
Use a Signs of Safety approach to help you reflect: What is going well? What are you worried about?
Identify gaps and recognise what you don’t know.
Talk through your worries with the safeguarding lead in your agency or contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for advice:

47. Refer
Keep accurate records and provide additional dates and details where possible.
Make clear distinctions between fact and opinion, and clearly outline your worries or concerns.
Be comprehensive and do not presume information is already known.
Follow up your referral and report any new information.

48. Making a Referral
Always telephone the local authority children’s social care services without delay if you suspect that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering harm.
Parents should be told of your concern and that you intend to refer (unless informing parents would place the child at risk of harm) – see London Procedures – if in doubt, seek advice.
You do not need parental agreement to make a referral in respect of a child at risk of harm.
Notes for Trainers
First of three slides giving advice about making a referral.

49. Referral to Children’s Social Care
All urgent referrals should be initiated by phone/fax and followed up in writing within 48 hours, by completion of as much of this form as possible.
This form can be found on the Bexley Website along with the relevant guidance here:
Uses the same assessment triangle framework as CAF
Show form as demonstration only. Stress to access up to date form via Bexley Website
Will be single form in Bexley soon
Follow guidelines on the form and be guided by social worker.
Your setting should have easy access to the form – hard copy or electronic.

50. Bexley “Front Door” & MASH
The “Front Door” in Bexley is a single point of contact for all concerns about children. When a referral is received (or a concern raised by telephone etc.) the information is filtered through several professionals (Police, Education, Health, Social Care etc.) who all sit together in the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub – which has confidential access to all databases dealing with children, families and related agencies etc.

51. Having gathered any additional information from the MASH, the concern can be passed to the right team, or escalated to be more urgent if necessary
More information on all of this is available on the Bexley Council Website

52. Assessment

53. Signs of Safety
‘Signs of Safety’ provides a framework for us to do this together, by considering seven domains in any assessment:
What is the harm (past and present) that we are worried about in respect of a child?
What are we worried is going to happen to the child in the future if nothing changes?
What are the complicating factors in this family?
What are their strengths and positive attributes?
Is there any existing safety or protection?
What needs to happen to keep the child safe now?
What does the family want to happen?

54. Early Help
After assessment, where the needs of the family do not meet the thresholds for referral to Children’s Social Care you should consider what other help you can provide or signpost to.
Children’s Centre – parenting support, additional services, family law etc
Agency referrals – additional support for children
Family Wellbeing Service

55. Family Wellbeing Service
The service works with children and their families where  -
There is known domestic violence
Parental or carer mental ill health
Parental substance misuse
A child is at risk of or has already been excluded from school

56. offer a range of help together with a number of our partners
offer a range of help together with a number of our partners. Help from local youth service agencies, Bexley Women's Aid, Bexley Moorings, local health agencies, MIND and other agencies can be accessed through the service.
are also able to work in partnership with local schools to consider the needs of children who are at risk of exclusion or have been excluded.

57. The Family Wellbeing Service is a voluntary offer of help and you will need to obtain parent’s consent to access the program.
Further information can be found on the Bexley Website here

58. PREVENT DUTY
All Childcare Providers have 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”.

59. This means that they must
be alert for signs and symptoms of young people and/or their families at risk of Radicalisation.
Refer to the relevant authority if necessary.
More information can be found here:
General Awareness e-learning around PREVENT

60. Any Questions? Further Training – according to your job role:
You should keep yourself up to date
Managers and Designated Persons for Safeguarding should have higher level training
Training about specialist subjects – e.g. neglect, working with disabled children etc.
Safeguarding Champion

61. Evaluations
Certificates