1. Keeping children safe in education Child protection supervision skills 28th April

2. Professional Supervision
The 2003 Victoria Climbié Inquiry report stated that:-
“All staff working directly with children must be regularly supervised”
Working Together (2015) says:-
“Professionals should be given sufficient time, funding, supervision and support to fulfil their child welfare and safeguarding responsibilities effectively”

3. Supervision in schools
Keeping children safe in education:
The DSL should be given “the time, funding, training, resources and support to provide advice and support to other staff on child welfare and child protection matters” (para 37)
Ofsted ‘inspecting safeguarding’
"Staff and other adults receive regular supervision and support if they are working directly and regularly with children and learners whose safety and welfare are at risk." (p10)

4. Supervision in Child Protection work
“Supervision has management, support, educational and professional development functions - supervision needs to be both inquisitorial, to ensure that attention is given to the detail of work, and at the same time must deal with the highly emotional nature of the work”
Rushton and Nathan 1996
"Good supervision should provide for shared decision-making, an overview of cases, quality control, assessment of risk and accountability."
Eleni Ioannides, Association of Directors of Children Services

5. The importance of supervision
“One of the most striking features of Victoria’s case… was the sheer number of occasions when the most minor and basic intervention on the part of the staff concerned could have made a material difference to the eventual outcome. In some cases nothing more than a manager reading a file, or asking a straightforward question about whether standard practice had been followed, may have changed the course of these terrible events”
Lord Laming

6. Key functions of supervision
The key functions of supervision are:
management (ensuring competent and accountable performance/practice);
development (continuing professional development);
support (supportive /restorative function); and
engagement/mediation (engaging the individual with the organisation)
Adapted from Harries(1987) Richards & Payne (1990) and Butterworth and Faugier (1994)

7. Supporting safeguarding practice
Constant vigilance
Is this child centred / focused?
Reassess constantly – there may be new information, a change in circumstances or cumulative incidents
Check the basics – eg who lives in the house
Distinguish fact from parent / supervisee’s explanations or assumptions
Support to challenge colleagues in other organisations
Be alert to factors that may increase risk

8. Blocks and game-playing
Us against the world
Be nice to me because I am nice to you
Challenge is not for friends
So what do you know about it?
What you don’t know won’t hurt me
One good question deserves another
Remember that these may not be game playing but a genuine response to real adversity

9. Key to Good Supervision
Regular and scheduled: both parties need an opportunity to prepare for it.
Documented: there needs to be a clear audit trail.
Supportive: issues such as workload, stress, safety in dangerous situations and the emotional effect of difficult cases should be addressed.
Probing and challenging: cases should be discussed in detail to ensure all issues have been covered.
Non-adversarial: a blame culture will lead to defensive behaviour and the cover-up of omissions.
Skilled: line managers need to be fully trained in supervision skills

10. Recording supervision
Need to distinguish between:
Case material discussed in supervision – review pupil child protection files, evidence decision making, accountability, quality assurance, regular reviews
The “nuts & bolts” - progress, welfare, key information, frequency, focus, concerns; storage and accessibility
Supervisee’s own reflections – reflective practice, resilience, emotional impact