Shirley Walters
Safeguarding &
Intervention Officer
at RPS
What makes
Safeguarding
Children
‘Outstanding’
at RPS
Social care & RPS DP’s
In house systems
Admissions
Data
Early Intervention
Social care and RPS DP’S
At RPS we have 6 Designated Persons (DP’s):
Head Teacher
Deputy Head
Assistant Head
Inclusion Manager
Safeguarding & Intervention Officer
Children’s Centre Manager
All DP’s attend a weekly Safeguarding meeting
Safeguarding Meeting Agenda
•
Day-care and children’s Centre (includes all vulnerable families known in the reach area)
•
share information regarding all children on the schools safeguarding list including those on our
behaviour plan (9) and LAC
•
share information relating to parental involvement, arguments, disputes, complaints from parents
•
share information from meetings with social care when necessary
•
update DP’s regarding welfare requests from social care
•
Share concerns from staff regarding students
•
Collectively make decisions regarding the well being of RPS children
All DP’s have a ‘caseload’, they have responsibility for the following:
Role of the DP
Attend
all social
care
meetings
Monitor all relevant
information: pupil
progress, attendance
behaviour concerns &
welfare needs that
arise relating to the
child within the
school setting
Complete all
teacher/whole
school
assessments
to share at
social care
meetings
RPS
DP’s
Ensure that all
outcomes of
social care
meetings
relating to the
child within the
school setting
are adhered to
Share
information
regarding your
‘cases’ at
weekly
safeguarding
meetings
‘In house’ systems
Parental
care
‘Good
enough
parent?’
Clubs|:
breakfast,
after
school
clubs
Social &
Emotional
Aspects of
learning/
Mentoring
Child
Attainment
progress
Behaviour:
Playground/
classroom
Attendance
Admissions
How we manage ‘new admissions’
Prior history
Attendance
Social care
involvement
School report
Discussions with
previous school
Building positive
relationships
with
parent/carers
Pre
Admissions
interview
with parent
RPS
Transition
support
Closely
monitor
attendance
DATA
Attendance
Attainment
progress
Pupil
progress
Behaviour
DATA
Document all
meetings and file
in the appropriate
secured area
Student
welfare
Ofsted case
studies,
reports, 3
year trends
Early Intervention
Attendance
Attendance data is vital to identify trends early on, noting causes for concern, early
onset of possible family crisis. The role at RPS is not seen as an administration duty, it
is the absolute contrary – we see it is an ‘open book’ to the life of the student. We
mirror the EWO system of referrals within the school setting, if this doesn't not work
refer to the Early Help EWO.
Children's wellbeing/welfare in the home
We have tried to develop our in-house systems to ensure communication is robust.
‘All ‘staff having eyes, ears opens to what they see & hear.
We have created easy systems to enable staff to share this information on a daily
basis to the schools DP’s
Home - school partnership (Tiered approach)
• class teacher to parent (informal)
• additional member of staff included to raise increased awareness and concern
from the school (informal)
• formal meeting
• referral to outside agency
Document all meetings informal and formal
Early Intervention
Supporting the social and emotional needs of the child
RSP has a consistent approach, we are sensitive when dealing with sometimes
difficult conversations and put aside our own discomfort of approaching welfare
concerns, all staff are aware of this approach
i.e. if the child has an unpleasant odour – it is our duty to let the parent know
if a child's clothes are consistently dirty - it is our duty to let the parent know
if it is noted that there is no change in the areas of concern - it is our duty to let the
parent know and make the necessary referrals in the first instance to the Early Help
Team
CP, CIN plans
At RPS we insure that all staff that need to know…actually are informed
Class Teacher, support staff, Learning mentor, does the child know who ‘knows’ about
their situation?, at RPS we have a consistent approach with the child and their parents
with a foundation of being open, honest and professional, the focus at all times needs
to be ‘what is best for the child?’
Early Intervention
Good enough parent?
Model the social care system ‘in house’, firm and fair approach, it
does ruffle feathers but in the long run it’s the fairest approach –
we believe we are not empowering our parents to make effective
change by ‘holding’ and containing their ‘crisis’ within the schools
four walls, it has to be an approach of
Question; is this child at significant risk of harm emotionally,
physically, sexually?
Question; are we seeing ‘good enough’ parenting?
Question: what would I want for my own child?
Ofsted
What did they want to see?
•
Well documented visual proof of our safeguarding systems
•
Staff members that not only were confident to speak at length about
their roles but who were also confident to speak broadly about their
co-workers roles with a clear understanding of how they are linked
together
•
Proof of progress in the form of data, understanding of trends,
strengths and areas for improvement with a plan of what needs to be
done and how it will be achieved
•
Understanding of our children and their families’ and their individual
barriers to their learning