Safeguarding Children:
Basic Awareness
Jill Jinks
Education Welfare Service
Key Aims
 Safeguarding
- Protecting children from abuse and neglect
- Preventing impairment of health and
development
 Promoting Children’s Welfare
- Helping them achieve their potential
- Ensuring they grow up safe and adequately
cared for
“The support and protection of children
cannot be achieved by a single agency........
Every service has to play its part. All staff
must have placed upon them the clear
expectation that their primary
responsibility is to the child and his/or her
family
(Lord Laming: Victoria Climbie Inquiry)
Victoria was known to
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3 housing departments
4 social services departments
2 GPs, 2 hospitals
An NSPCC-run family centre
2 police child protection teams
A childminder
Faith-based organisations
Climbie inquiry messages:
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Accountability needs to be clear
Information must be recorded
Communication is crucial
Staff need regular training
Responsibility to protect children from
significant harm is the duty of all
Every Child Matters
- Five outcomes for children
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Stay safe
Be healthy
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well-being
Child Protection in Education
putting it all in context
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The Children’s Act 1989
Victoria Climbie Inquiry/Laming Report
Lauren Wright
Every Child Matters
The Children’s Act 2004
Education Act 2002: Section 175
Baby Peter
Baby P
What should be in place in School
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A designated person for Safeguarding
A copy of LSCB guidelines
An up to date school Safeguarding Policy
Well known procedures for handling concerns
of abuse of pupils
 Support for staff
 A listening and supportive environment
 Regular Safeguarding training for staff
Every Child Matters
 Schools provide the key to early
identification, intervention and prevention
 School staff have more knowledge of the
child/family than most other professionals
 School staff are in a position to notice
behaviour which may indicate abuse or
inadequate care
Common Assessment Framework
 Helps build up a whole picture of child’s
needs
 Supports early intervention
 Improves multi-agency working and use
of common language
 Improves evidence based referrals
Assessment Framework Triangle
DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
Health
Education
Emotional and
Behavioral
development
Identity
Family and
social
relationships
Social
presentation
Self-care skills
PARENTING CAPACITY
CHILD
Safeguarding
and
Promoting
Welfare
FAMILY AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Family history and functioning
Wider family
Housing
Employment
Income
Family’s social integration
Community resources
Basic care
Ensuring
safety
Emotional
warmth
Stimulation
Guidance and
boundaries
Stability
Of 11 million children in England.....
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235,000 seen as Children in Need
200,000 live with Domestic Abuse
60.000 are Looked After
37,000 are subject of a Care Order
29,000 subject of a Child Protection Plan
 (Lord Laming: A Progress Report)
In any group of 50 children.......
 At least 7 are likely to go home to families
which they do not experience as loving
 As many as 10 may be a carer for
parents with health or social problems
 2-3 will be in fear of violent outbursts...
 2-3 will be returning to a life of regular
beating and denigration
Abuse and Neglect
“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
a stranger”
The Myth...
Who abuses children?
 Abusers can be any age
 Abusers can be male or female
 Abusers are from any community or
background
 Abusers can be parents of other children
 Abusers can work in a caring profession
 Children’s needs and any risk of harm to
them may change over time.
Abuse is a continuum, not an isolated
event. Think about:
 the context the intention the effect on the child …. is it significant?
Categories of Child Abuse
CHILD ABUSE is various acts of omission
or commission on the part of carers that
result in unmet needs of children
Physical Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Neglect
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 feigns the
symptoms of, or deliberately causes ill health to a child
whom they are looking after. This situation is commonly
described using terms such as factitious illness.
Emotional Abuse
‘Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment 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 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
... Emotional Abuse
 It may involve seeing or hearing the illtreatment of another. It may involve serious
bullying, 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.
Sexual Abuse
‘Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or
young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or
not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities
may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g.
rape or buggery) or non-penetrative acts. They may
include non-contact activities, such as involving children in
looking at, or in the production of, sexual online images,
watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to
behave in sexually inappropriate ways’
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. It
may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate
food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child from
physical harm or danger, or the failure to ensure access to
appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include
neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic
emotional needs’
Stress Factors and Vulnerability
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Social exclusion/isolation
Parents with drug and alcohol abuse
Mental Health of primary carer
Parents with Learning Disability
Domestic Abuse
Protective Factors
• Friendship is a key protective factor and
children with good social emotional skills
develop greater resilience.
• Parental interest in their child’s education
throughout life has an impact on attainment and
may be a more powerful force than family
background and parent education levels
• (Ending Child Poverty: HM 2008)
‘Any potentially abusive incident has to be
seen in context to assess the extent of
harm to a child and appropriate
intervention. Often, it is the interaction
between a number of factors which serve to
increase the likelihood or levels of
significant harm’
If a Child Tells….
Do:
Listen carefully
Take it seriously
Reassure the child that they are right to tell
Explain what will happen next
Record the child’s words, the time and date
Don’t:
Ask leading questions
Make promises you cannot keep
Jump to conclusions
Speculate or accuse anybody
How to respond to suspicions of Child Abuse
Behaviour, comment or report gives rise to concern
Remain calm, stop and listen, observe, record
Never promise to
keep
It a secret
Consult your local procedures:
Do not ask
leading
questions
Discuss with Child Protection Designated Teacher
No further CP action. Although may need to
act to ensures services provided
Seek support for yourself
Practitioner refers to
SCS and follows up in
writing
within 48 hours
Consent
Obtain consent wherever possible
Exceptions to obtaining consent are:
. If it might place the child at risk of harm
. If you are at risk
. Sexual Abuse
. Fabricated or induced illness
Sharing Information
 Disclose information necessary to
achieve CP objective
 Only share with the people who need to
know
 Be prepared to justify disclosure without
consent and document reasons
 If in doubt, seek advice
Sections 17 and 47 of the Children Act 1989.
Referrals to specialist children’s services are dealt with
under 2 different sections
Section 47 – Child in need of
Section 17 - Child in Need
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SCS has the duty to safeguard
and promote the welfare of
children
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protection
Child at risk of significant harm.
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SCS has the duty to investigate –
maybe joint with police.
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SCS intervention is OPTIONAL
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SCS intervention is compulsory,
as is strategy meeting.
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Information may be requested
from agencies, agencies may
refuse without parental consent.
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Information maybe requested
from agencies without parental
consent.
Child Protection Referral
ASSESSMENT / INVESTIGATION
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES
NO FURTHER
CHILD
ACTION
REMOVED
SERVICES
CASE
OFFERED
CONFERENCE
Remember!
 The safety and welfare of the child must
always come first
 The worst thing you can do if you are
concerned about a child is to do nothing
 You are important - and you can make a
difference
Remember………………
 Any child can be abused
 90% of children are not abused
………..but most child abuse is preventable
if the will to do so is there
Reference and Resources
 Working Together: www.dfes.gov.uk
 What to Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused
: www.dh.gov.uk
 London Child Protection Procedures www.alg.gov.uk
 Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in
Education http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk
 Every Child Matters
 www.everychildmatters.gov.uk