1. www.hertsdirect.org C 2. Interim Safeguarding Children Training School Designated Senior Person www.hertsdirect.org C 3. Aims & Learning Outcomes • Understand the safeguarding agenda for schools and where child protection fits into it • Define the different categories of child abuse • Recognise your role in safeguarding children • Explain how you should respond to child welfare concerns • Demonstrate knowledge of safe working practice for school staff www.hertsdirect.org 4. Safeguarding Protection from maltreatment Preventing impairment to health and development Ensuring that children are safe Take action so children have the best outcomes Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) www.hertsdirect.org 5. C Five Key Outcomes for Wellbeing • Be healthy • Stay safe • Enjoy and achieve • Make a positive contribution • Achieve economic well-being Children Act 2004 www.hertsdirect.org 6. © Meeting the Needs of Children and Families in Hertfordshire www.hertsdirect.org 7. Vulnerable Children E C The following groups of children can be marginalised and face social exclusion therefore they may be more vulnerable to abuse. • • • • • Disabled children Minority ethnic children Children in public care system Asylum seeker children Children of parents with additional needs e.g. mental health, substance misuse, learning disability This may be because adults make assumptions, operate within stereotypes, or because of barriers to disclosure e.g. language, culture and power imbalances. www.hertsdirect.org 8. C Safeguarding Framework National legislation and statutory guidance Non-statutory guidance Legal Duty • Section 175/157 Education Act 2002 •Guidance for Safer Working Practice for Adults who work with Children and Young People in Education Settings (2009) Professional Duty • Working Together to Safeguard Children (DFE 2013) • Keeping Children Safe in Education (DfE) April 2014 • EYFS Statutory Framework 2012 (Early Years Settings) • Teachers’ Standards (DfE 2012) www.hertsdirect.org Local procedures •Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Inter-agency Child Protection and Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual http://www.hertssafeguarding.org.uk/ C 9. Serious Case Reviews Death Serious Case Review Abuse and Neglect Serious harm and concern about how professionals have worked together www.hertsdirect.org Learn lessons to improve individual and collective work to safeguard children C 10. Key Messages Listening to Children and Families • Focus on the child • Parental influence • The voice of the child - time to talk? • The impact of parental needs on the child Implications for practice • Appropriate identification of abuse and response • Follow policies and procedures • Accurate recording • Importance of history • Respectful challenge is an essential tool • Effective multi-agency working www.hertsdirect.org 11. C Abuse and Neglect Abuse and neglect are forms 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 a stranger for example, via the internet. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children. Working Together to Safeguard Children DCSF March 2010 www.hertsdirect.org E 12. Definitions of Abuse and Neglect • What is meant by the category of abuse you have been assigned? • What would a person need to do to cause this type of abuse? • What actions would you consider to be abusive (specific to the category you are looking at)? www.hertsdirect.org C 13. 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. www.hertsdirect.org 14. C 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. www.hertsdirect.org 15. C Emotional Abuse 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 cyber 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. www.hertsdirect.org C 16. 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. www.hertsdirect.org C 17. Neglect 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. www.hertsdirect.org C 18. 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, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). www.hertsdirect.org 19. Sexual Grooming An abuser: • Selects vulnerable children and families • Builds up trust with victims • Makes a child feel special or favourite • Creates secrecy • Alienates children from peers and family members • Violates boundaries • Uses threats • Employs the use of the internet and mobile phones • Grooms adults (across all categories of abuse) www.hertsdirect.org C E 20. Indicators of Abuse Exercise What indicators might you identify? • Indicators in the child e.g. behaviour, physical presentation, emotional presentation etc • Indicators in the parent e.g. response towards the child, parents own needs etc • Indicators in the family/environment e.g. sources of stress, family history etc www.hertsdirect.org C 21. Indicators of Physical Abuse In the child: • Bruises – shape, grouping, site, repeat or multiple • Bite marks – site and size • Burns and Scalds – shape, definition, size, depth, scars • Fractures- delay in seeking medical attention, old fractures, • Injuries not typical of accidental injury • Fabricated or induced illness www.hertsdirect.org • Improbable or conflicting explanations for injuries • Repeated or multiple in juries • Admission of punishment which appears excessive • Fear of parents being contacted and fear of returning home • Withdrawal from physical contact • Aggression towards others • Frequently absent from school C 22. Indicators of Physical Abuse In the parent: • Parent with injuries • Fear of medical help / parents not seeking medical help • Evasive or aggressive towards child or others • Refusal to discuss injuries • Delay in seeking treatment • Explanation inconsistent with injury • Over chastisement of child www.hertsdirect.org In the family/environment: • Marginalised or isolated by the community. • History of mental health, alcohol or drug misuse or domestic violence. • History of unexplained death, illness or multiple surgery in parents and/or siblings of the family • Past history in the family of childhood abuse, self harm, somatising disorder or false allegations of physical or sexual assault 23. C Indicators of Emotional Abuse In the child: • Over-reaction to mistakes • Abnormal or indiscriminate attachment • Inappropriate emotional responses • Self harm • Extremes of passivity or aggression • Drug/solvent abuse www.hertsdirect.org • • • • Chronic running away Compulsive stealing Low self-esteem Social isolation – withdrawn, a ‘loner’ • Desperate attention-seeking behaviour • Depression 24. Indicators of Emotional Abuse In the parent: In the family/environment: • Observed to be aggressive towards child or others • Marginalised or isolated by the community. • Previous domestic violence • History of mental health, alcohol or drug misuse or domestic violence. • Intensely involved with their children, never allowing anyone else to undertake their child's care. • History of abuse or mental health problems • Mental health, drug or alcohol difficulties • Cold and unresponsive to the child’s emotional needs • Overly critical of the child • Wider parenting difficulties www.hertsdirect.org • History of unexplained death, illness or multiple surgery in parents and/or siblings of the family • Past history in the carer of childhood abuse, self harm, somatising disorder or false allegations of physical or sexual assault C 25. Indicators of Neglect In the child: • Abnormal voracious appetite at school or nursery • Constant tiredness • Dirty and unkempt condition • Disturbed peer relationships • Inadequately clothed • Self-harming behaviour • Dry sparse hair • Frequent lateness or nonattendance at school • Untreated medical problems • Inadequate social skills and poor socialisation • Failure to thrive - under weight, small stature www.hertsdirect.org • Low self-esteem C C 26. Indicators of Neglect In the parents: In the family/environment: • Failure to meet the child’s basic essential needs including health needs • Marginalised or isolated by the community. • Leaving a child alone • Failure to provide adequate caretakers • Keeping an unhygienic dangerous or hazardous home environment • Unkempt presentation • Unable to meet child’s emotional needs • Mental health, alcohol or drug difficulties www.hertsdirect.org • History of mental health, alcohol or drug misuse or domestic violence. • History of unexplained death, illness or multiple surgery in parents and/or siblings of the family • Past history in the family of childhood abuse, self harm, somatising disorder or false allegations of physical or sexual assault 27. C Indicators of Sexual Abuse In the child: • Sexual knowledge or behaviour inappropriate to age/stage of development, or that is unusually explicit • Inexplicable changes in behaviour, such as becoming aggressive or withdrawn • Reluctant to undress for PE • Self-harm - eating disorders, self mutilation and suicide attempts • Running away from home • Sexually exploited or indiscriminate choice of sexual partners www.hertsdirect.org • Poor self-image, self-harm, selfhatred • Pregnancy • Poor attention / concentration (world of their own) • Sudden changes in school work habits, become truant • Withdrawal, isolation or excessive worrying • Inappropriate sexualised conduct • Pain, bleeding, bruising or itching in genital and /or anal area 28. C Indicators of Sexual Abuse In the parent: • History of sexual abuse • Excessively interested in the child. • Parent displays inappropriate behaviour towards the child or other children • Conviction for sexual offences www.hertsdirect.org In the family/environment: • Marginalised or isolated by the community. • History of mental health, alcohol or drug misuse or domestic violence. • History of unexplained death, illness or multiple surgery in parents and/or siblings of the family • Past history in the carer of childhood abuse, self harm, somatising disorder or false allegations of physical or sexual assault • Grooming behaviour 29. © Safeguarding Role of School Staff Recognise Respond Investigate x Attempt to resolve x www.hertsdirect.org 30. C Recognise • Listed as an indicator of abuse? • Out of character for the child? • Outside the ‘normal’ range of behaviours, responses etc? • Suggests a risk of harm? www.hertsdirect.org 31. C Responding: Golden rules DO DO NOT • Take the child seriously • Promise confidentiality • Tell the child they have done the right thing by telling you • Investigate • Clarify if necessary • Make an accurate record as soon as possible • Inform the DSP without delay www.hertsdirect.org • Ask leading questions • Repeatedly question/ask the child to repeat the disclosure over and over C 32. Investigate It is not the role of adults in school to investigate. Once an adult has clarified that a concern is present, cease questioning the child and pass the information on to the DSP without delay. www.hertsdirect.org C 33. Attempt to Resolve It is not the role of adults in school to resolve safeguarding concerns. Adults must not think ‘I can protect this child better on my own.’ Adults working with a child often know something which no one else knows – so share anything you know with your DSP, even if you’re thinking ‘Someone else must have told them this.’ www.hertsdirect.org 34. Talking to Children about Safeguarding Concerns • When should adults talk to children? • What is the purpose? • What should adults say/not say? • When should adults stop talking? www.hertsdirect.org C C 35. Recording • Child’s name and date of birth • Date and time of the concern • Factual account of what happened, where and who was present, using the child’s own words staff to look at • Any opinion / interpretation needs to be explained • Your response • Printed name and signature of person making the record • Job title of person making the record • Date and time of the record www.hertsdirect.org 36. C Safer Working Practice (SWP) All staff should clearly understand the need to maintain appropriate professional boundaries in their dealings with young people. An ongoing culture of vigilance should be maintained within schools so that poor or unsafe practice is identified at the earliest opportunity. www.hertsdirect.org 37. SWP – key documentation in schools • Safeguarding policies (child protection, safer recruitment, anti bullying, whistle blowing, physical intervention) • Code of conduct • Staff handbook Seek guidance from the senior leadership team. www.hertsdirect.org C 38. Areas of Staff Vulnerability Can I have a relationship with a sixth former? A pupil has got a crush on me. What should I do? Can I give a distressed child a hug? Can I remove a disruptive pupil from my classroom? One of my pupils has asked to be my friend on Facebook. Is that OK? Is it acceptable to give a child a gift? I’m really stressed and worried that I’ll ‘lose it’ with a pupil. What can I do? Can I give a parent my home phone number? Can I compliment a child on how they look? Surely it’s not safe to teach pupils 1:1? Can I assist with toileting? www.hertsdirect.org C E 39. C Abuse of Position of Trust The Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides that it is an offence for a person aged 18 or over intentionally to behave in certain sexual ways in relation to a child aged under 18, where the adult is in a position of trust in respect of the child. www.hertsdirect.org 40. C Further Information Guidance for Safer Working Practice for Adults who work with Children and Young People in Education Settings (DCSF March 2009) Available on the Hertfordshire Grid for Learning www.hertsdirect.org 41. Support for Staff • Safeguarding children is an emotive subject. • Receiving a disclosure can be distressing. • It is important to seek support from your DSP. www.teachersupport.info – 0800 0562 561 www.hertsdirect.org C 42. Revisiting Aims & Learning Outcomes • Understand the safeguarding agenda for schools and where child protection fits into it • Define the different categories of child abuse • Recognise your role in safeguarding children • Explain how you should respond to child welfare concerns • Demonstrate knowledge of safe working practice for school staff www.hertsdirect.org C