Safeguarding and Child Protection in Education Governor briefing

Safeguarding and Child Protection in Education (Governor briefing) Ken Palmer Proactive Safeguarding 07899938995 ken. palmer@proactivesafeguarding. co. uk

Keeping Children Safe in Education Statutory Guidance 2018

Keeping Children Safe in Education • Increased in length from 76 pages to 110 pages • Updated NCTL to Teaching Regulation Agency • Explains the difference between MUST (legal) and SHOULD (follow unless good reason not to)

Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2018 ) Statutory Guidance from the Df. E issued under section 175 Education Act 2002 “Requires the governing bodies of maintained schools and further education institutions and local authorities to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children”.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2018) This document contains information on what schools and colleges should do and sets out the legal duties with which schools and colleges must comply in order to keep children safe.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2018) • Not ‘read and understand’ instead it says that “Schools should ensure that mechanisms are in place to assist staff to understand discharge their role and responsibility”. • Discuss what mechanisms are in place in your school? • Recognise, Respond, Refer

School’s Safeguarding Policy • Individual schools and colleges having an effective child protection policy. • Updated annually (minimum) • Publicly available (on website or otherwise) • Should reflect local safeguarding circumstances

More emphasis on understanding the issues for: • Care Leavers • Previously Looked after Children • Children with SEN and Disabilities • Peer on Peer Abuse

Children with SEN or Disability Key changes for the new document include: • Policy should reflect additional safeguarding challenges for children with SEN and Disabilities including: • ensuring that safeguarding and welfare concerns are taken into account when restraint (use of reasonable force) is used on children with SEND • ‘Reasonable’ means ‘no more force than is needed’ • Draw up individual plans for vulnerable children to reduce the use of restraint. • Awareness that behaviour, mood and injury may relate to possible abuse and not just their SEN or Disability • Consider additional pastoral support for children with SEN or Disability

Children with SEN & Disabilities • Look beyond their SEN or Disability • More likely to be isolated • More likely to be bullied • Less likely to communicate

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 Key changes for the new document include: • ensuring that schools have more than one emergency contact number for pupils • Schools need a clear policy on the use of mobile technology in schools. • Many children have access to unlimited and unrestricted to the internet via 3 G/4 G • clarifying that when 'homestays' are arranged by schools in the UK, that parents (and others over 18) hosting children are subject to an enhanced DBS and a barred list check (and that the DBS will process these without charge). • schools should have their own child protection policy that reflects local circumstances

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 Key changes for the new document include: • clarifying that MATs do not need to maintain separate Single Central Records for each school • ensuring that the role of deputy DSL is included in their job description • ensuring that in sole proprietor owned schools, the DSL can perform their duties with 'sufficient independence' from the proprietor and their family by, for example, writing into the job description that they may need to call the LADO for advice; and that such schools should consider engaging external safeguarding consultants to support them; and • adding in new information about county lines, honour-based violence, and sexual violence and sexual harassment between children

Contextual Safeguarding (Safeguarding in the big wide world) • Safeguarding incidents outside the school which may have an impact on children and young people. • Assessments should include wider picture. More information : Contextual Safeguarding Network

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 Safer Recruitment: • Schools must risk assess volunteers to decide whether to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate for any volunteer not engaging in regulated activity. Risk assessments must be recorded. • Check for s 128 prohibitions: Governors/Trustees, Headteachers, Senior Leadership Team and Departmental Heads. This will appear om enhanced DBS certificates. • Alternative providers schools should obtain written confirmation that the AP has completed all relevant checks on its staff. (plus safeguarding)

Disqualification by Association Sept, 2018 Amended Sept 2018 • Schools must no longer ask about the cautions or convictions of someone living or working in their household. (It should be noted that other statutory guidance may be relevant where third party lives on the school premises, such as in boarding schools. ) • Disqualification by Association now only applies in domestic settings, not schools. • Ask relevant staff to self-declare that they are not Disqualified under the Childcare Act 2006. (A form is not necessary). (An Enhanced DBS Certificate will confirm this for new staff; for existing employees schools could consider using the DBS Update Service to supplement any employee self-declaration. )

Peer on Peer Abuse Child protection policy incudes: How the risk of peer on peer abuse will be minimized; How allegations are recorded and dealt with; How alleged victims and alleged perpetrators will be supported; That peer on peer abuse, abuse is abuse and should never be tolerated or passed off as “banter” or “part of growing up”. All peer on peer abuse will be taken seriously and recognize the different forms peer on peer abuse can take for example include girls/boys being sexually touched/assaulted or boys/girls being subject to initiation/hazing type violence.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) This forms Part 5 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (summary) • This is new guidance that has been heralded for a number of months, especially when managing situations where victims and alleged perpetrators are being placed in classrooms together. The document covers: • what sexual violence and sexual harassment is • what schools’ and colleges’ legal responsibilities are • creating a whole school or college approach to safeguarding and child protection; and how to respond to reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) Usefully, the document starts off with relevant definitions, to develop a shared understanding. Sexual Violence refers to criminal acts: rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault, as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Sexual harassment is described as 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature'. Importantly, the definition of consent is stated and will help pupils begin to understand it more clearly.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) • There is an emphasis in the guidance of seeing sexual violence and sexual harassment in the context of developing a wholeschool safeguarding culture, where sexual misconduct is seen as unacceptable, and not 'banter' or an inevitable part of growing up. • It should be recognised that these issues are likely to occur, and so schools should have procedures in place to deal with them. • Groups at particular risk include girls, students who identify as LGBT+, or are perceived by peers to be LGBT+, and pupils with SEND.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) • The guidance is clear that victims and alleged perpetrators can be kept apart in classrooms and other shared spaces, and that consideration should be given about travel to and from school. • The emphasis should be on ensuring that the victim can continue their normal routines. • Schools can consider the conduct of the alleged perpetrator as part of their behaviour policy on the 'balance of probabilities' and apply appropriate and proportional consequences.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) It is important that schools record incidents across the whole spectrum of sexual violence and sexual harassment, so that they can understand the scale of the problem in their own schools and make appropriate plans to reduce it. The guidance can be implemented straightway and further consultation is anticipated ready for September 2018.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in schools and colleges (Df. E, May 2018) In response to the document, schools will need to include the topic in training, develop the knowledge of DSLs, ensure that there are policies and procedures to cover sexual violence and sexual harassment, and understand how to risk assess such behaviours when they occur.

Induction Training Must now include: 1. The child protection policy; 2. The staff behaviour policy (sometimes called a code of conduct) 3. The behaviour policy 4. The safeguarding response to children who go missing from education 5. The role of the designated safeguarding lead.

Specific safeguarding issues Annex A KCSE 2018 Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2018

What school and college staff need to know (KCSE 2018) All staff should be aware of the early help process, and understand their role in it. This includes identifying emerging problems, liaising with the designated safeguarding lead, sharing information with other professionals to support early identification and assessment and, in some cases, acting as the lead professional in undertaking an early help assessment.

How safe are our children 2018 NSPCC Report Key messages • More support is needed for the victims of abuse We’ve seen a rise in the number of people coming forward about their experiences of abuse. The support must match this increased willingness to speak out. Victims of child abuse need more therapeutic support, and ageappropriate support at every stage of the criminal justice process. • We must not lose sight of neglect While child sexual exploitation is dominating the media, it’s important to remember that neglect remains the most common form of child abuse across the UK. We need to continue to gather evidence into what works in tackling neglect. • Early intervention is key We need to intervene early to address problems before they become more serious and entrenched. By intervening early we can protect children more effectively and save money.

How safe are our children 2018 NSPCC Report • Key findings • All 4 countries in the UK have seen the number of recorded sexual offences against children increase over the last year. • There’s been an increase in contacts to the NSPCC helpline and Child. Line about sexual abuse. • Neglect remains the most common form of child abuse in the UK. • The number of children dying as a result of homicide or assault remains in long term decline.

www. greenwichsafeguardingchildren. org. uk Thank you, any questions? Ken Palmer Independent Safeguarding Trainer Proactive Safeguarding 078999 38995 Ken. palmer@proactivesafeguarding. co. uk