Safeguarding update Micho Moyo Head of Education Safeguarding

Safeguarding update Micho Moyo, Head of Education Safeguarding Razia Butt, Independent Adviser 28 January 2021

Plan for today’s session § By the end of the session we will have: • discussed the safeguarding challenges faced by professionals trying to keep children and young people safe during the pandemic in Birmingham • clarified current safeguarding arrangements and expectations of schools • explained the universal and traded offers from the Education Safeguarding team and how the team can be contacted • provided an opportunity for questions, feedback and sharing experiences

Impact of the pandemic in Birmingham § § § § Familial and contextual risks to children have notably increased Social support systems that children and families rely on are fractured Disruption to face education is increasing vulnerability Fewer opportunities for disclosures from children and from families Hidden harms are more hidden Young carers are facing enormous emotional and physical strain at this time Vital pastoral role of schools has been massively stretched Mental health and wellbeing of children, families and school communities have been affected § Safeguarding expectations of schools have been raised while other services have been realigned due to the pandemic § CASS/MASH are quieter than usual § Increased complaints are being received by Education Safeguarding from parents, partner organisations and external agencies

Impact of the pandemic in Birmingham § Schools and settings have been a lifeline in providing safe spaces, in brokerage of support for some of the most vulnerable children in the city § Schools in Birmingham have remained open to vulnerable children and to those of key workers and have remained in contact with children and families through online learning and extraordinary pastoral support § New partnerships and new ways of working have emerged § Schools are making use of systems to get support to children and their families – in December 2020 alone 218 schools made referrals to Early Help § 373 of the most vulnerable children have been supported through the joint responses group via their GP

Supporting vulnerable children in Lockdown 3

During the pandemic Education Safeguarding has… § continued direct support and consultation with schools § provided universal support to schools, revision of policies and daily updates § provided schools with specialist safeguarding support in response to complex concerns § delivered specialist webinars in response to issues arising § dealt with high profile complaints and media enquiries § analysed attendance returns to inform conversations with partners to agree joint responses to assess and mitigate risks § facilitated outreach from early help teams to support families where there are risks, reducing the likelihood of needs escalating and increasing demand on acute services.

Expectations of schools in the current lockdown § Schools should continue to • make use of safeguarding and multi-agency arrangements (which remain unchanged) • use threshold criteria Right Help Right Time • seek consent from parents • use the Right Help Right Time threshold guidance where consent has been withheld • maintain focus on those children at the edge of a threshold, particularly where the pandemic exacerbates the vulnerability • complete the Df. E attendance return which informs BCC’s discussions with Df. E • complete the BCC online form to notify where vulnerable children are not in school but schools feel they should be attending

BCC Online Form § The form is available at this link. § Schools are requested to complete the BCC vulnerable children form where vulnerable children have been offered a school place and are not attending § The completion of the form will enable BCC to share information with Birmingham Children’s Trust to ensure that services are wrapped around vulnerable children § This will also enable more focussed early help support for those children who are not open to the Trust but may still be more vulnerable due to their circumstances § We are grateful to the schools who have completed the form so far and would welcome the remaining schools completing the form so that we can baseline the city position § After you have returned the form, please email Education. Safeguarding@birmingham. gov. uk if there any changes in circumstances for vulnerable children, marking the email ‘VC update’ § Schools have a single point of contact through the locality hubs to access early help services

Early help locality hubs Area Voluntary sector local lead Contact number(s) Email address Edgbaston Katherine Hewitt 0121 456 7821 Early. Help. Edgbaston@gatewayfs. org Erdington Lisa Martinali 0121 748 8199 Erdington. Families@compass-support. org. uk Hall Green Caroline Woulhuter 07570 953519 (9: 30 am to 4: 30 pm) Hall. Green. Families@accordgroup. org. uk Hodge Hill Alice Bath 07976 199894 Early. Help-Hodgehill@family-action. org. uk Ladywood Maxine Reid 07764 977636 childrenandfamilies@bsettlement. org. uk Northfield Becky Debenham 07516 918 133 (Mon to Wed, 9 am to Northfield. Families@northfieldcommunity. org 4 pm) and 07951 346 327 (Thurs to Fri, 9 am to 4 pm) Perry Barr Kelly Bagnall 0121 752 1900 Perrybarr. EHnetwork@spurgeons. org Selly Oak Gordon Lee 0121 441 4556 and 07544 772064 Early. Help. Billesley@gmail. com Sutton Coldfield Kelly Bagnall 0121 752 1860 Sutton. EHnetwork@spurgeons. org Yardley 0121 289 4875 Early. Help. Yardley@barnardos. org. uk Adam Cooper

Home visits § New home visiting policy (‘Stronger and More Consistent Approach to Home Visiting during the Pandemic’) has been agreed by Birmingham Children’s Partnership, covering COVID compliance and safer working practices during the pandemic § Policy helps to identify the most appropriate agency to contact a family § Document has been shared in our daily update, will be added to the chat of this meeting and circulated with the recording § There’s no expectation on schools to carry out safeguarding home visits. However, each case should be considered on its circumstances in discussion with other practitioners involved to decide the best agency to make contact with the family.

Questions Feedback on current expectations

The Universal Offer from Education Safeguarding supports § Education officers in CASS/MASH § Advice and guidance to schools on a wide range of targeted safeguarding initiatives § Investigation of safeguarding concerns § Model policies for schools, available ohttps: //www. birmingham. gov. uk/schoolsafeguarding § Regular safeguarding updates § Handling external complaints against schools, mainly from Ofsted § Advice for schools on the implementation of the Prevent Duty § Accreditation for UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award § Delivery of the online S 175 self-assessment process § Processes to manage Position of Trust allegations

The Traded Offer from Education Safeguarding will support § Bespoke, intensive guidance for complex safeguarding concerns § Advice on the applied practice of Right Help, Right Time § Advice on and brokerage of appropriate reflective supervision for school leaders and DSLs § Regular specialist webinars on safeguarding topics § Queries around S 175 completion and improvement planning § Brokerage of accredited training on a range of specialist issues § An annual safeguarding conference § Specialist safeguarding support to schools with external complaints § Support with response to elected member enquiries § Context-specific safeguarding advice and consultancy

Why subscribe? § 30% reduction on last year § As a trusted partner of both BCT and the Birmingham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership BCC is the first to know of any changes in local context, policy and practice. § BCC has a key role in representing schools and settings at multi-agency meetings and fora in order to promote inter-agency work; BCC commissions Children’s Services through Birmingham Children’s Trust. § The team has a strong background in Social Work, Child Protection, Youth Work, Residential Child Care, Early Years, and Out of School Hours Provision. Number of students in your setting Cost of Package 1000+ £ 600 251 -999 £ 460 71 -250 £ 340 41 -70 £ 200 0 -40 £ 140

Accessing support from the Education Safeguarding Team www. birmingham. gov. uk/schoolsafeguarding Education. Safeguarding@birmingham. gov. uk