Parent Information and Resources
A child centred approach to safeguarding
This child centred approach is fundamental to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child.
A child centred approach means keeping the child in focus when making decisions about their lives and working in partnership with them and their families.
All practitioners should follow the principles of the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 - that state that the welfare of children is paramount and that they are best looked after within their families, with their parents playing a full part in their lives, unless compulsory intervention in family life is necessary.
Children may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse or exploitation from within their family and from individuals they come across in their day-to-day lives.
These threats can take a variety of different forms, including: sexual, physical and emotional abuse; neglect; domestic abuse, including controlling or coercive behaviour; exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups; trafficking; online abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.
Whatever the form of abuse or neglect, practitioners should put the needs of children first when determining what action to take.
Children have said that they need and this is what we need to provide:
- vigilance: to have adults notice when things are troubling them
- understanding and action: to understand what is happening; to be heard and understood; and to have that understanding acted upon
- stability: to be able to develop an ongoing stable relationship of trust with those helping them
- respect: to be treated with the expectation that they are competent rather than not
- information and engagement: to be informed about and involved in procedures, decisions, concerns and plans
- explanation: to be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions and reasons when their views have not met with a positive response
- support: to be provided with support in their own right as well as a member of their family
- advocacy: to be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views
- protection: to be protected against all forms of abuse and discrimination and the right to special protection and help if a refugee.
Spring Hill's Child Centred Approach
The teacher will decide on the priority of the need.
1) Safeguarding Incidents - Inform the DSL immediately
2) Behaviour that is causing severe disruption or may escalate to cause disruption to the learning of others - Immediate action may be needed from the staff in class or the pastoral team.
3) Emotional support for the pupil - This may require support from the staff in class or some support from the pastoral team. No immediate action required
The Hidden Chimp thermometer with the worry box is to be used to support a pupil to have a voice and promote a child centred approach.
Each child will use the Hidden Chimp Thermometer when starting the school day, after lunch and throughout the school day when needed.
When a child shows that they have a worry on the thermometer the pupil can complete a worry box slip. This can be placed in the worry box or given directly to the teacher. Good writers can complete the slip themselves and children who struggle will need support to orally tell their worry that can be recorded by an adult. This should help elevate some of the anxiety for the children and help the teacher decide how best to support them.
Online Safety The Four C's
Content
‘Content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content, for example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism’ (KCSIE 2021).
Contact
‘Contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; for example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes’ (KCSIE 2021)
Conduct
‘Conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm; for example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying’ (KCSIE 2021)
Commerce
‘Commerce – risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams’ (KCSIE 2021)
Criminal Exploitation of children and vulnerable adults
What is county lines exploitation?
County lines is a major, cross-cutting issue involving drugs, violence, gangs, safeguarding, criminal and sexual exploitation, modern slavery, and missing persons; and the response to tackle it involves the police, the National Crime Agency, a wide range of Government departments, local government agencies and VCS (voluntary and community sector) organisations. The UK Government defines county lines as:
County lines is a term used to describe gangs and organised criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas within the UK, using dedicated mobile phone lines or other form of “deal line”.
They are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence (including sexual violence), and weapons.
County lines activity and the associated violence, drug dealing, and exploitation has a devastating impact on young people, vulnerable adults and local communities.
Signs to look out for
A young person’s involvement in county lines activity often leaves signs. A person might exhibit some of these signs, either as a member or as an associate of a gang dealing drugs. Any sudden changes in a person’s lifestyle should be discussed with them. Some potential indicators of county lines involvement and exploitation are listed below, with those at the top of particular concern:
- persistently going missing from school or home and / or being found out-of-area;
- unexplained acquisition of money, clothes, or mobile phones
- excessive receipt of texts / phone calls and/or having multiple handsets
- relationships with controlling / older individuals or groups
- leaving home / care without explanation
- suspicion of physical assault / unexplained injuries
- parental concerns
- carrying weapons
- signifcant decline in school results / performance
- gang association or isolation from peers or social networks
- self-harm or signifcant changes in emotional well-being.
Sexual Harassment
When referring to sexual harassment we mean ‘unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that can occur online and offline and both inside and outside of school. When we reference sexual harassment, we do so in the context of child-on-child sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is likely to: violate a child’s dignity, and/or make them feel intimidated, degraded, or humiliated, and/or create a hostile, offensive, or sexualised environment. Sexual harassment can include:
- sexual comments, such as: telling sexual stories, making lewd comments, making sexual remarks about clothes and appearance and calling someone sexualised names;
- sexual “jokes” or taunting;
- physical behaviour, such as: deliberately brushing against someone, interfering with someone’s clothes (schools and colleges should be considering when any of this crosses a line into sexual violence - it is important to talk to and consider the experience of the victim) and displaying pictures, photos or drawings of a sexual nature; and • online sexual harassment. This may be standalone, or part of a wider pattern of sexual harassment and/or sexual violence. It may include: consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos19. As set out in UKCIS Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people (which provides detailed advice for schools and colleges) taking and sharing nude photographs of
- U18s is a criminal offence; o sharing of unwanted explicit content; o upskirting (is a criminal offence20); o sexualised online bullying; o unwanted sexual comments and messages, including, on social media; o sexual exploitation; coercion and threats. It is important that schools and colleges consider sexual harassment in broad terms. Sexual harassment (as set out above) creates a culture that, if not challenged, can normalise inappropriate behaviours and provide an environment that may lead to sexual violence
- Safeguarding and child protection should be a recurrent theme running through policies and procedures. Spring Hill’s approach to sexual violence and sexual harassment is reflected and be part of the broader approach to safeguarding. Ultimately, all systems, processes and policies should operate with the best interests of the child at their heart.
UPDATE FROM THE PREVENT TEAM
Since the introduction of the Prevent Delivery Officer role in September 2019, we have worked in partnership with the Lancashire Counter Terrorism Police and Local Authorities across Lancashire to support Prevent delivery. We have provided training sessions to raise awareness and resilience amongst staff, students, and parents in education settings, who all have a duty to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.
Tim Horobin (East - Blackburn, Burnley, Rossendale, Pendle & Ribble Valley)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01254 585260 Mobile: 07977 345 301
In 2011 the Government reviewed CONTEST and the Prevent Strategy in particular. The focus changed and the objectives were revised as follows:
respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat from those who promote it
prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support
work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address
The aim of ‘Prevent’ is to stop people becoming or supporting terrorists and to do this by challenging ideologies, protecting vulnerable individuals and supporting institutions, such as schools. It is part of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy known as CONTEST.
Q: WHAT IS ‘EXTREMISM’ ?
The Government has defined extremism in the Prevent strategy as: “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas”.
Q: WHAT IS ‘CHANNEL’ ?
Channel is a programme which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. The aims of Channel are to support and protect people who may be susceptible to radicalisation and ensure they have the resilience to resist all forms of violent extremism. Channel is not about prosecuting or stigmatising individuals who have been referred.
Q: WHAT IS ‘WRAP’ ?
WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent) is a (free of charge) specialist workshop designed by the Home Office and delivered by approved facilitators. The workshop is an introduction to the Prevent strategy and an individual’s role in safeguarding vulnerable people. It provides participants with:
> An understanding of the Prevent strategy and their role within it;
> The ability to use existing expertise and professional judgment to recognise potentially vulnerable individuals who may need support
> Knowledge of when, how and where to refer concerns about vulnerable individuals
CONTACT INFORMATION...
⇒ Local (Lancashire-region schools) contacts can be found using the Lancashire 'Contact Us' guidance included above which includes a Concern Form template
⇒ Lancashire Constabulary ‘Prevent Team’ 01772 413029
⇒ The Police non-emergency number 101
⇒ Crimestoppers 0800 555 111
⇒ Anti-Terrorism Hotline 0800 789 321
In addition, further useful recommended resources and guidance can be found in the Other Recommended Resources' section of P4s
PACE is an acronym used to explain how to interact with children in school and at home. The idea of sharing this information is so that both school and parents can understand the processes that are in place to help the children in school.
The importance of eye contact and interacting with young babies but also young children.
The experiment shows how important it is for children to be engaged with the key adults in their lives.
Check out Ed’s new book, coauthored with Dr. Claudia M. Gold:
https://thepowerofdiscord.com/ Copyright © 2007 ZERO TO THREE
http://www.zerotothree.org/ Ed Tronick
http://www.umb.edu/Why_UMass/Ed_Tronick director of UMass Boston's Infant-Parent Mental Health Program
