Keeping up to date…

It is so hard to take time to update our own knowledge. And when we do set an hour it can be so overwhelming that we spend most of the hour deciding what we should focus on!

As always there have been lots of updates in the safeguarding arena, and I have recently been updating myself.  I have put details of 3 key updates below – hopefully this will be of use to you.  You will know the importance of Working Together – I find It really useful when working with other partners so we can be clear about expectations and ways of working.

If you work in education, the update to Keeping Children Safe in Education is a must for your reading list.

Those of you who have been on my trainings will know we often talk about ‘positions of trust’ and the need to be very boundaries when working with young people.  This legislation is going to be updated – long overdue many may say!

As always, please let me know if you have any queries or if I can be of any assistance.

Up-date/guidance/report: Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2018
Where to find it: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2
A little bit more: This was updated in December 2020 – changes can be found at https://thecpsu.org.uk/news/2020-12-amendments-to-working-together-guidance-2018-dec-2020/

Up-date/guidance/report: Keeping Children Safe in Education
Where to find it: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2
A little bit more: This was updated in December 2020 – changes can be found at https://thecpsu.org.uk/news/2020-12-amendments-to-working-together-guidance-2018-dec-2020/

Up-date/guidance/report: Sexual Offences Act 2003 Legislation.gov.uk (Positions of Trust)
Where to find it: www.legislation.gov.uk › search: ‘Sexual Offences Act 2003’ Scroll down to see the sections on abuse of position of trust. See Child abuse laws to be expanded in England and Wales - BBC News for a summary of how this is to be expanded
A little bit more: This document is up to date to 21 March 2021 but going forward there are plans to ensure Sports coaches and faith leaders who have sexual relationships with 16 and 17 year – olds in their care will be breaking the law under new legislation planned for England and Wales.

Some great new guidance!

As many of my followers know, I work right across different sectors with my training and consultancy offer. I enjoy working  with small organisations who are developing services in the not-for-profit sector. I was therefore particularly excited to see this publication from the Department of Education. It focuses on the good practice to develop when working in what we might call the ‘informal childcare’ sector. A club running after the school day, extra tuition, and so on.

I have so many queries from people who have great ideas about how to deliver services for children locally.  I always encourage them to  do some market research to look at the level of demand for their proposed services, and to scope out what already exists.  There is no point in duplicating services, or having all the out of school activities for children running at the same time each week.

Sustainability is also key – how will the idea be funded.

Once a robust idea is on the table, the next step is to check whether the services need to be registered under the OFSTED framework. If so there’s lots of guidance out there. Sometimes more challenging are those groups such as informal clubs, music groups etc. where registration is not a requirement. However it is of course essential that these are on safely and follow good practice.

This guidance gives some great tips on how to do this. It explains about responsibilities relating to safeguarding – and included some really easy to follow information about writing down procedures I was delighted to see that it suggests writing down procedures and policies even if you are very small setting.

Those who have trained with me know I’m a great believer in checking every now and then whether systems are working and the audit checklist provided is good for this.

It also highlights the role of Designated Safeguarding Lead and how this can work in a more informal setting.

The guidance can be accessed here.

As always, If I can help in anyway please do get in touch!

Some updates… but please avoid overwhelm!

The world changes at a fast pace, and it can sometime be hard to keep up. I try to keep all my clients update about key documents and changes in their area of work. I always get lots of ‘thank yous’ so thought I would share this more widely! There are some links to updates and useful resources linked to various areas of my work below.

A note of caution!!

We all need to care for ourselves at the moment – there is so much to contend with.  As I share this list, hoping it is supportive I realise that this could contribute to the feelings of overwhelm!!  So have a look at the topic which interests you most, and perhaps just set aside 20 minutes with a hot drink to read it through and pick out what might be of use and support. 

Safeguarding

The Department for Education (DfE) has updated Keeping children safe in education, the statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment, and the Staffing and employment guidance for schools in England to reflect legal changes following exit from the EU, including guidance on checking the past conduct of individuals who have lived or worked overseas.  A really useful update.

• Keeping children safe in education          
• Staffing and employment: advice for schools  ​​​​​​

If you have been on one of my courses, we often talk about the impact of historic safeguarding issues.  You may find the report into the ‘Magdalene nurseries’ for unmarried mothers in Ireland of interest.  It makes challenging reading for all safeguarding practitioners.

First Aid

The information about extension to certificates is here.

At a course this week we had some good discussions about what to if you need to do resuscitation during the pandemic – there is a useful update on this found here.

Advice on child development

On several courses we have talked about the impact of the pandemic on children’s development – there is a useful piece of research here.

Managing teams in COVID

 This is another discussion point which has come up when I have been working with teams and doing one to one coaching.  Some useful tips here.

As always, if I can be of any support please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.