September update

It's great to to get in touch with you all by means of this termly update from Jill Webb Training. The period from Easter to Summer has been extremely busy. I have delivered a variety of courses… from Safeguarding to First Aid to Working with Childcare courses, targeted at those people interested in working with children, a bespoke course developed for safeguarding leaders in charities and other courses. The variety of my course offerings is one of the things I really enjoy about my role.

As some of you will already be aware, I have recently expanded the business and I'm delighted to be working closely with three colleagues – Gaye, Greg and Hilary. They are now associates with my business and they all bring a vast array of strengths and experience.

One of the benefits of a larger team means we can offer more flexibility with dates. As always, dates in the Autumn are filling up very rapidly so if you have a particular training need in mind, please do This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible. We are continuing to deliver both face to face and virtually depending both on your needs, and the contents of the course.

If you have a Safeguarding, Food Safety or First Aid certificate, please can I ask you to check when these are due to expire. We experienced some challenges with a couple of schools last term realising their first aid provision would not be in place in September!  Working with Greg, we managed to deliver the range of courses needed literally with days to spare!  I have a range of open courses running in November,however if there are four or more people needing to attend a course, it is usually more cost effective to hold the course at your workplace.

In response to demand, I will be running some additional Safeguarding Level 2 courses and in January a Working with Parents Level 4 course in Halifax.If you are interested any of these sessions then please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will register your interest.

Finally, a reminder that we pride ourselves in offering customised training packages to meet your needs. Therefore if you have any suggestions, questions or thoughts, please do not hesitate to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as I would love to hear from you and work with you to create bespoke opportunities for your organisation.

Safeguarding thoughts

Our challenge in safeguarding…never to lose the voice of the person at the centre of our concerns, be that a young child, teenager or an adult at risk and we should always put safeguarding first. 

Over the last few weeks, I have been busy delivering Safeguarding training. One organisation asked me to look with them to consider the impact of this training. It has been a privilege to hear from learners about 6 weeks after the course reflection on their learning. As always, the difference between the initial feedback around what you have learned, and the responses a few weeks later is interesting.

At the same time, I have been reviewing several courses for a client. This has involved making sure I have read recent practice reviews and considering how their recommendations can impact the training I deliver.

Some recent high-profile reports have highlighted few themes:

The review of the strip search of Child Q – widely reported at the time – reminds us:
Child Q should never have been strip searched, and there was an absence of a “safeguarding-first” approach from many of the professionals involved.

And from Child Protection in England – review into murders or Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson June 2022:
The rationale for not visiting on date X seemed to take more account of adults in the household rather than placing Arthur’s needs at the centre of decision making….
Professionals had only a limited understanding of what daily life was like for Star…. disruption due to constant moves…the face that she may have been experiencing serious and systematic physical and emotional abuse was never really considered and addressed

We all dread being the professional at the centre of a large, high profile safeguarding case.  Indeed, this worry can impact on our ability to make good decisions.
But reading and reflecting on these reports has challenged ME – what can I do? Am I making sure in every training I deliver; in every professional discussion I am part of that I am putting safeguarding first?  Making sure the person at the centre of concerns does not get lost?

That is the challenge I am setting myself following this time of reflection. I hope I have inspired you too. 

Keeping Children Safe in Education – an update

I know last year I had some great feedback when I highlighted some changes in key guidance. So I am taking this opportunity to update you that in September 2022 the document ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ will have some changes.

The current version of this document can be found here (PDF).
As the guidance states:

‘Schools and colleges in England must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.’

However, I work with many groups who – although they are not schools or colleges - find this guidance useful. For example, a group providing holiday activities for children have checked their own ways of working using this document and found some helpful advice. 

Helpfully, the main changes are summarised by the NSPCC here (PDF).

Different parts of the changes will resonate with different people, but considering some of the questions and discussions I have been having with some of the groups I have trained recently I would particularly note:

• It is fab to see that the updated guidance stresses that a children may not feel ready or know how to disclose abuse
• A increased emphasis on Domestic Abuse is welcome, supporting recent changes in the law in this area (more information here.)
• The emphasis on safeguarding training for governors and trustees – something which is SO important
• When managing disclosures, the need to take account of low level concerns
• More information on online safety
• The section about child on child sexual violence and harassment has been expanded to incorporate guidance previously covered in the DfE’s Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges advice
• As part of safer recruitment, an online search for any shortlisted candidate should be carried out.  I have already had some concerns raised about this – including - how long it will take, is it over intrusive?  A reminder that:
  • This is for shortlisted candidates only
  • It is looking for information in the public domain
  • It should be carried out by someone independent of the interview panel to avoid inadvertent discrimination
  • Start off with google, then look at popular social media sites
  • You are asking yourself two questions:
  • Is there anything here which make me think this person is not suitable to work with children?
  • Does their social media presence suggest they could be a reputational risk to your establishment?

As always, I hope this is useful and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions!