Fantastic turn out at forum This term we learnt about domestic abuse, prevent and Neglect. My thanks to our fabulous speakers…and to all of you for coming along after a long day at work and in the rain!

Do email topics for future forum presentations lucy.macarthur@kingrichlscb.org.uk

Our Spring term Forum on March 4 is going to be dedicated to training you on Signs of Safety, the framework used across the two boroughs by all agencies. It is a strengths based approach to supporting families and this training will have an impact on everything you do in your Early Years practice.

New Annual Report for children and young people The new child friendly version of our annual report was produced by a group from Richard Challoner Sixth Form. I urge you to share this with your families. The 4-page report explores the role of the Safeguarding Partners, local safeguarding issues, our priorities and a useful page of support numbers should your families need to seek help about something troubling them. There is also an SEN version in the pipeline.

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Autumn Round Up EARLY YEARS SAFEGUARDING

According to a new report by the Trades Union Congress, London has suffered the biggest increase since 2010 - 68% - in the number of children living in poverty, with an average across the UK of 1 in 4 children in working households living below the breadline resulting in millions of families struggling to feed and clothe their children. You may be able to get help for your families living in poverty through the BBC Children in Need Emergency Essentials programme. More info here: https://www.familyfundservices.co.uk/emergency-essentials/

Keep up to date We produce regular newsletters, both general safeguarding news and specific topics such as Neglect. You can read our newsletter here: https://kingstonandrichmondlscb.org.uk/

The NSPCC’s new website on learning is very informative on child protection and safeguarding news: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk

The Social Care Institute for Excellence is a great resource for safeguarding information and comes highly recommended. https://www.scie.org.uk

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Early Years Forum

Wednesday 4 March 7pm-9pm

York House Twickenham

Spring Term

Early Years Forum

Wednesday 10 June 7-9pm

The Star Centre. Surbiton

Summer Term

FAQs Q: what is harmful sexual behaviour and does it apply to Early Years? A: Even pre school children start to develop curiosity in sexual behaviours and this is entirely expected and age appropriate. For example, being interested in body parts and talking about “willy” and “bum”. Role playing games involving family life and doctors/nurses are another age appropriate way children explore. Even exposing their genitals is an age appropriate behaviour in Early Years.

Harmful Sexual Behaviour is where the behaviour and language used are no longer age appropriate. In an Early Years child this might include explicit talk about sexual acts. The NSPCC has some really good information here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/healthy-sexual-behaviour-children-young-people/

2020 Dates for your diaries

Huge increase in the numbers of children living in poverty

Huge increases in recorded sexual offences against children The NSPCC has revealed that there were 76,204 recorded sexual offences last year, an increase of 60% since 2015. Of these, 16, 773 offences were recorded in children under the age of 10 and 341 under the age of one.

Online gaming research The Children’s Commissioner has published a report on gaming because 93% of children play video games, addressing safeguarding concerns such as gambling addiction, bullying and violent images. You can read the report here: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/gaming-the-system/

So much harmful content onlineYou can read Facebook’s Community Standards Enforcement Report here: https://transparency.facebook.com/

community-standards-enforcement The figures reveal that between July and September 2019 11.6 million pieces of content related to child nudity and child sexual exploitation were removed from Facebook - and 754,000 from Instagram. This comes after the 2017 death by suicide of Molly Russell, whose father has campaigned relentlessly to have content removed from these sites.

Sharenting So many parents share stories online about their children - it is an easy way to keep friends and family up to date - but many children who grew up online are now young adults and the potential harm of ‘over sharing’ is increasingly being recognised. This is an interesting blog on the topic and something for parents to consider: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2019/11/13/growing-up-shared-negotiating-the-risks-and-opportunities-of-sharenting/

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Frequently Asked Questions…cont…

Q: When is your next Safeguarding course for Level 2 or Level 3? A: All the LSCB training courses are listed here. www.kingstonandrichmondsafeguardingpartnership.org.uk/training New ones get added regularly so do keep checking. 

Also AFC training for Early Years is listed here https://www.afccpdonline.co.uk/earlyyears/courses/bookings/default.asp?subid=230&dosearch=Search&ds=1&sdate=10/July/2019

And AFC training for schools is here: https://www.afccpdonline.co.uk/education/courses/bookings/default.asp?subid=230&dosearch=Search&ds=1&sdate=10/July/2019  

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Frequently Asked Questions…cont…

Q: Do referrals to SPA have to be in writing? Can a phone call for advice become a referral without me knowing? A: If you phone SPA for advice you will not inadvertently be making a referral. Referrals have to be in writing using the online form. Please see the message from SPA below, regarding giving detailed information in the referral form.

Q: Is it a safeguarding concern if the child has a private GP?

A: It is easier to hide safeguarding issues when you have a private GP as you can go to different private GP practices to avoid patterns being noticed. You can also get prescriptions that an NHS GP has refused you. The Quality Care Commission report on Independent doctors and clinics highlights that some areas of safeguarding need improvement. You can read it here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20190321_stateofindpms_report.pdf

Single point of Access (SPA) Last week I visited the SPA to hear from the professionals who answer your queries and process the referrals you make. They receive around 3000 referrals a month, it is an extremely busy and important team. The key messages I took away from the meeting were:

1. Please give as much information as possible on the referral form to make it clear exactly what the concern is and the impact of that concern on the child. The SPA referral form is based on the Signs of Safety framework so they want information on strengths and what is working well in addition to your professional opinion on what needs to happen to make things improve. The SPA team will be enormously helped by more informative and detailed referrals. It will save this busy team precious time currently spent chasing up missing information.

2. The second key message I took away was that in many cases a lot of support can be put in place for a family by using the EHA form (https://achievingforchildren.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Early-Help-Assessment.doc) and arranging a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting. Examples of such cases would be when a parent is frequently late picking up their child, there may be low level concerns about the parents' emotional health, and the family may be struggling with a combination of low level issues which are beginning to impact on the child. These issues can be supported by a TAC meeting. The Single Point of Access team can offer a social worker to write a draft Early Help Assessment, and chair the initial TAC meeting for you. The aim of the TAC meeting will be to develop a support plan which helps the family through their current situation. This Early Help organised will relieve the pressure on the Family Support Team, which I was told, is at full capacity and cannot take on  cases that can be supported by a TAC meeting and EHA. However, if you ever need advice or support with considering risk and threshold, or want to know what support services are available, a call can be made to SPA for a phone consultation with a qualified social worker..

Take part in the EYFS consultation The DFE is consulting now on changing the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage.  https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-quality-outcomes/early-years-foundation-stage-reforms/?utm_source=Foundation+Years&utm_campaign=8ba5f5590e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_21_05_01_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8f9a6de061-8ba5f5590e-321586869&mc_cid=8ba5f5590e&mc_eid=58ea

1034f3 This consultation seeks your views on revisions to the educational programmes; revisions to the early learning goals; changes to the assessment and moderation process for the early years foundation stage profile and a proposed change to the safeguarding and welfare requirements to promote good oral health. The consultation runs until the end of January.

Upcoming training courses We have many training courses on offer here: www.kingstonandrichmondsafeguardingpartnership.org.uk/training This is a small sample selection of upcoming training:

Attending Coroner’s Court 10am - 12.30 on Friday 13 Dec at Twickenham Training Centre When there is a death of a child practitioners may be asked to attend Coroner’s Court to give evidence about any relent involvement with the family. This half day session will provide you with an overview of the process and what to expect if you are called.

Adverse Childhood experiences This two hour course is held on the mornings of 19 Dec, 6 Feb and 14 July This training will take you through the background to Adverse Childhood Experiences and what research has taught us about the impact of such experiences. You will learn about childhood development and how to apply this knowledge to your own work.

FGM training on 18 February

On completion of this course you will have an awareness of the practice of FGM and the social and cultural context in the UK as well as understanding the law and local procedures.

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Good luck in the busy run up to the holidays and have a happy Christmas and New Year!