Plymouth Consortium Student Associates Scheme

Introduction to Safeguarding & Child Protection

March 2011

Aims :

To build a basic understanding of child protection matters and to inform you about what to do if

you have concerns regarding children that relate to child protection.

To help you to keep yourself safe ...

A sensitive subject . . .

On average, in a class of thirty, some 10% will have had some negative experiences with peers or adults . . .

In a room like this today, we need to be mindful of the probability that we will have victims of abuse present . . .

Apologies in advance therefore . . .

Bichard . . .

“For those agencies whose job it is to protect children and vulnerable people, the harsh reality is that if a sufficiently devious person is determined to seek out opportunities to work their evil, no one can guarantee that they will be stopped. Our task is to make it as difficult as possible for them to succeed...”

Bichard Inquiry Report, 2004, p 12 para 79

The CRB . . . a snapshot in time

The scale of the problem - survival literature

Victoria was sent to Europe by her parents, who hoped she would gain a better education than in her native Ivory Coast home.

But she was starved, beaten with coat hangers and bicycle chains, bound naked and kept prisoner in a freezing bathroom in a squalid inner city flat in London.

When she died, aged eight, in February 2000 she weighed just 3st 10lb (24kg) and was found to have 128 separate injuries.

Victoria Climbié

Victoria Climbié

Inquiry by Lord Laming Sept 03

12 occasions over 10 months

Police Social Services NHS

5 key outcomes of ECM :

Staying safe Healthy Enjoying and achieving Economic well being Positive contribution

A brief guide to the law . . .

The 1989 Children’s Act first formalised the need to ‘Protect Children’.

In relation to schools, three key issues emerge form the Act – they are as follows :

Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;

Governors are required to designate a senior member of staff as a Child Protection or Safeguarding Co-ordinator;

their role is to co-ordinate child protection issues in a school and to liaise with other agencies.

The Children’s Bill

The Children’s Bill is clear in its premise that there is increased responsibility and accountability on all professionals to protect children – and this leads to an increase in multi-agency working.

There is a particular requirement for the following agencies to work closely together in order to protect children :

Social Services / Schools / Police / Health.

Categories of Abuse

There are 4 recognised categories of Child Abuse :

1. Physical Abuse2. Sexual Abuse3. Emotional Abuse4. Neglect

Note : the headings of Physical, Sexual Abuse and Neglect can be used in combination. The heading of Emotion is only used alone.

Physical Abuse

This includes actual or likely physical injury to a child, and the failure to prevent physical injury (or suffering) to a child. Both include deliberate poisoning, suffocation and Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy.

Sexual Abuse

Actual or likely sexual exploitation of a child or an adolescent.

Neglect

This includes the persistent or severe neglect of a child, the failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger, including cold or starvation, or the extreme failure to carry out important aspects of care. In all cases the result is the significant impairment of the child’s health or development, including any non-organic failure to thrive.

Emotional Abuse

This is actual, or the likelihood of, severe adverse effects on the emotional and behavioural development of a child caused by the persistent severe emotional ill treatment or rejection. All abuse involves some emotional ill treatment. This category should be used where it is the main or sole form of abuse.

What should a member of staff do ?

It is your professional responsibility to be alert to the threat of child abuse, to be aware of, and able to recognise different forms of abuse and to refer any suspicion of abuse to your school Co-ordinator. You should familiarise yourself with the procedures within your school for referral, recording and monitoring a suspected case.

What to do and what to avoid if you suspect child abuse :

Do refer to your Co-ordinator immediately

Do write up a full report for the Co-ordinator and retain a copy safely.

Do not examine the child. Do not ask leading questions. Do not discuss the issue with anyone

other than the Co-ordinator.

Date :To : From : Regarding :

------------------------------------ Factual information ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Signed : Dated : Keep a copy for you

If a child discloses information to you :

it is essential to safeguard and not contaminate evidence in the event of a possible subsequent prosecution of the perpetrator.

The following guidelines will help you avoid this :

*Do allow the child to do the talking. *Do listen to, rather than directly

question the child. *Do listen quietly and encouragingly. *Do remain calm and caring. *Do allow the child to finish what

they have to say.

Continued . . .

*Do explain that you may have to tell someone.

*Do record the conversation as son as possible afterwards. Use the child’s own words where possible.

*Do refer to your Co-ordinator immediately. *Do write up a full report for the Co-

ordinator and include timing, setting and persons present as well as what was said. Retain a copy safely.

Moreover . . .

*Do not postpone or delay the opportunity to listen.

*Do not stop a child who is freely recalling significant events.

*Do not ask leading questions. *Do not allow your feelings, such as

anger, pity or shock to surface.

Continued . . .

*Do not make promises of secrecy. *Do not make notes during the

disclosure. *Do not interpret what you have

been told, just record it. *Do not discuss the issue with

anyone other than the Co-ordinator.