Ep 24: Criminal Exploitation with Rebecca Weaver

In this episode of Safeguarding Days, we speak to Rebecca Weaver, a specialist Criminal Exploitation worker with Barnados,  and talk with Claire Harwood, DSL at Bilton School in Rugby, who is working with Barnados to develop a program of proactive intervention and support for children and young people at risk of exploitation, in any form. 

Ep 23: Kayleigh's Love Story

Kayleigh Haywood began speaking to Luke Harlow, a man she had never met, on 31 October 2015.

Over the course of two weeks they exchanged 2643 messages. Harlow told the 15-year-old all the things many teenage girls want to hear. He told her she was beautiful, how much he cared for her and that she was special.

Harlow was grooming Kayleigh, along with two other young girls he had also been speaking to. It was Kayleigh that finally agreed to his request to spend the night with him on Friday 13 November 2015.

The following day she was introduced to Harlow’s neighbour, Stephen Beadman. In the early hours of Sunday 15 November, having been held against her will by the pair, Kayleigh was raped and murdered by Beadman.

Beadman was sentenced in July 2016 to a minimum of 35 years in prison for Kayleigh’s murder.

Harlow was given 12 years for grooming and false imprisonment.

Kayleigh’s legacy and the impact of the film  

It was important to Kayleigh’s family that her memory lives on and the brutal murder of the 15-year-old never happens again.

Her story is a warning to other children of the dangers of speaking to strangers online and how quick online grooming can happen.

The film has proven to be Leicestershire Police’s most successful ever campaign. It has been seen by thousands of children in schools across the country and millions of people worldwide online.

It was has won multiple awards and most importantly has encouraged many children to come forward and speak up about abuse and unwanted online communication.

Kayleigh’s legacy ensures the safeguarding of children from all forms of exploitation remains in the public domain.

What can I do? 

Children and young people need to understand the importance of staying safe online.

Make online safety an ongoing conversation. Talk regularly to them about how they use technology and find out what they enjoy doing online. If you are not sure where to begin, have a look for conversation starters. There are also tools available to help manage devices used by children, such as parental controls which can help protect a child from seeing inappropriate content online.

Take a look at the Parents’ Guide to Technology for further information.

There are also signs that may indicate a child is being groomed. Familiarise yourself with them so you can act quickly if you suspect a child is in danger.

Ep 22 - Part 3 - KCSIE - Safer Recruitment

As a DSL, making 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' accessible to all staff is key to the designated safeguarding lead role. We know from the guidance itself that all staff should read and understand part one of keeping children safe in education, but as a DSL, have you read the whole thing?

In this mini-series of safeguarding days, I will give you that opportunity to reflect on keeping children safe in education; and its individual parts. 

I am going to work through that opportunity to use this as a flexible avenue to come on to Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your podcast to listen, word for word to each part of 'Keeping Children Safe in Education'.

In this first episode, I will lead you through part three.

Part three covers what we can do as designated safeguarding leads to ensure that our single central record is up to date; our safer recruitment processes are robust; and we are following the statutory guidance concerning pre-employment checks for staff, governors, volunteers, or any other adult we engage with as an organisation.

Ep 21: Shamima Begum and The Prevent Duty

On February 26 2021, the Supreme Court has ruled that Shamima Begum, who joined the so-called Islamic state as a teenager, cannot return to Britain; it accepted the Government's case that she's a national security risk. 

The court said in a unanimous ruling that her rights were not breached when she was refused permission to return.

 Ms Begum, 21, wants to come back to challenge the home secretary's decision to remove her British nationality.

 She is currently in a camp controlled by armed guards in northern Syria.

Ms Begum was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls left the UK in February 2015 and traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

 In 2019, the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped Ms Begum of her citizenship on national security grounds.

 When the Bethnal Green schoolgirls disappeared off the streets of east London in early 2015, never showing up at home for dinner and instead boarded a flight to Istanbul, their parents hadn't the slightest inkling. 

 In this episode, I want to go back to the start and explore the events that led to Shamima Begum, leaving the UK aged 15 to join the so-called Islamic State in Syria. 

Ep 20: Domestic Violence, a micro-episode

We know, for some children and families, home might not be a safe place and staying there will be extremely challenging. Some may already be experiencing domestic abuse or worried an adult's behaviour is changing and escalating.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/domestic-abuse/

Interview with Louis Donald - Safeguarding and Wellbeing

"We need to recognise that good safeguarding within schools is when schools have a really, really effective culture of safeguarding and vigilance. This is the job of everyone."

Louis Donald is Director of Safeguarding at Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust, leading safeguarding across nine schools and six Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) settings. 

In this insightful episode, Louis shares his insights into safeguarding in the "new normal." 

• What has changed in safeguarding as a result of the pandemic?
• What are the biggest safeguarding challenges across the community now, for the child, family, school, Multi Adacmeny Trust or other agencies?
• Working relationships with multi-agency partners have never been stronger, but how do we deal with the added pressures this puts on the pastoral team in school?
• The role of formal and informal supervision in supporting staff after dealing with distressing incidents;
• Balancing compliance requirements and staff needs;
• The vital role of "context" in dealing with safeguarding issues, and the work of Dr Carlene Firmin MBE;
• Leading safeguarding systems (in preparation for Ofsted);
• And much more.

You can connect with Louis

On Twitter @Ldonald_DSL

On LinkedIn Louis Donald 

His podcast and website www.safeguardingdays.co.uk

You can watch Dr Carlene Firmin's TED talk here

You can connect with Maria
On Twitter @Mariabrosnan

On LinkedIn Maria Brosnan

Find out more about our 5-step Wellbeing Action Plan for teachers online course.

And Maria's new book, The Pursuit of Sleep for teachers, is available now.

Changes to the DBS Filtering rules

KCSIE 2020 (2021 Post EU Exit) change summary

Keeping Children Safe in Education (2020) was updated on 18th January 2021 to reflect legal changes following Brexit, including guidance on checking the past conduct of individuals who have lived or worked overseas.

 In this micro-CPD-episode, we discuss those new changes. 

Episode 17: The Murder Of Tashaun Aird

In this episode we're going to explore the learning that's come from a recent serious case review, touching the death of Tashaun Aird, a 15-year-old boy from London, who died as a result of being stabbed whilst in the street.

 Tashaun, who we will refer to as CHILD C -  had been permanently excluded from school and three months before its death had been seriously injured in another stabbing incident.

Prior to his death, there had been a notable increase in police contacts and concerns about deteriorating behaviour and escalating risk.

Child C was going missing and local intelligence suggested that he was being criminally exploited and was possibly involved in county lines.

On the 19th of December 2019 a 16-year-old boy was found guilty of his murder at the Old Bailey in London. A 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old male were both convicted of manslaughter and a fourth suspect, a boy aged 16 died in custody prior to trial. after becoming a well.

The series case review that we're going to explore in this episode, makes nine findings and 15 recommendations for practice improvement.

 In this episode, we're going to look through the summary of those findings and see what learning put into our own practice, for when it comes to supporting children at risk of permanent exclusion from a mainstream school.

Talking to a child worried about Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Season 2, Episode 1

Happy New Year. 

 Hello, and welcome to season two of safeguarding days! As we enter into 2021, we've rebranded and changed our look, but we're still all about the same thing; giving you the latest safeguarding news, updates and serious case reviews, all in aid of keeping ourselves on track with everything that's going on in the world of keeping children safe.Talking to a child worried about coronavirus (COVID-19) - Season 2, Episode 1

In episode 16 of Safeguarding Days, we're really going to be focusing in on depression, anxiety and mental health, and how we talk to children worried about coronavirus.

 The way we're going to shape this episode is going to be slightly different and you're going to see this a lot in this new series, as it's almost going to be aimed a little bit towards parents because research tells us that whilst it's important that we as professionals understand what we can do to support children... It's also important that we support parents, in their approach to supporting children and young people, as they work through troubling times within their own lives.

If a child or young person is worried about coronavirus, there are things you can do to help. And if they're struggling with their mental health, there is so much that we can do as professionals to support them and their wider sphere of influence to keep them safe. 

In this episode, we're going to talk through how parents/carers can help to shape support pathways; look at some of the signs and indicators of depression and anxiety in children; and talk about what we can do to support children and young people with their mental health.

 As always, this episode is available on:

Apple Podcasts        Youtube        Spotify         SafeguardingDays.co.uk

*Thank you to NSPCC for promoting such amazing, and useful safeguarding resources. Reading this article (https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/childrens-mental-health/depression-anxiety-mental-health/) influenced and shaped this CPD episode. The NSPCC and Childline have amazing resources to support parents, carers, children and professionals.