Thank you to those who joined us for the DSL Networks this week. We continue to encourage all Bristol settings in their role as relevant agencies to participate in future networks and help us shape a community of practice.
Click here to view and download the slides from the Network.
Engage with your Local Safeguarding Partnership
Please do continue to engage with the local safeguarding partnerships even if you were unable to attend, you can still contribute your views. Working Together to safeguard children is very clear that all schools (including those in multi-academy trusts) and colleges in the local area should be fully engaged, involved, and included in safeguarding arrangements.
We require your – and your colleagues - views and contributions, please do complete the following surveys:
Late Notifications feedback – please provide us your contact details so we can follow up with you.
How do you identify young carers? Is there a Young Carers Lead or Champion?
What support do you give young carers? What else could you do?
Upcoming Events
October 2022
- Black History Month - After visiting America in the 1970s, Ghanaian-born Akyaaba Addai Sebo, a special projects officer at the Greater London Council, founded the UK's version of Black History Month in 1987. Black History Month resources : Mentally Healthy Schools
- 8/10/2022 - 15/10/2022 Hate Crime Awareness Week - National Hate Crime Awareness Week - Nationalhcaw
- 10/10/2022-16/10/2022 OCD Awareness Week - Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder affecting 1 in 100 people in the UK. OCD Awareness | OCD-UK (ocduk.org)
- 10/10/2022 World Mental Health Day - The event is meant to increase public awareness about the importance of mental health, mental health services, and mental health workers worldwide.
November
- 2/11/2022 – National Stress Awareness Day aims to identify and reduce the stress factors in your life.
- 13/11/2022 - The world has plenty of unkind acts that occur in it, but World Kindness Day is meant to shine the spotlight on the truly kind acts that people do as well.
- 14/11/2022 – 18/11/2022 Anti Bullying Week – 2022’s theme ‘Reach Out’. School Resources (anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk)
- 21/11/2022 -25/11/2022 Stop Adult Abuse Week - The theme of this year's conference is responding to contemporary safeguarding challenges. Throughout the week there will be daily lunchtime workshops which you can join online.
- 25/11/2022 – White Ribbon Day. White Ribbon UK are asking people in their communities, organisations and workplaces, to come together, and say ‘no’ to violence against women. WRD22 Digital Resources — White Ribbon UK
Quick Links:
Local and national updates
- Self Harm Guidance - The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on assessing, managing, and preventing recurrence of self-harm in children, young people and adults. The guidance is aimed at professionals working with people who have self-harmed and people who use self-harm services. It includes information around: carrying out assessments appropriately; and ensuring continuity of care after self-harm. Self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence (nice.org.uk)
- Trauma and Students - The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) has published a blog with tips on identifying and supporting children in school who may be struggling with trauma. The blog talks through various signs and behaviours to look out for including physical symptoms. Suggestions for support include: having a clear set of behavioural expectations to help a child feel safe; and a classroom which reduces opportunities for sensory hypersensitivity. How to spot and support students who have experienced trauma – ACAMH
- Talk Relationships - The new NSPCC Learning service for teachers, Talk Relationships, is now available and free to access for a limited time. It aims to support secondary school teachers with delivering sex and relationships education and fostering a sense of safety for young people to discuss relationships. Resources include an e-learning course, lesson plans and a dedicated helpline. Talk Relationships: delivering sex and relationships education training
- Learning from case reviews: unseen men - NSPCC Learning has published a briefing which summarises learning from a sample of case reviews since 2020. Key issues identified include: issues around the quality of record keeping and communication between different agencies; and services focusing exclusively on the mother’s role as caregiver, reducing opportunities for men in a child’s life to be involved. The briefing highlights the need to identify men’s roles in a child’s life. Unseen men: learning from case reviews
- UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), SWGfL - UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) and SWGfL have updated their online safety self-review tool, 360 Degree Safe, in line with the recently updated Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance for schools in England from the Department for Education. The tool was developed for schools to help them review their online safety policies and practice. Updates include new policy templates for sexualised behaviour and electronic devices. In addition, SWGfL online safety templates have also been updated. 360 degree safe
- NSPCC - A summary of changes introduced by Keeping children safe in education 2022. A summary of changes introduced by Keeping children safe in education 2022 (nspcc.org.uk)
- Anna Freud Centre - Addressing emotionally-based school avoidance
The Anna Freud Centre have just published a brand-new resource for schools and colleges all about emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA). The resource introduces the topic, explores some of the potential risk factors, and provides strategies and tips to help education staff tackle the issue. Addressing emotionally-based school avoidance (annafreud.org)
Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership updates
- KBSP Education Reference Group- Primary Phase rep required –- Deputies required, email henry.chan@bristol.gov.uk for expressions of interest. Commitment 6x a year.
- Roll out of the Think Family Database. We intend to provide across to all secondary schools in Bristol by December 2022. Other settings will receive access over the course of the 2022/23 academic year. Do consider buffing your safeguarding teams to help manage and meet need.
- KBSP Children’s Group request for safeguarding turnover data – the children’s board are seeking information as to how colleagues have coped since the pandemic
- Engaging Fathers participation group - Looking to recruit fathers and male carers who have experience of the child protection system Engaging Fathers and Males Carers
DfE Pilot - Centre of Systemic Social Work Practice Bristol SEND Services
Systemic approaches invite us to think about how our values, beliefs and culture shapes and informs what we experience and what we create.
To book, or for further information, please email the disabledchildren@bristol.gov.uk.
United Against Bullying Programme Bristol
The programme is now open for new registrations. Find out more at the Anti-bullying Alliance.
Children Affected by Parental Offending (CAPO)
Child sexual Abuse - Safety Planning in Education guidance and plan template
The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse have created a new guide to support education professionals’ knowledge, skills and confidence to understand and respond to incidents of harmful sexual behaviour and ensure the safety of all children and young people is addressed.
School safety plan template.docx (114 KB)
Preparing for Young Carers on the Schools Census
CarersLine: 0117 965 2200 | carersline@carerssupportcentre.org.uk
www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk
Admin Line: 0117 939 2562 | info@carerssupportcentre.org.uk
Carers Support Centre
The Vassall Centre
Gill Avenue
Fishponds
Bristol BS16 2QQ
Vicki Houselander: Young Carers In Schools Development Worker
0117 958 9980 | 07732741537
vickiH@carerssupportcentre.org.uk | Youngc@carerssupportcentre.org.uk
REFERRAL FORM: www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk/young-carers/making-a-referral
Multi-Agency Updates
First Response Update
First Response have noticed that there is often a difference on the webforms we receive between the service initially being requested and the later question about what support would address the worries raised.
The first question on the webform asks: Which service do you want to request?
- The answer to this question defines the pathway that the request takes through our service. First Response is divided into pods – some are run by social workers (deputy team managers) and one is a dedicated early help pod, staffed by early help practitioners. It is important that requests that are for early help services go through the early help pod, as this is the direct access route to these services.
The last question on the webform asks: What support do you think would address the worries you’ve raised?
We have noticed that there are a high volume of contacts where the answer selected for this first question is “social care (safeguarding response)”, but the answer to the later question Is “family support worker, parenting support” or similar.
It is very important that these two questions match. So if you are asking for support services, please ensure to check “families in focus” from the start. And if the answer to this question is “a social worker”, select safeguarding response at the start.
Weapons and Drugs in Schools Pathways
In the event that a child is found in possession of a weapon on a school site, Education Inclusion Managers (EIMs) can be contacted the same day to support settings
EIMs and Youth Justice Support Workers (YJSW) attend the setting to make an initial assessment of the incident with the young person and a responsible adult
One-to-one intervention is allocated to the child straight away and the EIMs advocate on the child’s behalf to maintain their school place
EIMs attend YOT’s Out of Court Disposal panel and are integral to the multi-agency decision-making regarding the incident
A final outcome decision is made 4-6 weeks afterwards, where engagement and level of future risk is evaluated
Further onward referrals are made if required to ensure the child is adequately supported.
Contact the Education Inclusion Managers (Safer Options)
