IMPORTANT UPDATE Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

In December 2023 the DfE published a long-awaited update to the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (WTTSC). On 23rd February 2024, an update was published. 

The webpage which hosts the latest version of Working Together to Safeguard  Children describes the changes as follows: 
Last updated 23 February 2024

  • Page 26, paragraph 48: amended the wording used to describe lead safeguarding partners
  • Page 42: corrected the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel email address.
  • Page 161: updated the glossary definition of ‘safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children’ to match that on pg 7 to 8
  • Page 167: linked to the latest version of ‘Good practice guidance on working with parents with a learning disability’.

UPDATED Statutory definition of safeguarding (Source: Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2023, pages 7 and 8)
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children – defined for the purposes of this guidance as:

  • providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
  • protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
  • preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
  • ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
  • promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children
  • taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children’s Social Care National Framework.

You can download the latest copy of Working Together to Safeguard Children here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children–2

Although aimed at social care colleagues, DSLs will find the Children’s Social Care National Framework of interest and information can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-national-framework

Mobile phones in schools: are they being banned?

By the age of 12, 97% of children own a mobile phone, but the use of mobile phones in school can lead to distractions, disruption and can increase the risk of online bullying. 

Many schools have already introduced rules which prohibit the use of phones at school, to help children focus on their education, and the friends and staff around them. 

Full article can be found here

Alfie Steele: A Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review

A Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) [previously a Serious Case Review] was initiated after the murder of nine-year old Alfie in February 2021 by Dirk Howell, the partner of Alfie’s mother, Carla Scott. In June 2023 Howell was convicted of murder and child cruelty and was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years. Scott was convicted of manslaughter and child cruelty and jailed for 27 years with a minimum 17-year term. The judge in the case said that the suffering they inflicted on Alfie could “only properly be described as sadistic”. 

The review (which contains distressing content) can be downloaded here:  https://www.safeguardingworcestershire.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CSPR-Worcestershire-Alfie.pdf

Peer Education Project – Mental Health Foundation

Mental health in education has increasingly become a core function of educational establishments and their staff. However, one of the chief issues in approaching young people’s mental health in schools is the barrier between staff and students. Breaking down that barrier is key to getting the mental health message across to those who need it most. The Mental Health Foundation has developed a project aimed at that endeavour. Seeking to use older pupils to engage with younger pupils on mental health matters. To read more about this fascinating approach, please follow the link below:

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/programmes/families-children-and-young-people/peer-education-project

Safer Recruitment: Misconduct decisions with ‘no prohibition’ decision to be wiped from DfE’s website after two years

n 2023, the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) reviewed the policy which underpins how they publish information related to teacher misconduct cases. From 9 January 2024 all published decisions in which there is a finding of serious misconduct but no prohibition order imposed will be removed automatically from GOV.UK two years after the decision was first published. The details of these no prohibition order cases will no longer be accessible to employers when completing their safer recruitment checks as laid out in Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance. 

You can find more information on this story in Schools’ Week here: Misconduct decisions to be wiped from DfE’s website (Schools Week)  

Online Anti-bullying training (Anti-Bullying Alliance)

The Anti-Bullying Alliance is a coalition of organisations and individuals that are united against bullying. The Alliance has developed free CPD-certified anti-bullying online training for anyone that works with children and young people, topics include:

  • 10 principles to reduce bullying
  • Cyberbullying (Online bullying)
  • Bullying and Difference
  • Bullying and SEN/disability 
  • Young Carers and Bullying 
  • All Different, All Equal: Preventing and Responding to Appearance Targeted Bullying 

The training can be found here: https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/free-cpd-online-training

Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 6th February 2024

It’s now less than a month until Safer Internet Day with its theme of “Inspiring Change? Making a Difference, Managing Influence, and Navigating Change Online,”

To help schools get ready, the UK Safer Internet Centre has recently released an exclusive collection of short films, designed to captivate and educate children and young people aged 3 to 18 years old. These films serve as starters for meaningful conversations, making them perfect for educators and professionals eager to participate in Safer Internet Day activities across various environments such as schools, nurseries, youth groups, libraries, and beyond.

You can access the films here: https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/uk-safer-internet-centre-releases-safer-internet-day-films/

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory

The  Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework has been updated, both the schools’ version and the one for child minders. Although there are other changes, from a safeguarding perspective, the new guidance says that group and school-based settings should ensure that ‘safeguarding policies and procedures include all electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities, not just mobile phones and cameras’. (see Section 3, Safeguarding policies and procedures)

You can find a summary of the changes and download the updated guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2

Safeguarding children statutory guidance

The Department for Education (DfE) has published updated ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance on multi-agency working to help keep children safe in England. The guidance applies to all organisations and agencies with functions relating to children and all education providers and childcare settings.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children–2