Safeguarding information - Standing Still is Falling Behind!

Safeguarding First
Everyone has a responsibility to keep children safe and free from harm and abuse. It you have worries about a child it is important that you share these so that action can be taken at the earliest opportunity. In the City and Hackey Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) take a Safeguarding First approach, learning from local reviews. Whatever your role or whatever policy or procedure you might be following, you should always be considering the safeguarding needs of a child. Their safety and welfare should always be your first priorities and whilst ‘safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility’, that doesn’t mean you can rely on someone else to act.

Developing a culture that places the safety of children at the heart of our system is the first step we all need to take. The next step is acknowledging that whilst safeguarding might be one priority amongst many for you, you need to make a concentrated effort to always base your decisions and actions on the best interests of the child. Develop your skills and confidence, engage other practitioners and access the support from your supervisors. Also, attend as much safeguarding training as you can.

See resources available Safeguarding First | chscp

Also all of the CHSCP’s training is free. Please see the website for available opportunities: London Borough of Hackney (CHSCP) - Learning Management System (event-booking.org.uk)

Children and their families sometimes require support when things are not going as well as they could be. The City of London’s Early Help team works alongside children and their families to make positive changes to people’s lives, supporting them so they can access relevant services to prevent any difficulties from worsening.

When support is given at an early stage to families it can reduce risk factors and increase protective factors in a child's life (Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), 2021). All support provided is only done so with the consent of the family.

For more information about City of London Early Help services see Early Help Service - City of London Family Information Service

For information on how to make a referral if you are concerned about a child, please see our safeguarding page within the Children and Families section.

The City Corporation is committed to delivering excellent services to our communities, children, adults and families. We recognise the different needs of our customers and actively work to minimise potential issues of exclusion and discrimination. Our People’s Directorate have developed our Anti-Racist Practice Standards and seek to ensure that issues of systemic and cultural racism are proactively addressed at all levels of service delivery and decision making.

Anti-Racism Practice Standards- 2023.docx

Connecting diverse, engaged communities is a theme that runs through our new Corporate Plan and EEDI is at the heart of our People Strategy – alongside new Equality Objectives that are aligned to both of these far-reaching plans.

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/plans-policies/equality-inclusion

We expected our multi-agency partners to be equally as committed to these principles and taking positive proactive action to address issues on discrimination within their own agencies.

Contact:

Isabelle.Britten-Denniee@cityoflondon.gov.uk

or

Verity.Welch@cityoflondon.gov.uk if you would like support for staff, children, and families who use your setting.

Please see information about proposals to strengthen the EYFS safeguarding requirements and make them more comprehensive for Early Years providers. This is to ensure that all children are kept as safe as possible in Early Years settings.

The DFE are inviting responses from a range of partners and this includes Early Education and childcare providers and Early Years and childcare practitioners, please do take the time to contribute your views.

Early Years Foundation Stage Government Consultation - Department for Education - Citizen Space

Please also see the download at the end of this page for information.

The app offers vital safeguarding information for teachers, school staff and other safeguarding professionals. At present it can only be downloaded via the apple store and not the google play store.

The City of London Safer Schools App provides support on topics including online bullying, mental health, sexting, media literacy, gaming and sexual exploitation online.

It costs nothing to download and provides access to advice, guidance and CPD accredited training, with a specific focus on making children and young people safer in the online world.

You can find out more information about the Safer School's App here: FIS Directory

The Child Accident Prevention Trust's (CAPT) has an annual campaign to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented.

This year's theme is Safety. Families should feel confident that, with one small change, they can stop a serious accident. And be clear what they need to do to keep their children safe.

Window Safety
It is important to consider the danger of open windows and balcony areas to young children. Children want to see what is going on outside and this means that windows are tempting to play near or climb onto. If objects are displayed on or near window openings this can also entice young children to the area or act as a means to climb up.

Following a recent case involving window safety and a number of accidents in East London in recent years, there is a real need to consider window safety during the school holidays when children spend more time at home. Parents and carers should also consider window / balcony safety for out of routine events e.g. going abroad or when visiting other homes.

https://capt.org.uk/falls-from-open-windows/

Remember! Any window, even one on the ground floor, which can be accessed by a child is a risk!

Nappy Sacks
The Child Death Review Team (covering Waltham Forest, Newham, Tower Hamlets, City & Hackney) has alerted local professionals to early learning following a recent case involving nappy sacks.

Typically nappy sacks are stored within the baby’s reach, close to the baby’s cot, including under the mattress. This method of storage is often for convenience. In some cases, nappy sacks had been left near to or in the baby’s cot for ease of changing the baby’s nappy in the night. These loose nappy sacks are within easy reach of babies and are a risk for suffocation.

Nappy sacks are a relatively recent phenomenon and whilst parents and carers are generally aware of the dangers posed by plastic bags, they may not make the same link to nappy sacks and so are less likely to take the same safety precautions. The risk of this potential hazard is increased by the lack of a mandatory suffocation warning advice on the packaging.

https://capt.org.uk/resources/nappy-sacks-warning-poster/

Water Safety
Did you know a child can drown in as little as 5cm of water? This means it's especially important to supervise children around baths, garden containers, ponds, pools and open water. Parents and carers should also remain alert to threats when visiting other people’s homes e.g. hot tubs or access to a neighbour's garden.

Find out more about water safety on the CAPT website: https://capt.org.uk/drowning/

Dog Safety
As a nation of dog lovers, it is important for parents and carers to consider how to keep children safe when there are pets in the home. One way is to closely supervise children when they are playing with dogs:

• Watch, listen, and remain close during child-dog interactions. Remember some common child behaviours like preventing a dog from moving freely or taking away their toys can precede a bite.
• Intervene when either the child or dog looks uncomfortable or acts in an unsafe way.
• If you will be preoccupied or distracted, separate the child and dog.

Find out more, including how to prepare a dog for a new baby in the family HERE.

https://chscp.org.uk/dog-safety-4/

Blind Cord Safety
Over the years a number of tragic accidents have occurred across the country where babies and small children have injured or strangled themselves on internal window blind cords and chains. Young children can very quickly be strangled by loops in pull cords, chains, tapes and inner cords that operate the blinds.

It is always better to remove blinds on internal windows or doors and where possible move children's cots / beds away from windows.

A number of other safety measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of tragic accidents occurring can be found here: https://www.chscp.org.uk/blind-cord-safety/

Fire Safety
Everyday fire risks are present at home. Families can protect their children by:

• making sure their smoke alarm is fitted and regularly tested. A working smoke alarm will give you the vital minutes needed to leave your home before it is filled with deadly smoke.
• storing heated hair appliances (like hair straighteners) safely away from the reach of children.
• getting into a routine of storing flammables like matches and lighters in a designated secure place away from small children every time they are used.
• planning and practicing escape routes with all members of the family. This includes teaching children what to do if a fire breaks out so they are less likely to hide (which could mean it takes longer to rescue them).
• clearing away clutter from hallways so they are not a trip hazard when leaving a dark smoke filled home.

Find out more fire safety advice here: https://capt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2024_Fire-safe-fact-sheet.pdf

Button Battery Safety
Button batteries, in particular big, powerful lithium coin cell batteries, can badly hurt or kill a small child if they swallow one and it gets stuck in their food pipe. They can be found in a wide range of places in the home including toys, decorative lights, remote controls, old musical greeting cards and car key fobs.

Top tips for keeping children safe include:

• identifying anything in the home which does not have a secure battery compartment and keeping these away from children.
• storing spare button batteries in a sealed container in a high cupboard.
• taking care when buying toys from markets, discount stores or temporary shops as they may not conform to safety regulations.
• teaching older children that button batteries are dangerous and not to play with them or give them to younger brothers and sisters.

More tips including a downloadable poster to share with parents can be found here: https://capt.org.uk/button-battery-safety/

The role of the Local Authority Designated Officer is to ensure that the adults who work or volunteer with children within the City of London, are safe, skilled, and supported.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) should always be contacted when there is an allegation that any person who works or volunteers with children has;

• behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
• possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
• or behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children.

See full LADO referral criteria at londonsafeguardingchildrenprocedures.co.uk/alleg_staff.html

There are resources and tools available to support employers when dealing with concerns about employees and volunteers available on the CHSCP website including;

• An employment based risk assessment template
• Guide for employees and volunteers when an allegation has been made
• Referral to DBS Guidance

LADO training is also available through the CHSCP

To contact the LADO email LADO@cityoflondon.gov.uk or call 020 7332 1215

See more information regarding the LADO at Role of the Designated Officer - City of London

What is Modern Slavery?

You might think that slavery is a thing of the past. But right now, almost 50 million people are trapped in slavery worldwide. It’s a problem that affects every country on earth.

Modern slavery takes many forms. The most common are:

• Human trafficking. The use of violence, threats or coercion to transport, recruit or harbour people in order to exploit them for purposes such as forced prostitution, labour, criminality, marriage or organ removal
• Forced labour. Any work or services people are forced to do against their will, usually under threat of punishment
• Debt bondage/bonded labour. The world’s most widespread form of slavery. People trapped in poverty borrow money and are forced to work to pay off the debt, losing control over both their employment conditions and the debt
• Descent–based slavery (where people are born into slavery). A very old form of slavery, where people are treated as property, and their “slave” status has been passed down the maternal line.
• Child slavery. When a child is exploited for someone else’s gain. This can include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage and child domestic slavery
• Forced and early marriage. When someone is married against their will and cannot leave. Most child marriages can be considered slavery
• Domestic servitude. Domestic work and domestic servitude are not always slavery, and when properly regulated can be an important source of income for many people. However, when someone is working in another person’s home, they may be particularly vulnerable to abuses, exploitation, and slavery, as they might be hidden from sight and lack legal protection.

What is modern slavery? | Anti-Slavery International (antislavery.org)

Please do develop your awareness of Modern Slavery using the campaign toolkit below and look out for upcoming CHSCP training.

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campaigns/campaigns/london-s-hidden-harms-modern-slavery

What is child trafficking?

Trafficking is where children and young people tricked, forced or persuaded to leave their homes and are moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work or sold. Children are trafficked for:

• sexual exploitation
• benefit fraud
• forced marriage
• domestic slavery like cleaning, cooking and childcare
• forced labour in factories or agricultWhat You Need to Know About Child Trafficking | NSPCCure
• committing crimes, like begging, theft, working on cannabis farms or moving drugs.

Trafficked children experience many types of abuse and neglect. Traffickers use physical, sexual and emotional abuse as a form of control. Children and young people are also likely to be physically and emotionally neglected and may be sexually exploited.

For more information, please visit: What You Need to Know About Child Trafficking | NSPCC

We recommend that all practitioners working with children in the City of London subscribe to the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) Things You Should Know (TUSK) Briefing here CHSCP (list-manage.com).

The monthly briefing highlights safeguarding news, changes and updates to practice guidance and procedures, as well as available training.

For more information, visit: London Borough of Hackney (CHSCP) - Learning Management System (event-booking.org.uk) and Training and bookings – London Safeguarding Children Board (londonscb.gov.uk)