Safeguarding

Safeguarding Information

In order to grow and thrive, young people need to be challenged as well as kept safe by those offering opportunities for them to develop.

Safeguarding young people is about much more than child protection. It means taking a comprehensive approach that prevents young people from any potential source of harm.

This is not just about preventing and acting on the worst case scenarios, such as abuse happening to a young person, but it is about educating parents as well as those working with young people to deal with them in the most appropriate ways. It is about making sure that the right people are recruited as employees and volunteers to work with young people in all settings, and creating a culture of openness and honesty, and protecting young people from harm and danger without smothering their potential and need for challenge and excitement.

Working with Children and Young People's Groups across the Wakefield District

Safeguarding

 Please Note

Young Lives is no longer able to offer safeguarding support to groups as it has done in the past. Young Lives however remains committed to enhancing and enriching the lives of children and young people and families and will strive to ensure organisations in the Wakefield Metropolitan District are supported to fulfil their commitment effectively.

For support with your on-going safeguarding issues please access the following links:

www.safenetwork.org.uk

http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/HealthAndSocialCare/ChildrenAndYoungPeople/SafeguardChildren/default.htm

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Young Lives will be working in partnership with its member groups to support children young people and families. If you would like to be a partner with Young Lives please contact the office on:

Young Lives Consortium
c/o Youth Association
12 South Parade
Wakefield
WF1 1LR

 Tel: 01924 333408

Website: www.ylc.org.uk  

Young Lives Consortium - our role

Working with Children and Young People's Groups across the Wakefield District

• If you have no Child Protection Policy for your organisation

• If you would like help to update and review your existing Child Protection Policy

• If you would like information on courses for child protection safeguarding training

• If you would like support with safeguarding or child protection issues in your organisation then please contact:

Cleveland Bertram
The Project Worker at Young Lives:
Tel: 01924 333408

Email: cleveland@ylc.org.uk

The service is free and you can make an appointment to suit your schedule  

Safeguarding Self Audit Tool

This is the quality standard led by Young Lives to help organisations ensure their safeguarding policies and procedures are in place.  You can download the Young Lives Self Audit Tool

For reports on the subject of Safeguarding see Reports page here

Free Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks

Anyone working with children and young people will need to undergo this procedure.  The Youth Association don't only work with young people; part of what they do is help volunteers and groups overcome financial and bureaucratic hurdles, such as CRB checks (FREE for associates) and much more. To find out more about free CRB checks, visit the website at:
http://www.youth-association.org/
You can donwoad a list of other organisations that carry out CRB checks here.

New arrangements announced for criminal record and safeguarding checks (From November 2012)

The Home Office has announced changes to the Vetting and Barring Scheme in England and Wales which are proposed as part of the Protection of Freedoms Bill 2011-2012.
This legislation is expected to become law this Spring. Two organisations, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will be merged into one organisation called the Disclosure and Barring Service. The provisional date for the merge is November 2012. Visit HRBird to read more:
http://hrbird.org.uk/blogpost.asp?hr-resource=New-arrangements-announced-for-criminal-record-and-safeguarding-checks&post=88&month=012012

 Guide to completing New CRB Forms

The CRB are having problems with the new forms and are having to return them as they are incorrect. Here is a link to the Guide for completing the new forms.
http://www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk/guidance/applicants_guidance/application_eguide.aspx

Safeguarding Training

Young Lives in conjunction with the Wakefield and District Safeguarding Children Board is encouraging all community groups working with children and young people to undertake safeguarding training. Initial safeguarding awareness training can be undertaken through face to face taught sessions are through online sessions.
For details of the online safeguarding awareness training course of if you require any support please contact me at Young Lives on: [01924 333408] or Email: celveland@ylc.org.uk

Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board

You can download details or WDSCB trainig schedue here

Reduce child deaths due to blind cords

Research indicates that most accidental deaths involving blind cords happen in the bedroom and occur in children between the ages of 16 and 36 months old, with the majority (more than half) happening at around 23 months.
Make it safe!
To reduce the risk posed by looped cords, including blind cords, cords should be kept out of the reach of children.
• Install blinds that do not have a cord, particularly in a child's bedroom
• Do not place a child's cot, bed, playpen or highchair near a window
• Pull cords on curtains and blinds should be kept short and kept out of reach
• Tie up the cords or use one of the many cleats, cord tidies, clips or ties that are available
• Do not hang toys or objects that could be a hazard on the cot or bed
• Don't hang drawstring bags where a small child could get their head through the loop of the drawstring.
Where can families get more information?
The leaflet is down loadable Individual families can request a free pack packs from the website below; anyone can download the free leaflet. Alternatively, the cleats are available from all good DIY shops. The website is:
http://www.rospa.com/about/currentcampaigns/blindcords/
Download a letter with more details and a poster by clicking on the links below.

Child Abuse Review

You can download for free a selection of papers from this journal. All the papers are from last year.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0852/homepage/virtual_issue_-_selected_papers_2010.htm

Serious Case Reviews

The Department for Education has published a study of recommendations arising from serious case reviews in 2009-2010. To enable lessons from serious case reviews to be disseminated and implemented effectively, 'Working Together' (2010) advises that recommendations should be few in number, focused and specific. Most analyses of recommendations assess whether they are or can become Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely (SMART). This small study presents a critical, thematic analysis of recommendations from 33 of the serious case reviews (cases of child death or serious injury through abuse or neglect) completed in 2009-2010. The central aim of the study was to consider what part recommendations can play in aiding agencies and individuals to learn lessons to improve the way in which they work both individually and collectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Main points and recommendations from the reports include:
• Serious case reviews continue to produce too many recommendations and actions that limit professional judgement and reduce opportunities for reflective practice.
• Wider issues of deprivation do not feature in serious case reviews despite the 2010 Working Together review inviting consideration of national policy issues.
• Local Safeguarding Children's Boards need to play a role in considering new ways of learning from serious case reviews: recommendations may not be the best way to learn from these cases.
To download the report visit the website at:
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllPublications/Page1/DFE-RR157

Keeping it Safe - a young person-centred approach to safety and child protection

This is an essential tool helping children and young people's voluntary and community organisations work through the process of safeguarding. This resource includes information on ensuring that activities with young people are safe, that organisations have policies and procedures in place to deal with safeguarding issues and that staff and volunteers are safely recruited, managed and trained in order to work with young people. To have a look at the Keeping it Safe standards only go to:
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/UserFiles/File/Safeguarding/cp%20standards.pdf
The Keeping it Safe resource including the hardcopy full standards and guidelines for safeguarding young people and is priced at £35.00 to NCVYS members and £50.00 to non NCVYS members, plus postage & packing. For details and an order form, visit the website at:
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/kis.html 

Find training and resources on safeguarding deaf and disabled children

If you work with deaf or disabled children, you'll find training resources and information on the Safenetwork website. Deaf and disabled children have the same right to be protected from abuse as all children so your policies and practice need to ensure they aim for this outcome. Research and evidence suggests that deaf and disabled children are more likely to be abused than non-disabled children, but deaf and disabled children are particularly vulnerable to abuse. If you work with deaf or disabled children you should get training on how to keep deaf or disabled children safe. Find more information and resources at Safenetwork:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/training_and_awareness/Pages/disabled_children.aspx

 What's going on to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation

Victims of child sexual exploitation are being failed by Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs), according to a new study by the University of Bedfordshire.
• only a quarter of LSCBs in England are implementing the guidance appropriately
• young people, their families and carers receive awareness raising in less than half of the country
• the prosecution of abusers is rare and, where criminal proceedings take place, young people's experience of court can be intolerable
These are just some of the disturbing findings uncovered in the two-year report What's going on to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation which is being launched on Friday, 14 October in London.
The research, funded by Comic Relief, was carried out by Sue Jago and Professor Jenny Pearce from the International Centre for the Study of Sexually Exploited and Trafficked young people - an applied social research centre based at the University.
Professor Pearce and Sue Jago said: "This is a unique and important piece of work which shows child sexual exploitation is child abuse and many LSCBs are failing its victims. Our research shows there are pockets of good practice but this is not being shared across the country. Download the report from:
http://www.beds.ac.uk/news/home-news/exploitationstudy

2 year inquiry into sexual exploitation of children

A major two-year Inquiry, under the Children Act 2004 powers, launched today by the Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) will throw light on the scale, scope and extent of the sexual exploitation, victimisation and abuse that girls and boys are subjected to by street gangs and loosely formed groups in England. Current data based on limited reporting indicates that up to 10,000 children may be affected. However, reports by statutory services and preliminary investigation by the OCC suggests that girls and boys are being exploited, victimised and abused in potentially larger numbers and in every part of the country. The Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG) will be led by Sue Berelowitz, the Deputy Children's Commissioner. She will be supported by a panel of experts from the children's sector, academia, voluntary and health sectors. The CSEGG Inquiry, conducted under the powers granted to the Children's Commissioner in the Children Act 2004, will require Government and those in local authorities, police, health, youth justice, the judiciary and education to provide information so that for the first time the true picture can be established. There will also be a dedicated email address so that people can share information confidentially. Read more on the Children's Commissioner website at:
http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/press_release/content_443

Sexualisation of childhood

(From Children England)
The Prime Minister, David Cameron and Children's Minister, Sarah Teather, have held a summit at Downing Street to drive forward progress on tackling the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. The summit follows a review in June by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers' Union which made a series of recommendations to businesses, broadcasters and regulators A number of initiatives were announced at the summit including:
• Stricter guidelines by the Advertising Standards Authority on sexual images in outdoor advertising, particularly near schools.
• Customers of the top four Internet Service Providers (BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin) will receive an active choice at the point of purchase over whether they want to block adult content on their home internet or laptops.
The Prime Minister said: "I call on businesses and industry to go further and in the new year I will again review progress because I am determined we are really making changes that support parents and protect our children." To read the full announcement please visit the website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00199094/prime-minister-welcomes-progress-on-tackling-commercialisation-and-sexualisation-of-childhood-but-says-more-must-be-done

Keeping children Safe from Sexual Exploitation

Child sexual exploitation is a major child protection issue for communities across the UK. Hidden from view and going unnoticed, vulnerable young girls and boys are groomed and then abused, leaving them traumatised and scarred for life. Barnardo's has written a guide for parents to help spot the early signs of sexual exploitation and how to keep children safe; not just online, but wherever they are. Barnardo's also run specialist sexual exploitation projects that offer a safe, confidential environment where young people can go for help, advice and support. Visit the website for more information and to download the report:
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/donate/besafe_dd.htm?ref=113028&amount=3

Child Development Knowledge and Child Protection

The Department for Education has published a report which analyses six serious case reviews to determine the impact that the knowledge that practitioners, and especially social workers, have of child development, has on the outcomes of children.
You can download the report from:
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR110.pdf 

Raising the bar for child protection

Ofsted has launched a consultation on changes to the inspection of local authority children's services. The main elements of the proposed inspection model include:
• unannounced two week on-site inspections of local authority child protection and early intervention services;
• talking directly with children and their families as well as front-line professionals and managers;
• four inspection judgements: capacity to improve; the effectiveness of the help provided to children, their families and carers; quality of practice; leadership and management, and an overall effectiveness grade.
Ofsted will continue to use the four point judgement scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate; a sample of 20 to 25 local authority services for children in care to have short notice, one-week on-site inspection each year. Inspection will focus on the child's journey and narrowing the outcomes gap between children in care and their peers.
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/raising-bar-for-child-protection?news=15797 

Leadership: How to ensure deaf children's needs are met in difficult financial times

In May, the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) released research showing that almost one in five local authorities in England has cut vital educational support for deaf children, despite the government's ringfencing of the education budget. Although the attainment gap for deaf children has closed slightly, 65 per cent of deaf children still fail to get five good grades at GCSE - and these cuts mean even less support to enable them to achieve. It is important that we're clear how we will respond to challenges like this and we refuse to be anything but ambitious about the future for deaf children. So (NDCS) have published their vision, aims and objectives in their new six-year strategy, Every Deaf Child, Every Day They want the professionals, young people and families that they work with to know what the NDCS is seeking to achieve over these next six years, and how all of their members and stakeholders can be involved. Read more at CYP Now, including how to break down barriers for deaf children:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Management/article/1079259/leadership-ensure-deaf-childrens-needs-met-difficult-financial-times/
Read the six year strategy at:
http://www.ndcs.org.uk/about_us/our_vision/

Playing it safe online

Online gaming gives children and young people the chance to play with other computers and real people. Of course it's good for them to have fun with others, but it's also important they understand it might be dangerous to give away their personal information to other gamers. There are lots of difficult situations that might arise while young people play online, such as knowing what to do if another player starts harassing them. Check out more details at Safenetwork:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/help_and_advice/best_safeguarding_practice/Pages/safe-online-gaming.aspx

Scoping review to draw together data on child injury and safeguarding and to compare the position of England with that in other countries

Statistical data on the proportion of children identified as likely to suffer significant harm, cases of substantiated abuse and neglect and the number placed in public care vary between regions and countries, as do placement types and service responses. Comparing the situation in England with that elsewhere and exploring similarities and differences in the approaches adopted to safeguard children from harm allows current policy and practice to be benchmarked against others. This report presents the findings from a small scale scoping review undertaken between July and December 2010 to explore some of these issues. The overarching aim of the study is to scope the existing international data on safeguarding children from physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence and from child death and injury. The objective is to consider how different institutional and cultural approaches to safeguarding children and different forms of provision and support may influence trends in the incidence and nature of abuse and neglect and similarities and differences in the responses of public authorities. Download from Department of Education:
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllPublications/Page1/DFE-RR083

Why do we not learn from serious case reviews?

Children's services need to ask the question "why" more in serious case reviews and learn from the good as well as the bad, say Barry Raynes and Phil Green of children's services consultancy Reconstruct The fact the government does not reduce the national speed limit to 20mph to prevent more than 2,000 children being killed or seriously injured each year shows that child safety is only one desired outcome for society, government and politicians.
A similar logic can be applied to learning from serious case reviews (SCRs). Since 2007, our consultancy, Reconstruct, has undertaken serious case reviews involving 32 children in England and Wales. Not surprisingly, we found that the same errors and omissions were contributing time and again to agency failures to recognise and react adequately to the risks posed to a child. They have also been cropping up in SCRs and inquiries for years. Read more at Community Care:
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/07/14/117167/Why-do-we-not-learn-from-serious-case-reviews.htm 

 Sexual grooming of children far worse than thought, says minister

Barnardo's warns government plan to tackle abuse and trafficking 'needs to be enforced'. The sexual grooming of children in the UK is a much bigger problem than has previously been recognised, the government has said. The children's minister, Tim Loughton, announced that an action plan will be launched to tackle child sexual exploitation, which experts say involves British children as young as 10 being trafficked for sex around the UK. "This isn't something that has just appeared, but the extent of it hasn't been recognised and we are underestimating the problem," Loughton said on Tuesday. "The cleverer we are about it, the more horrified we are likely to be by what we discover." People sometimes struggled to believe that such cruelty could exist in the UK, he said. But he added: "Exploitation is happening here and it is happening now." The government has launched an investigation into the extent of the problem and would use its findings to devise a plan to tackle it, which is due for publication in the autumn, he said. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/17/children-human-trafficking?INTCMP=SRCH

The Safe Network champions, safeguarding children and young people

The role of a champion will be to utilise the Safe Network core safeguarding standards for safeguarding children within the voluntary and community sector. The Champions programme is seen as being the cornerstone of regional and local support. With help from Safe Network's central team and Regional Development Managers the Champions will act as Safe Network representatives within their local community. Groups will need to be informed of the champions existence and will need to feel motivated to use them, and then be offered the time and opportunity both to become familiar with them and to use them to work on their own practice. Support at all levels - national, regional and local - will be available. Read more on the Safenetwork website at:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/news_and_events/news_articles/Pages/safeguarding-children-champions.aspx

Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board

Training Brochure

The new 2011-12 Training Brochure has now been published.  The brochure covers the planned taught courses for the year commencing 1^st April 2011, plus details of how to apply for the e-learning course.   Applications for the new course year will be accepted, as usual by sending an application form to the Safeguarding Board. The training brochure and other items can be downloaded from:  
http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/HealthAndSocialCare/ChildrenAndYoungPeople/SafeguardChildren/Training/default.htm

A new strategic quality assurance framework to safeguard children

Local Government (LG) Improvement and Development and the London Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) have published this new framework, and are working together to pilot the model.  The framework supports strategic partnerships and individual organisations in assessing whether they are effective in keeping children safe. It enables organisations and partnership bodies to develop a quality assurance framework for defined safeguarding priorities, and ensures that a comprehensive range of local information is used to evaluate the quality of local activity and outcomes.  It aims to support a better understanding of how safe children are locally and how well local services are carrying out their safeguarding responsibilities in a way that focuses on improved outcomes for children and young people.

The framework is aimed at those with leadership, senior management or scrutiny responsibilities for safeguarding children (for example, directors of children's services, lead members and scrutiny panels, NHS trust boards, LSCBs and senior management teams).  The framework will be made available through LG Improvement and Development and the London Board's websites for local areas to use as they choose and to support local improvements in safeguarding quality assurance.  
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=25384499

NSPCC launches child protection toolkit

Children's charity the NSPCC has unveiled a toolkit to help Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) improve training across health, the police, social care and education. The free tool will help the boards evaluate inter-agency child protection training. Called Connect, Share and Learn: Evaluating the Outcomes of Inter-agency Training to Safeguard Children, the toolkit has been developed by academics at the University of Bristol and involves a set of downloadable questionnaires. Connect, share and learn is a free, downloadable toolkit for evaluating the outcomes of inter-agency training to safeguard children and young people. It will help to evaluate training courses, develop evidence-based training and promote good practice in the field. Go to the NSPCC website to read more and download the toolkit:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/trainingandconsultancy/piat/resources/piat_toolkit_connect_share_learn_wda79888.html 

 Deaf Lizards 
This website is aimed at young deaf people and provides guidance on sexual health and how to stay safe. It is in both BSL and English. There are 3 sections to help young people decide what information they would like to know more about and there are sections for boys and girls. 
http://www.deaflizards.co.uk/

LSCB Toolkit 
This guide has been produced for Local Safeguarding Children Boards, but it may be useful for everyone involved with working with children and young people to read. You can also access a guide to inter agency working at this website. The Department for Education has published a toolkit for Local Safeguarding Children Boards which provides guidance on how to communicate effectively with partners, stakeholders and the public. Local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) have a statutory obligation to communicate and raise awareness of their activity as outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working. This includes ensuring that partner organisations, such as statutory and independent agencies and employers, are aware of safeguarding arrangements. It is also important that members of the local community have an increased understanding of the work that is being carried out to help keep children safe. Visit the website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/safeguarding/safeguardingchildren/b0066748/local-safeguarding-children-board-lscb-communications-toolkit/ 

Internet Safety materials for children 

Materials from the Zip it, Block it, Flag it campaign are available free to all those who work with children. Click on the link below for ordering details. 

http://www.education.gov.uk/ukccis/news_detail.cfm?newsid=48&thisnews=2 

These are on the website of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) which brings together organisations from industry, charities and the public sector to work with the Government to deliver the recommendations from Dr Tanya Byron's report - Safer Children in a Digital world which you can download from the home page at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/ukccis/index.cfm?id=home_page 

Serious Case Reviews

Following the very successful Network Event about Serious Case Reviews on the 19th January - you can download the latest evaluation of reports from Ofsted. The responsibility for evaluating serious case reviews was transferred to Ofsted in April 2007 and Ofsted is responsible for evaluating serious case reviews in line with the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children. The evaluation of a serious case review is an evaluation of the degree to which the review has succeeded in identifying lessons to be learned from the events and the analysis, and the action that needs to be taken to improve the protection of children in the future. The evaluation list shows the serious case reviews carried out by Local Safeguarding Children Boards that Ofsted has evaluated. We publish the outcome of evaluations on a quarterly basis. The latest list was published on 19 January 2011. You can download the evaluations from:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Other-statistics/Serious-case-review-evaluations-April-2007-onwards

Safeguarding Newsletter

You can download the Wakefield District Safeguarding Children's Board Autumn 2010 Newsletter here

You can download the Wakefield District Safeguarding Children's Board Summer 2010
Newsletter .

You can download the Wakefield District Safeguarding Children’s Board Spring 2010 Newsletter here

Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board

You can download the WDSCB Safeguarding Children Business Plan for 2010 from this link:
http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EF241783-0D5A-47BA-8C68-335CE87A4A64/0/LSCB_Business_Plan_2010.pdf 

Safeguarding

Local Safeguarding Children Boards - The Department for Education has published ‘ The Evaluation of Arrangements for Effective Operation of the New Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England - Final Report'. The report concludes that ‘Although representation of the Third Sector [on LSCBs] by national charities is good, challenges also remain in terms of developing and maintaining links with smaller local organisations'.
www.education.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DFE-RR027.doc

Are they safe?

You can get a FREE Are they Safe? Pack from the Safe Network, which is a body jointly run by Children England and the NSPCC. This pack is designed to help voluntary and community organisations put the essentials in place to safeguard the children that they are working with. You can download Are they safe? Guide Part A: introduction, which will help you get safeguarding essentials in place, from:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/resources/are_they_safe/_layouts/DocumentDownload.aspx?itemId=37&dm_i=6I8,7A1Q,QNWNC,I8IX,1

And you can download Are they safe? Guide Part B: plan of action, which includes checklists, templates and exercises, from:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/resources/are_they_safe/_layouts/DocumentDownload.aspx?itemId=38&dm_i=6I8,7A1Q,QNWNC,I8IX,1

Safer recruitment practices for staff and volunteers

Check out practical advice and information about safer recruitment of staff and volunteers on the safe Network website:
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/help_and_advice/employing_the_right_people/Pages/Safer_Recruiting.aspx

Safeguarding in Schools (ISIS)

The NSPCC has launched Improving Safeguarding in Schools (ISIS), an online self-assessment and development resource to help schools improve children's safety and well-being. ISIS is currently available for schools in England, with plans to produce versions for the other UK nations. (From: NSPCC Library & Information Service's CASPAR)
Source: Improving Safeguarding in Schools (ISIS) 12 MY 2010
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforteachers/qit/qit_wda62638.html 

Thresholds for referral to Children's Social Care

The purpose of the document is to help practitioners and managers focus and identify the needs of children and young people and the actions required to meet those needs.

The information is targeted primarily at professionals who come into regular contact with children, young people and families. It provides guidance on what to do if professionals have concerns about a child/young person's welfare and assist them in clarifying actions to take. However, it is important that organisations in the Voluntary Community Sector who work with children and young people are also aware of the guidance and know what action to take.

This guidance does not give all the answers or provide definitive advice on how to assess levels of need. Neither does it replace the judgement that workers and professionals need to use when working with children, young people and their families. In order to ensure that correct referral and assessment processes and systems are in place this document aims to set out the safe application of thresholds in Wakefield MDC.

The initial point of contact in Wakefield MDC for children's social care is Social Care Direct. This service has a dual purpose: progressing referrals that are assessed by them as requiring further intervention, and to signpost response to other provision or services where social care intervention is not appropriate.

Safeguarding is every ones business and if we are uncertain about referring a child or young person to Social Care Direct, PLEASE consult with colleagues or lead personnel (named person, designated teachers or lead professionals in safeguarding).

 You can download the Threshold document here

Local Authority Safeguarding Procedures

Here is a link
http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/search.htm?type=Or&Exclude=&resStart=0&resEnd=20&term=interagency+safeguarding+procedures&x=23&y=10

 Bereavement Support

The Wakefield and District Safeguarding Children Board have produced a report, Multi-agency guidance on the provision of bereavement support in cases where a child has died. You can download the document at the link below.
http://www.gowild.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/22FAD62F-E947-48C7-B5D4-183A84661397/0/LSCB_Bereavement_Guidance_35.pdf

What to do if you are worried a child is being abused
You can download this report on the link below.
http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/6840-DfES-IFChildAbuse.pdf 

Useful Safeguarding Links

As a consequence of a recent Ofsted inspection it was highlighted that frontline staff were unaware of The West Yorkshire Interagency Safeguarding Procedures. It is now imperative frontline staff familiarise themselves with these procedures. They can be found on the following link.
http://www.procedures.leedslscb.org.uk/ 

Please note: that the website is updated twice a year so it is important to check it and not just print off a hard copy.

The following links are for the various districts in West Yorkshire.

http://www.leedslscb.org.uk/

http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/default.htm

http://bradford-scb.org.uk/

http://www.kirkleessafeguardingchildren.co.uk/

  the VCS rep on the Safeguarding Children Board 

 Multi-agency safeguarding children procedures

These procedures have now been updated to reflect change in guidance etc

The internet address at which these procedures are accessed has now changed from:

www.wakefield.gov.uk/lscb to www.proceduresonline.com/westyorkscb

If you access the procedures via links on an internal intranet, or via your own desktop shortcut, these links will need to be changed to the new address.

If you access them via the Wakefield and District Safeguarding Children Board website, you will not be affected.

Here is a link on the Young Lives website to a leaflet about the changes

Or access it at www.proceduresonline.com/westyorkslscb

Safe Network

This website is about keeping children safe when taking part in activities – from after school art clubs to weekend reading groups and more – outside the home. So if you’re wondering whether your child or group is safe, read on.
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/Pages/default.aspx

Inside madrassas: understanding and engaging with British-Muslim

faith supplementary schools
Madrassas are a significant part of many British communities and feature strongly in the lives of most Muslim children in the UK. But relatively little is known about how they operate and the impact they may have on pupils and communities. At present, there is a significant lack of understanding among policymakers and the wider public about madrassas. Very little of what features in public debates has been generated through rigorous research. The main source of public information stems from the media. This report attempts to fill to gaps by providing new evidence about how British madrassas work, the impact they have on local communities, and their role in the educational, social and religious development of children.
The report investigates the three important challenges that face madrassas in the UK:
• Lack of evidence about what work madrassas do and how they work
• Concerns about the impact of madrassas on community cohesion and radicalisation
• The influence of madrassas on children's education and welfare.
Download the report from:
http://www.ippr.org/publications/55/8301/inside-madrassas-understanding-andengaging-with-british-muslim-faith-supplementary-schools

Learning and achieving in Madressahs

Wakefield District Safeguarding Board have produced guidelines to assist Ustaads and Mosque management committees in issues surrounding safeguarding children.  Here is the introduction to the document.

Wakefield District is fortunate in having a diverse community which is well served by established community organisations that support and meet the needs, both religious and cultural, of the local people. Within the Muslim community the West Yorkshire Police, along with our partner agencies, recognise the important role played by Mosques, and the Madressah schools that are part of them, in assisting parents in the spiritual, social and emotional development of their children.

These guidance notes are designed to assist Ustaads and Mosque management committees in achieving good practice both in teaching and child welfare by providing the training and information about fulfilling their legal responsibilities towards the children they teach. West Yorkshire Police wholeheartedly support this initiative and hope that it contributes to everyone’s common goals of helping children and young people develop safely and to their fullest extent, thereby allowing them to become confident and active members of the wider community of Wakefield District.

Download the guidelines here:

http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/87E174D2-28AD-4B75-BED4-02521B6B8381/0/WSCB_Madressahs.pdf

 

Keeping children safe in BME communities

The Safe Network, jointly managed by the NSPCC and Children England, has produced a resource for trainers and group leaders to raise awareness about keeping children safe which is specifically aimed at those working with or in black and minority ethnic communities. Available in a range of languages, the Keeping Our Children Safe CD-Rom can be ordered at no charge from
http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/resources/Pages/bme_communities_cd_rom.aspx 

 What to do if you are worried a child is being abused

You can download this report on the link below.
http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/6840-DfES-IFChildAbuse.pdf