Safe and well: Good practice in schools and education authorities for keeping children safe and well

Charter for Children

Get to know us
Speak with us
Listen to us
Take us seriously
Involve us
Respect our privacy
Be responsible to us
Think about our lives as a whole
Think carefully about how you use information about us
Put us in touch with the right people
Use your power to help
Make things happen when they should
Help us be safe

The Pledge to Children - Children will:

Get the help they need when they need it
Be seen by a professional such as a teacher, doctor or social worker to make sure children are all right and not put at more risk
Be listened to seriously, and professionals will use their power to help children
Be able to discuss issues in private, if and when children want to
Be involved with children and help them understand decisions made about their lives
Provide children with a named adult to help them

Professionals will:

Share information to protect children
Minimise disruption to other parts of children's lives
Work together effectively on children's behalf
Be competent, confident, properly trained and supported
Rigorously monitor services to continually improve how and what is done to help children

Education authorities should consider how the Charter for Children is enacted in their day-to-day work and in their schools and other services, and, when children need help and support, how the Pledge to Children is fulfilled.

Children will get the help when they need it

National Framework for Standards - Protecting Children and Young People

Standard 1 Children get the help when they need it

Standard 2 All professionals, including those in education authorities and schools, take timely and effective action to protect children

Standard 3 All professionals, including those in education authorities and schools, ensure children are listened to and respected

Standard 4 All agencies and professionals, including education authorities and schools and their staff, share information about children when it is necessary to protect them

Standard 5 All agencies and professionals, including education authorities and schools and their staff, work together to assess needs and risks and develop effective plans

Standard 6 All professionals, including those in education authorities and schools, are competent and confident

Standard 7 All agencies, including education authorities and schools, work in partnership with members of the community to protect children

Standard 8 All agencies, individually and collectively, including education authorities and schools, demonstrate leadership and accountability for their work and its effectiveness

The national framework for standards is

for all services provided to children and their families;
for all staff who come into contact with children;
for all children and their families and especially those within the child protection system; and for all staff who work particularly with children and families within the child protection system.

The strategic and general principles described in the 8 standards set out minimum expectations and provide a means for education authorities, schools and their staff to assess their own performance.

The national framework for standards is the means by which the Charter for Children will be delivered.

Make things happen when they should.

1. Introduction - helping children and young people stay safe and well

Education authorities must ensure that the services they manage and the staff they employ are developed to play their part in keeping children safe and well.

Staff must be suitable to work with children and must be trained and supported to be aware of signs that children and families need help, and must know who to contact and what to do when there are concerns.

Services must be prepared and practiced at working collaboratively, so that support for children and families is provided quickly and seamlessly.

This guide is for designated senior managers in education authorities responsible for Child Protection. This position is referred to throughout this series of documents as 'Child Protection in Education Manager' ( CPEM). As the lead officer for their education authority, CPEMs must be provided with sufficient support and training to enable them to offer help and support to staff in schools and front-line services when complex issues arise. They must be accessible, approachable and supportive, and willing to seek further advice and support from others. The role may be designated centrally or at area/learning community level. However education authorities must be confident that their strategic, developmental role, as well as their support and accountability role, is fulfilled.

Although the term 'school' is used throughout, it applies equally to other services provided by education authorities to children and young people, such as outreach teaching services, home-school services, educational psychology services and off-site provision. Approaches in these services should focus on helping children and young people to be safe and well, and supporting children and young people when there are concerns.

Throughout this document the term 'parent' should be taken to mean a child or young person's parent, guardian or carer.

Schools and authorities should regularly monitor and review their child protection procedures. HMIE will also review policies, practices and procedures as part of their inspection programme.

2. The role of education authority Child Protection in Education

Schools and front-line education services will play the greatest role in ensuring all children and young people are safe and well. They will carry out many day-to-day tasks which require awareness of what can be done to ensure maximum safety and wellbeing. They will also have the most daily contact with children, young people and often their parents, and may be first to notice that children, young people and families are in need of help. They may be the first adult to whom a child, young person or parent will turn for help. When there are serious concerns, schools and other education services play a vital role in ensuring consistency of support and stability for children and young people experiencing difficult circumstances.

Child Protection in Education Managers are the key enablers for schools and front-line services to play their part in keeping children and young people safe and well, and supporting them. They may operate at area/learning community level or central authority level. Their role includes:

providing advice and support for staff seeking help and information
acting as an accessible and reassuring 'critical friend' to consider practice and options
acting as a champion for the best outcomes for children and young people in decision making and action planning
safeguarding the integrity and values of the education service
advocating for the care and welfare of staff undertaking challenging roles

Education authorities must:

ensure all staff are suitable to work with children and young people
be confident that all staff can recognise signs that children, young people and families need support
be confident that all staff know who to talk to and what to do when there are concerns
have key staff that understand the different support needs of children, young people and families in different and challenging circumstances
have key staff that can play their part in supporting any decision making or investigations
have staff and systems in place to participate in action planning to support children, young people and families and the capacity to respond whenever the need arises
ensure that support for children and young people is based on need and does not wait for the outcome of investigations

3. Support and development

The education authority is responsible for the development of appropriate information for staff to ensure awareness of children's needs, and guidance for staff on local practice and procedures required when there are concerns. The Safe and Well handbook does not replace local procedures; it may be used to supplement local guidance or as a benchmark of requirements. Local structures and culture must inform detailed local procedures.

The task of enabling schools to play their part in keeping children safe and well cannot be left to guidance alone. The CPEM plays a dual role of support and development, in order to ensure that the education authority, its schools and services fulfil the requirements of the National Standards for Protecting Children, and that it demonstrates leadership and is accountable for its work and effectiveness (National Framework Standard 8).

Support

The CPEM will provide support for staff in schools and other services the authority provides to ensure:

children get the help they need, when they need it (National Framework Standard 1)
staff take timely and effective action to protect children (National Framework Standard 2)
the authority and schools share information about children when this is necessary to protect them (National Framework Standard 4)
the authority and schools listen to children and respects them (National Framework Standard 3)
the authority and schools work effectively with communities to protect children (National Framework Standard 7)

Policy and practice checklist:

Support and advice
guide and advise staff and school CP Co-ordinators on aspects of their day-to-day work in which care and welfare and child protection issues need to be considered
be aware of the particular needs arising from the diversity of the local population and plan how to respond to special issues ( e.g. need for translation services)
have systems in place to update schools and other education services on key issues
have systems in place for full-cover of emergency contact
have the capacity to discuss in detail with staff in schools and services any complex concerns which require consideration and senior involvement
Action planning to support children, young people and parents
have well developed models in which standards of personal support for children and young people in schools are met ( Happy, Safe and Achieving their Potential;SEED, 2005)
have systems in place for school-level and authority-level multi-agency assessment, stages of intervention, and options for supporting children, young people and parents
have tools, resources and successful approaches for involving children, young people and parents in expressing their views about their needs and their preferred support
have systems in place so that information about children at risk is shared and that there is a coherent and consistent approach to supporting them in relation to processes such as exclusion, or non-attendance at school, offending in the community, non-compliance with supervision orders, or presentation to health services for ill-health or injury

Think about how vulnerable children are supported in your area

Decision making, support for investigation and tracing children and young people
have clear criteria for when the CPEM will be involved in decision making relating to child protection or disciplinary concerns
have agreed timelines for decision making at school and authority level to ensure prompt action
have agreed with other agencies the criteria and processes for child protection case conferences
have an awareness of the level and nature of investigations carried out in the authority, supporting more closely when necessary, and maintain an overview with school staff of process and outcomes
receive information from schools on children and young people who disappear from view of the school and corroborate the flagged level of concern with school staff (see Safe and Well A-Z and Children Missing Education). Act promptly to confirm the child is still in the authority area and take action to ensure the child's or young person's safety and wellbeing
collaborate with other education authorities via the national Children Missing Education service to share information and intelligence on children and young people who have disappeared from view about whom there are concerns. Take action within the authority area to seek children and young people who may have arrived after disappearing from other areas

Development

The CPEM must play a developmental role to ensure schools and staff in their services are in a position to achieve the best outcomes for children who need help, and that:

staff are competent and confident (National Framework Standard 6)
the authority and its schools work together with other agencies to assess needs and risks and develop plans (National Framework Standard 5)

Policy and practice checklist:

Recruitment and staff management
staff responsible for personnel issues are familiar with the Protection of Children Scotland Act (2003) and other relevant legislation
staff involved in recruitment are trained and familiar with practices to screen applicants fully
staff are confident to judge when disclosure checking is required
information for applicants clearly states the authority's commitment to keeping children and young people safe and well, and its approach to screening candidates
induction for new staff provides a code of conduct
induction for new staff introduces child protection policy and practice
there is clear protocol for responding to complaints against staff and trained staff to conduct investigations and disciplinary procedures
there is clear agreement with contractors and partner agencies on staff suitability, disclosure, codes of conduct and managing complaints
Staff development
all staff are trained in child protection awareness and refreshed at regular intervals
schools and other education services are provided with training tools and resources for local use
school CP Co-ordinators and senior managers are provided with regular specialist training for their role
senior managers in schools and other services are trained in de-briefing and supporting staff who are involved in supporting children, young people and families
staff in key roles for child protection and personal support are enabled to network and share good practice
staff in key roles in child protection and personal support are enabled to learn from practice in Scotland and other countries
education authority staff have opportunities for multi-agency training and networking
review with partner agencies the quality of processes, referrals, investigations and support planning in order to develop staff accordingly

Policy development and guidelines

the education authority provides an over-arching framework for policy and practice supporting care and welfare and child protection
the education authority provides schools and other education services with tools for local policy development and consultation; support for implementation; and quality assurance
the education authority provides schools and other education services with information resources to help them inform and involve children, young people and parents in policy development and quality assurance

Education authorities play a key role in developing the quality of support for children.

Strategic partnership development
the education authority plans, with partner agencies, for prevention of child protection incidents and for responding when concerns arise
the education authority conducts, with its partners, a regular audit or review of training, processes and outcomes for children, to inform strategic development
there is a mutual understanding of roles, responsibilities and capacities at strategic and local levels. There is a focus on problem solving to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people
there are clear agreements for information sharing at strategic and local levels
there are regular horizon scanning and contingency planning exercises to consider joint responses to special issues ( e.g. re-housing of sex offenders)
partner agencies share scenario exercises to reach shared understanding, vision and operational approaches to concerns and incidents
elected members, chief executives, boards of directors and others involved in the highest levels of decision making, lead collaborative working and communicate expectations to policy makers and practitioners
Liaison with the Child Protection Committee
the education authority child protection officer provides consistent representation of the education service at Child Protection Committee meetings
on behalf of the education authority, the CPEM participates in joint planning and development with the Child Protection Committee and shares education authority developments

Join with other services in being responsible for keeping us safe and well. Use your power to help, together.