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National Careers Week

National Careers Week

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Staffing and recruitment

It’s that time of year when young people across the country start turning their attention to revision, exams and what they will do when they leave school, either after completing their GCSEs or higher exams such as A Levels and T Levels. National Careers Week (NCW) runs from 6th – 11th March with the aim of being a focus for careers guidance, and offering lots of free advice, information and useful downloadable resources to help young people navigate this important time.

NCW is also a one-week celebration of all things ‘careers’ in the UK and it is sponsored by a whole host of diverse industries and work sectors from the BBC to Careers in Racing, the WWF to the financial sector and from Maritime UK to the UK Space Agency, so there really is something out there for everyone, whatever their interests.

The NCW website is available throughout the year and is full of resources, webinar and event details, advice and information, not only for young people but also for educators, employers and parents too. And as we head towards a greener economy, last year saw the launch of the Green Careers NCW category which showcases new jobs in the burgeoning green industry sector.

Social media plays a big part in advertising and raising awareness of the week and participants can use the hashtag #NCW2023! this year to link up to others and raise the profile of the week across their social media partners. Previous years have proved a vital link for young people. During the pandemic, NCW2021 and NCW2022 reached over 1 million young people and had over half a million views of the 2022 Virtual Careers Fair online and over 14,000 resource downloads. All these things are designed to help inspire and inform young people so they can take positive actions towards the future of their choosing.

NCW and early years

At first glance, early years practitioners may see little relevance in NCW and the early years, since the children in our care have not even started school, let alone be thinking about their next career move! But obviously, the early years profession has a very keen interest in NCW since many new recruits into the early years sector join at age 16 or 18 on apprenticeship programmes and the week represents an opportunity to raise awareness of the profession and recruit some new staff.

In addition, there may be existing staff whose own children (or indeed the staff themselves) are trying to decide on their next course of action, for whom some extra information and resources would be very beneficial. Transitions can be a stressful time for families, so anything you can do to help support your own staff will also help reduce stress levels and show that you are an employer who cares about the well-being of their staff at all levels. To this end, we have covered information in two categories which we hope you will find useful.

  1. Raising awareness of the early years sector and recruiting staff
  2. Supporting staff with their own or their children’s choices

1. Raising awareness and recruiting new staff

NCW is the perfect opportunity to get out into your local community and raise awareness of the early years sector, how important it is for our society and the advantages of starting a career in such a vital social occupation. Starting a Level 2 apprenticeship at the age of 16 is just the beginning of what could be a life-long career in early years, leading on to Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A’ Level) and eventually to Level 6/7 qualifications and research degrees that can drive new ideas and pedagogical thinking for the benefit of our youngest children and the wider society too.

Here are some ideas to help you make the most of NCW2023!

  • Make contact with your local secondary schools and colleges and talk to their Careers Officers – perhaps you could arrange a stand at a careers fair or meet relevant interested students to get your apprenticeship recruitment information in front of potential local candidates
  • Use your social media presence to advertise your involvement in NCW and use the hashtag #NCW2023! You can also download the campaign graphics here
  • Host or sponsor a space at the NCW Virtual Careers Fair to showcase your organisation – contact nick.newman@ncwcic.co.uk 
  • Talk to Parenta about apprenticeship recruitment opportunities. Parenta recruit and train hundreds of Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices each year, and there are even courses for Team Leaders, Supervisors and Lead Practitioners up to Level 5

2. Supporting existing staff and their children

National Careers Week has lots of very useful information for parents and educators including newsletters, lesson plans and a Parent’s Guide which explains all the options that young people have after GCSEs. It provides parents with the information they need to help their teenage children make the right choices to create successful futures after GCSE and sixth form. This includes information about:

  • A Levels
  • T Levels
  • BTECs
  • Apprenticeships
  • Traineeships
  • Internships
  • Other qualifications and exam retakes
  • University
  • HNCs and HNDs
  • Gap years
  • Starting work
  • Starting your own business
  • Work experience 

Some ideas to help your staff during NCW

  • Hold an informal careers event and allow staff and their children time to research and access some of the information available from NCW. You could collate some prospectuses or brochures from local colleges and if you have any contacts there, why not invite them to speak. It’s often also useful to hear information from people who have studied at a college as well as an official brochure
  • Set up a careers display board in your staff room or other communal area and promote the idea of lifelong learning and CPD courses so that staff know what is available
  • Talk about continued learning at staff meetings and allocate a learning budget for staff so they feel that they are supported throughout their careers, not just at the beginning
  • Chat to your own staff about their own career development – are there courses or further CPD areas that staff wish to explore – remember, although NCW is primarily aimed at teenagers, there is nothing to stop you expanding it to have a discussion with all your staff about their own futures in the industry
  • Parenta also offer a variety of short online CPD courses to upskill existing staff so look at CPD eLearning Courses from Parenta - Develop your Childcare Career for more information

Whatever you do for this year’s NCW, let us know your plans and send your stories to us at Parenta by emailing:
hello@parenta.com. 

Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip seven: overwhelm

Top tips for the terrific twos – Tip seven: overwhelm

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Guest Authors, Parent advice feed

My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for negotiating this time with small ones. Know that with every strike of the keys, I remind myself that advice is easy to give and hard to follow. I will be attempting to practice what I preach this coming year: wish me luck!

In the very first article of this series when I pitched for switching the language of the terrible twos to the terrific twos, I made mention of just how extraordinary a brain is at aged two. It is worth revisiting this now as we consider a famous feature of the ‘T-Twos’: the meltdown, the tantrum, the overwhelmed small person letting it all out at full volume. What is going on here?

Well to understand, it is worth tracing back to what has been happening so far in their young lives. From birth they have been working on wiring their brains. It’s an incredible process, founded in the experiences they have. Sensory experiences, so things they see, hear, taste, touch and feel, send little electronic pulses through the brain, and at first these leave just a trace, but with time and with repetition, what was a trace becomes an established neural pathway. As more pathways find their way into the brain they meet each other and connect, and the brain forms networks of neural pathways. These are the foundations for cognition.

I always imagine it in terms of a forest. The early brain is a densely overgrown forest. When the baby has an experience it sends someone walking through the forest. If this just happens once, the forest remains pretty much the same, save for a few bent over blades of grass. But if it happens repeatedly, a little muddy track is formed, and in time, it becomes a road: an established neural pathway.

When babies are born there are no pathways in the forest, it’s all trees. Imagine being a person trying to navigate from one side of the forest to the other. You would get lost, there are no clues as to which way to go. Without roads, the forest is a confusing place. Little babies find the world…maybe not confusing, but full of wonder. Everything is strange and new. An image of neural pathways at this time will show a few little sprouts scattered over the brain.

Little by little, those pathways are built, tracks appear in the forest and now someone walking through has a vague idea of where to go. At this time in the lives of little ones, you will see them beginning to make sense of the world: reaching for an object they see to grab it with their hand, lifting food to their mouths. An image of neural pathways at this time will show a cobweb of pathways lacing across the brain.

They keep having new experiences and pathways keep on being laid in the forest. Now is about the time, if our metaphorical forest were a real one, that we would see campaigners lashing themselves to trees and trying to protect what is left of the greenery. Because as children approach the age of two, they have had so many experiences in their lives that there are roads everywhere in this forest. An image of neural pathways at this time looks like a child has been left alone with a biro for too long, a dense scribble of line over line crossing over and intersecting with one another covers the whole brain. This brain is a very difficult place to navigate within!

Just like the overgrown forest without any pathways it is hard to navigate across, so is the forest that has been nearly entirely replaced with pathways. When paths lead everywhere, how can you possibly know which way to go? Information comes into the brain – and fires across it in all directions. It is this that creates the wonder and awe. It is this that makes the blade of grass so interesting. It is this that makes them want to stop and stare at a beetle on the path. And it is also this that makes it all too much for them at times. Whilst a blade of grass can be fascinating, the average family living room with voices, a TV and toys would be overloading. Children are amazing and mostly they handle it, but every so often, they do not!

What happens next in the brain is interesting too. It recognises that it is not useful to have SO MANY pathways, and so it decides which are most used and lets the rest grow over. By the time you are 6, you have a brain that is bespoke to your early environment. The brain continues to change and grow and adapt, but never again do you have as many pathways as you do aged two. So when they do get overwhelmed by it all, understand that if we were in their brain, we would probably be overwhelmed too.

In my next article I’ll look at what to do when the overwhelm hits.

Read this article in our fantastic 40-page monthly Parenta magazine – sign up for your FREE copy here!

About the author:

Joanna Grace is an international Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker and founder of The Sensory Projects.

Consistently rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted, Joanna has taught in
mainstream and special school settings, connecting with pupils of all ages and abilities. To inform her work, Joanna draws on her own experience from her private and professional life as well as taking in all the information she can from the research archives. Joanna’s private life includes family members with disabilities and neurodiverse conditions and time spent as a registered foster carer for children with profound disabilities.

Joanna has published four practitioner books: “Multiple Multisensory Rooms: Myth Busting the Magic”, “Sensory Stories for Children and Teens”, “Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings”, “Sharing Sensory Stories and Conversations with People with Dementia” and “The Subtle Spectrum”. Plus three inclusive sensory story children’s books: “Spike and Mole”, “Voyage to Arghan” and “Ernest and I” which all sell globally and her son has recently become the UK’s youngest published author with his book, “My Mummy is Autistic” which was foreworded by Chris Packham.

Joanna is a big fan of social media and is always happy to connect with people via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Website: thesensoryprojects.co.uk  

The importance of not having a narrow view of imagination and authentic learning

The importance of not having a narrow view of imagination and authentic learning

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Guest Authors

Authentic learning is a very positive experience for your little ones, but sometimes if a very narrow view is taken, it can be the opposite in the long term. Piaget believed the learner must be active to be engaged in real learning and that authentic learning is a pedagogical approach that allows children to explore and problem-solve.

This is where things can go wrong if you are too rigid. Imagination is key to exploration and problem-solving! If we don’t nurture their imagination, they will not gain the full experience and potential of the learning process through play.

How we support children through authentic learning is so important. We all know that the trick to engaging children is for them to be CURIOUS. We want children to be curious to find out about their own environment and ask questions. I have found that over the last 30-plus years that using imagination when seeing the world or outer space, helps create a sense of belonging, and appreciation of their own world around them. In other words, think outside your immediate surroundings otherwise learning can become very insular and ultimately boring for some.

There are many ways of using imagination to enhance authentic learning for example, what could be better than a magical adventure into our amazing solar system to learn about night and day? You never know you may even meet an alien on your adventure...

Let them enjoy and see the fun of maths with imagination ranging from countdown to blast off and comparing sizes, and properties of different planets. Create invitation activities for your little ones. Blasting off into space can be a wonderful multi-sensory experience from the dashboard of the rocket to the sensation of taking off and moving. For some extra fun use, a hairdryer (or battery-operated fan), attached to the inner tube of a loo roll and with crinkly paper attached. Outer space is full of endless fun and mirth especially when you learn that farts are the reason astronauts have a bean-free diet. Who knew farts could be so dangerous?

Farts aside, when you look up, on a clear night, at the moon you can see the craters making the moon an authentic experience as it exists in their immediate surroundings. You could extend that experience by creating an activity using moon sand or flour to see the impact on the moon, or earth when they drop different-sized pebbles with different forces. Add a bit of imagination and add dinosaurs to the mix. Go back in time and find out what happened when the extinction-sized meteor hit the earth.

Poor dinosaurs! This is part of our history on Earth and a great way to inspire the next generation of scientists and palaeontologists with fossil-hunting activities – all this from a trip into outer space!

While you are in outer space you can increase their vocabulary with words from gravity to satellites. Do peek at the bunny-hopping astronauts on the Moon as a fun way to look at gravity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKdwcLytloU 

Between your bunny hopping or avoiding meteors you could spend a few moments watching the oceans on Earth and discover how the moon affects the tides. The way this is presented will depend on their age and abilities.

A follow-on from this could be a fun day trip to the seaside. The children will love searching for and counting sea creatures, shells, and pebbles. At the same time, you can point out the marks in the sand of the high and low tides which are a direct link to the moon. This shows the impact of the moon on their natural environment. I do hope you can see how much fun and authentic learning there is with a sprinkling of imagination. Please do not discount space travel and trips to the moon by viewing them as something they won’t experience directly. In fact, if you are working on the ‘Seasons’ a journey to the moon, is a wonderful way of looking at why we have longer days in the summer and shorter in the winter. The moon helps the earth to maintain its tilt which gives us our seasons as we travel around the sun.

Did you know the other planets in the solar system that have a tilt also have seasons?

Why not celebrate the winter and summer solstice and the children can monitor the length of the day around those events? So many exciting early STEM activities with the magical ingredient I-M-A-G-I-N-A-T-I-O-N!

I know some may feel still feel that a trip to the moon and learning about satellites is not authentic learning as the children will never experience it. But every time you check your Google maps or watch Sky (other brands are available) just think about those satellites in space giving your directions and bouncing a signal to your TV.

Most importantly… you may have the next Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs sitting right in front of you. If we don’t inspire and stimulate their imagination, they will never be confident to explore and see the world and fulfil their full potential. We need creative and imaginative minds to help improve the world. Everything we see around us that is man-made came from our imagination. If we become too insular in our learning and only focus on the immediate surrounding, as I have seen in some early-years settings, we can have too narrow a view of what authentic learning is. This narrow view is curtailing their imagination and creativity. Every child is different, and one size doesn’t fit all. Imagination is disappearing in our little ones. I have seen this myself over the last 30 years of teaching, making me sad. This is the reason for my passion for creating opportunities for imaginative role-play and play. Children need the imagination to be able to be CURIOUS to wonder WHAT, IF, WHY, and HOW?

There are no limits to how imagination, role play, and play lead to valuable and amazing authentic learning experiences for your little ones. Using role-play to visit far-flung places can help them become ethical and informed about the sustainability of our planet. Learning about other countries, cultures, and places enable them to become more knowledgeable. This knowledge will help them to respect the needs and rights of others, as a member of a diverse society. Creativity, imagination, and the arts make us human and connect on so many different levels.

References:

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/farts-an-underappreciated-threat-to-astronauts 

Read this article in our fantastic 40-page monthly Parenta magazine – sign up for your FREE copy here!

About the author:

Gina’s background was originally ballet, but she has spent the last 27 years teaching movement and dance in mainstream, early years and SEND settings as well as dance schools.

Whilst teaching, Gina found the time to has create the ‘Hi-5’ dance programme to run alongside the Australian Children’s TV series and the Angelina Ballerina Dance Academy for Hit Entertainment. 

Her proudest achievement to date is her baby Littlemagictrain.  She created this specifically to help children learn through make-believe, music and movement.  One of the highlights has been seeing Littlemagictrain delivered by Butlin’s famous Redcoats with the gorgeous ‘Bonnie Bear’ on the Skyline stage.

Gina has qualifications of teaching movement and dance from the Royal Ballet School, Trinity College and Royal Academy of Dance.

Use the code ‘PARENTA’ for a 20% discount on Littlemagictrain downloads from ‘Special Editions’, ‘Speech and Language Activities’, ‘Games’ and ‘Certificates’.

Do your children have a safe harbour to return to when things get stormy?

Do your children have a safe harbour to return to when things get stormy?

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Guest Authors, Health and well-being

There are times in all our lives when we need that little bit of extra support. When things feel a little too tough to handle by ourselves we all need a safe place to return to. But for a child who may not have been with you for very long or who is not used to feeling this way, does your “Safe Space Policy” ensure they know how to find you before they begin to struggle?

Many things can cause children’s emotions to spike including conflicts with their friends, difficult experiences in the nursery environment, issues at home or even an impending illness or sleep disruption. In fact, studies show that about 2.5% of children at any time are feeling some level of sadness. But whilst children’s feelings need careful monitoring, should you seek to remove anxiety altogether?

Anxiety refers to feeling worried, nervous or uneasy about something whose outcome we are uncertain of. But life is unpredictable and full of uncertainties as we face every kind of experience. Learning to cope with anxiety means learning to manage this uncertainty and move forward with courage despite our fears. So rather than seeking to eliminate anxiety, we need to support our children’s feelings as we teach them how to recognise their emotions, to manage their anxieties and to have faith in their abilities to do so.

But before a child can begin to manage themselves through difficult times of uncertainty, they need to have established a sense of security within all their environments. And this starts with secure attachments to the caring adults around them. When this fundamental component of early years safety is in place, children’s well-being can flourish as they feel able to take risks and handle life’s unpredictability’s, knowing you are there to catch them if they fall.

Every time you connect with children’s thoughts and emotions you are forging the links that allow these deep-rooted attachments to occur. This will not be the same for every child – nor indeed, for every day. You will then need a varied tool kit at your disposal. But through non-demanding exchanges, you are laying the groundwork that is so important to a child. Establishing a sense of security, as well as offering a safe harbour for them to return to whenever things get tough.

Research at Boston University showed that connecting with an anxious child in an attentive, but non demanding way for just five minutes a day had a profound impact. Simply gather a few non-competitive toys such as crayons, dolls or building blocks and play together. As you do so, keep all your attention on them, rather than other conversations or distractions. Avoid asking questions, correcting or giving instruction as you allow the child to direct. It is important that they experience this time without tension or worry, as you create a warm and relaxed atmosphere around them.

With these ‘safe space guidelines’ in place, you can help children manage their anxieties before they become a crisis. With your strong attachment, you will become aware of the patterns of your children’s thoughts and emotions, ready to respond to any changes that suggest things are becoming more difficult. And ready to act, with the support and guidance they have learnt to trust in.

Known in psychology as social referencing, children look to a person they trust to take their cues, secure in the knowledge that you are there for them and ready to catch them if they stumble. These memories of spending safe time together and connecting establishes you as someone they can trust. Without this, a child can feel like they are facing their fears or more difficult times alone. This is especially important for anxious children who may feel this way a lot of the time and lays the groundwork for when things become particularly bad.

Without it, an anxious child may simply learn to avoid anything connected to their anxieties. While this may offer some immediate and temporary relief, it can see anxiety in these areas grow. Instead, connect with your children as you help them manage and move past their fears with compassion and gentle encouragement throughout the nursery environment.

For example, when a child sees a spider, they will look to you to see how you respond, learning from your reaction. If you are relaxed, they are more likely to be. If you react with an increased set of emotions, their anxiety around spiders will likely grow in preparation for the next time they encounter an eight-legged friend. Especially if anxiety is becoming a default reaction. You don’t need to avoid your own anxiety, look to deny it or even look to belittle its power. Instead, help each other to be brave together, doing something even though you may be afraid of it.

If you feel nervous around spiders, use this as an opportunity to face your fears together. Talk about what it is you don’t like, explore with them how sometimes our fears may be irrational – you know the spider can’t hurt you, but you feel frightened anyway. And help them to see that there may be things they feel braver about than you do, helping their confidence to grow.

Through these exchanges, get to know your children so you can be ready to recognise when things are becoming too much for them to handle. Take the time to really connect and build the safe harbours they know they can always return to. Increased or prolonged anxiety can be dangerous and needs resolving. So, if you are ever worried, then it is probably something to be worried about. And if you are working with a child who seems to have been struggling for what seems like weeks, it may be time to consider professional intervention. Especially if you feel like prolonged periods of difficult emotions have come on suddenly, or without any obvious explanations.

Next time, as we continue our reflections of ‘the happy child’, we will look at supporting children through difficult processes of social connections. But in the meantime, bring focus back to nurturing all of children’s growth and development with a Nurturing Childhoods Accreditation. Whether you are looking for a setting wide approach to reflective practice and active CPD or a more personalised approach with the Nurturing Childhoods Practitioner Accreditation, gain recognition for the nurturing practice you deliver. Through 12 online sessions throughout the year join me and hundreds of nurturing practitioners as together we really begin developing the potential of all children in their early years.

Read this article in our fantastic 40-page monthly Parenta magazine – sign up for your FREE copy here!

About the author:

As Founder of Nurturing Childhoods, Dr Kathryn Peckham is a passionate advocate for children’s access to rich and meaningful experiences throughout their foundational early years. Delivering online courses, training and seminars, she works with families and settings to identify and celebrate the impact of effective childhood experiences as preparation for all of life’s learning. An active campaigner for children, she consults on projects, conducts research for government bodies and contributes to papers launched in parliament. Through her consultancy and research she guides local councils, practitioners, teachers and parents all over the world in enhancing children’s experiences through the experiences they offer. A highly acclaimed author and member of parliamentary groups, Kathryn also teaches a Masters at the Centre for Research in Early Years.

Get in contact with Kathryn by emailing info@kathrynpeckham.co.uk

Safety and safeguarding: IICSA summary

Safety and safeguarding: IICSA summary

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Childcare news, Guest Authors, Running a setting

Introduction

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was established in 2015, following serious concerns where some organisations in England and Wales had failed their duty to safeguard children and the aftermath of the highly publicised Jimmy Savile scandal.

The independent inquiry looked into a wide range of allegations of child sexual abuse within institutions and how they responded to the incidents. Although there were 20 recommendations, this summary will focus on those relating to early years and educational settings.

The Truth Project

The Truth Project, which was concluded in October 2021, was set up to offer more than 6000 victims and survivors of CSA who were abused within a family, an institution or in another context, the opportunity to share their experiences and put forward suggestions for change. Their experiences and views helped inform what needs to be changed to help prevent it happening in the future and shape the Inquiry’s final recommendations.

What is Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)?

Sexual abuse of children involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.

The activities may involve physical contact, including abuse by penetration or non-penetrative acts (such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside clothing). They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse including via the internet. Child sexual abuse includes child sexual exploitation (CSE).

The Truth Programme statistics

Of the 6000+ victims and survivors involved in the programme, it was identified:

47% first experienced CSA under the age of 7 years old

12% of those were under the age of 3

36% stated at least one of their incidents took place outside the family home – schools were the most frequently reported locations

70% were female

90% were from white ethnic background

45% stated they now have an illness/condition that affects their everyday life

The final report

The final report is made up of two parts: the first part sets out to represent the voices of the 6000+ victims and survivors with regards to their experiences. The second part records the Inquiry’s conclusions and recommendations.

Conclusions

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of abuse have a significant and ongoing impact well into adulthood.

Many victims disclosed abuse to trusted adults thinking action would be taken yet nothing happened. In fact, disclosure of abuse by the victims were often met with embarrassment, fear or disbelief by those who were entrusted to safeguard them. In some incidents, the children disclosing the abuse had been accused of lying or the incidents blamed on their lifestyle choices.

The report has a number of common themes emerging:

  • The vulnerability of the victim
  • Perpetrators’ methods used to avoid detection
  • Barriers for children to disclose abuse
  • Organisational failure

• Inadequate or no safeguarding policies

• Staff welfare being prioritised over the safety and welfare of the child

• Staff unaware of indicators of CSA

• Statutory inspectorates failing to effectively examine settings safeguarding arrangements

• Information sharing and document retention

  • Life-long impact of ACEs and of online abuse.

Recommendations

The Inquiry has called for the creation of Minister of Children and the establishment of individual Child Protection Authorities for both England and Wales to improve child protection practice, policy, inspection and monitor the implementation of the recommendations.

Settings engaging any person to work or volunteer with children on a frequent basis - including when they are being supervised, to be checked to see whether they have been barred by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) from working with children.

Improved compliance to statutory duties for settings to refer concerns about the unsuitable behaviour of adults working with children to the DBS.

Requirement for those in regulated activity, position of trust or a police officer to mandatory report CSA where:

  1. A disclosure from a child or perpetrator is received
  2. Witnessing a child being sexually abused
  3. Observed recognised indicators of CSA

Make it a criminal offence for mandatory reporters to fail to report CSA where it meets 1 or 2 as above.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to produce a code of practice and guide on the retention of and access to records known to relate to CSA. CSA related data should be kept for 75 years with appropriate review periods

In short, the recommendations address the need for greater awareness, focus on leadership, policy, understanding data retention, that there should be ‘mandatory reporting’ and make it a criminal offence not to report CSA where in meets the threshold.

The 20 overarching recommendations will be reviewed and possibly implemented by the Government.

What should we do now?

Read the full list of recommendations, found in Annex 3 of the Final Report identifying those relevant to your setting.

Review your setting’s safeguarding arrangements, policies and child protection recording keeping practices to ensure you are doing what you can to safeguard the children in your care against CSA and harm.

Ensure staff safeguarding training is effective and up to date. Training includes staff awareness, of how to recognise the signs and indicators of CSA, the impact of adverse childhood experiences, what to do if they are worried a child is being abused and their responsibilities if a child discloses to them.

Embed a whole setting culture of “it could happen here”, all staff understand that the welfare of the child is paramount and is prioritised over personal and institutional reputation.

Ensure there are clear and understood low-level concern and adult allegation procedures in place. These should be reflected in setting policies.

Review your document retention practices in relation to safeguarding.

Resources

The Final Report

The Truth Project Dashboard

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022

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

Farrah & Co Developing and implementing a low-level concerns policy

CEOP Education Resources

Child Sexual Abuse Signs and Indicators Template

Introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences Training

Read this article in our fantastic 40-page monthly Parenta magazine – sign up for your FREE copy here!

About the author:

Yvonne Sinclair is an award-winning Independent Safeguarding Consultant, Trainer and Presenter specialising in the education and early years sectors and the founder of Safeguarding Support Limited. Yvonne has a wealth of safeguarding and child protection experience, having developed the role of National Safeguarding Officer for a national children’s charity. In that role she was responsible for leading on and developing safeguarding compliance, policy, and training. 

2015 saw Yvonne moving to an become independent, supporting educational providers and early years settings with all aspects of their safeguarding requirements to ensure organisational confidence of safeguarding compliance. Yvonne is AET qualified, trained in child protection by the NSPCC, an accredited trainer to deliver Safer Recruitment by the Safer Recruitment Consortium, a member of the Association of Child Protection Professionals (formerly BASPCAN), Child Protection in Education (CAPE) and National Association of Designated Safeguard Leads (NADSL). 

As all early years safeguarding leads are more than aware, there are constant changes of safeguarding statutory legislation and best practice and sometimes the understanding and clarity of those changes and our roles within them may become a little confused - none more so than within all the recent updates in EYFS, safer recruitment, early years online safety…. just to name a few. 

Yvonne’s aim is to ensure that ‘safeguarding is simplified’. Find out more about Yvonne, her team and the support services they offer at www.safeguardingsupport.com. 

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