Safeguarding Policy Template 2024

Please find below a template Policy for schools to consider when writing their own policy. This template is designed to be used as a starting point therefore please do amend this policy to ensure it reflects your school, setting and procedures. Any questions or feedback, please email school.safeguarding@lancashire.gov.uk Thank you. 

We have also added a non LCC formatted version of the policy below, to support you being able to transfer onto your own school letterheads.

THIS HAS BEEN UPDATED ON FEB 2ND 2024 TO REFLECT WTTSC 2023 AND THE NEW LADO REFERRAL PROCESS. *********

2023-24 - Whole School Training

Please find the updated version of the whole school training PowerPoint below as of 21st August 2023. This is in two parts (due to uploading size), however you should be able to make it into one. This can be delivered over a 2 hour session or in briefings over the academic year to support your delivery of training and keeping all staff up to date. This is your starting template - you can personalise using your own school logos/information and add any additional slides/topics you feel appropriate for your setting.

Please also find below the whole school training handout that contains scenarios and a quiz that compliments the PowerPoint. 

Any queries, please just email, Vicki, Mechelle or Sarah

Children's Social Care Updates

There have been a number of changes from Children's Social Care. Please find all updated information and the link of how to request support here. 

https://www.lancashiresafeguarding.org.uk/resources/assessment-and-referral/

The new Early Help Assessment is live and replaces the CAF. Link here. https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/practitioners/supporting-children-and-families/early-help-assessment/

There have also been some changes to Lancashire's MASH & CSSH COMMS telephony service - please see below updates

MASH are holding multi-agency Q&A sessions. They are virtual and everyone is welcome to log in and seek any advice. Please see the links on the document below. 

Please find below the professional challenge process. The aim of this document is to add detail to the Pan Lancashire Resolving Professional Disagreements (Escalation and Conflict Resolution) when professionals disagree with the decision made by the MASH.

Team Around School and Settings (TASS)

Team Around the School and Settings (TASS) is a way of working that helps us strengthen partnerships and work collaboratively to achieve the very best outcomes for all our children and young people in Lancashire.

Please see link below with contact details of your local Education Partnership Officer (EPO)

Contacts - Lancashire County Council

NSPCC Graded Care Profile 2 Training

The Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) is a tool to support practitioners to work with families with a strengths-based approach.  It helps professionals measure the quality of care provided by a parent or carer in meeting their child’s needs, particularly where there are concerns about neglect.

Using the GCP2 assessment tool, professionals score aspects of family life on a scale of one to five. This assessment helps them identify areas where the level of care children receive could be significantly improved.

LCC colleagues are able to apply and reserve a place HERE (you will be notified of your received application and reserved place).

Early Help Resource Directories - Lancashire

Please find below links to resource directories for Early Help support across Lancashire. These are the latest up to date directories from April 2023. The Lancashire Wide Directory is probably the best to use and the others are for local services specific to your area.

HR - Agency Recruitment and Selection Checklist

Appendix Q of the Recruitment and Selection Guidance can be accessed via the link below. This checklist can be completed and signed by a representative of any Supply Agency used by the School, so that you can be confident that the Agency's systems and procedures for the recruitment and selection of supply staff are in line with the established safer recruitment and selection best practice that is employed within your School

https://schoolsportal.lancsngfl.ac.uk/view_sp.asp?siteid=5792&pageid=32576#anchor152281

It is worth noting that this document is in the Safeguarding and Child Protection template policy and therefore this will need updating in your version if you adapted from this. 

PREVENT updates

Those needing prevent training or a prevent refresher can sign up to one of their online webinars. Please find below leaflets (education only) with all of the dates and information – these webinars are separated into Education settings, Local Authority settings and Health settings. There are plenty of spaces available and we would love to get more people booked on to these sessions so please share this with those it may be relevant to. The links to access the tickets to the events are on the leaflets attached.

Please also find below the new 7 minute briefing from PREVENT Team. This is a great resource to keep knowledge up to date in school through your safeguarding board or staff briefings!

Encompass Support

Operation Encompass Teachers’ Helpline

The founders of Operation Encompass, an information sharing and safeguarding initiative between the police and schools, have set up a Teachers’ Helpline to assist school staff in supporting children who may be experiencing domestic abuse.

Funded by the Home Office, this helpline is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 11am throughout term-time and will provide school staff with the opportunity to seek guidance information and support from educational psychologists.

Phone: 0204 513 9990
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, term-time, 8am to 11am

Further information and resources can be found on the Operation Encompass website

Please see below a press release from LSCFT – can we start to promote this number in East Lancashire (also BwD) to support people who want to access MH services.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust has launched a new service that can be accessed through  a new freephone number – 0800 013 0707 – so that everyone will be able to easily access urgent or general mental health support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Educational Psychologist Service (EPS)

 Lancashire County Council Educational Psychology Service (EPS) provides support to schools, and you can liaise with your SENDCo regarding the offer. Further information can be found on the Local Offer at Educational psychologists - Lancashire County Council and Educational psychology requests - Lancashire County Council.

Additional support which can be sought from the EPS is:

• training and resources on Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSA), details of which can be found here Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance - Lancashire County Council
• training and support for Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, details of which can be found here Lancashire – ELSA Network
• Critical Incident Psychological First Aid support for head teachers following a critical incident within the school community. Please ring the SEND area office (numbers available at links above) to access this service.

NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe Programme

FREE Speak out. Stay safe. programme and other resources available for schools and parents/carers. 

Following the pandemic we have taken a decision to continue offering Speak out. Stay safe. assemblies as an online resource only, due to their success and the positive feedback we’ve received from schools. So schools can now access our assemblies whenever they want and as many times as they need by registering via our website. We’re delighted that during the summer term we successfully began to deliver our Year 5 and 6 Speak out. Stay safe. workshops again, facilitated by our excellent volunteers face-to-face, as a follow-up to the online assemblies in some areas (depending on volunteer availability)

We have been encouraging primary schools (including PRUs and SEND schools), to book our Speak out. Stay safe. online programme for the autumn term.

Speak out. Stay safe. online programme

With the amazing support of Ant and Dec, our online Speak out. Stay safe. programme is available for children aged 5 to 11, and includes access to video assemblies and supporting resources for use in the classroom. A BSL version is also available for Deaf children and our specially adapted SEND version of Speak out. Stay safe. remains available as usual.

Other resources  

Below is a further list of resources available on NSPCC webpages to support schools and parents/carers or you can go directly to NSPCC Learning.

Online safety hub

The list of resources includes links to our Online Safety Hub where you will find advice and information on a range of different online safety topics including gaming, social media, sharing nudes, parental controls and more.

You will also find online safety information for families of children with additional needs and disabilities. We have worked with Ambitious about Autism and parents and carers who have children with additional needs and disabilities to create activities to help talk about online safety (see links in attached resources list).

Safer Recruitment

Please see below link to access the HR page for up to date information.

Schools' Portal (lancsngfl.ac.uk)