Categories
Healthy Schools Safeguarding Schools

Understanding the impact of parental alcohol use on children and others – free conference

FREE Conferences for everyone working with children and families in Haringey. Choose from one of three dates/venues:

Wednesday 23 October 9am -1.30pm London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham

Thursday 31 October 9am -1.30pm Highgate Junior School, Highgate

Tuesday 12 November 12pm – 4.30pm Alexandra Palace, Wood Green

 

·     Hear more about the impact of alcohol use on children from experienced speakers

·     Discuss how we can support families who are impacted by alcohol

·     Take away practical resources to use in your work

·     Hear from those with lived experience of parental alcohol use

·     Engage in networking opportunities

 

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

 

Book your place here (external link)

This project is funded by the DFE Innovation Fund to support Children of Alcohol Dependant Parents.

Partnership organisations include Adfam, Insight Platform, Anchor Approach and Haringey Council.

 

Read more about Haringey’s Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents Project here (external link)

Categories
Health and Safety Safeguarding

Your school attendance policy and safeguarding issues

Dear Head teachers and Chairs of Governors

In 2016, a four year old Hackney child died at home from dehydration and starvation following the unexpected death of his mother two weeks earlier.  Chadrack had learning difficulties and he did not know how to call for help or feed himself properly.

Following a Disabled Children’s policy and practice review group in June 2018, a number of actions were recommended as a result of the discussion regarding the attached Local Review into the death of Chadrack. CHSCB-Local-Review-Chadrack-Report-FINAL It took 17 days for Chadrack to be found, despite efforts from his school to obtain entry to his flat, which they were unable to do because of a communal door entry system.

The review group came up with the following recommendations, which are specifically pertinent to schools and settings with non-verbal students.

  • For each of the special schools to share their attendance policies. 
  • For schools to provide information as to when the ‘unplanned absence’ process starts and in what form.  If the Absence starts or continues through a school holiday this may well delay support getting to a child in time.
  • For schools to have a number of up-to-date contact numbers for family/friends that are not just limited to the main carer.
  • For schools to ask parents if they would like to share any information regarding their own health condition that might impact on their ability to care for their child – when to be worried
  • For schools to devise a safety plan with the parent if they disclose that they have epilepsy  
  • For schools to devise a safety plan with the parent if the child is non-verbal or young and unable to summon help.
  • For schools and parents to work in partnership re preparing children to access help – texting etc.
  • We enquired as to whether any of the special schools had ever audited their absences against their protocol to check compliance.
  • For Housing to be asked if they have an Intercom fob that bypasses the ordinary communal door entry system in council house blocks which DCT are following up.
  • For Wajeeha Amin (Education Welfare Officer) to share Education Welfare’s process for their series of checks for ‘missing children’ with the schools for information.  

Jeannette Brand, Deputy Head of Service for Integrated Service for Children with SEND, has asked for feedback from you and your schools regarding this matter –  what actions you already have in place and those that you might propose as a result of the findings into Hackney’s review.  Please feedback to Jeannette – Jeannette.brand@haringey.gov.uk

Please also forward a copy of your Attendance policy to Jeannette as soon as possible.

Finally, Hackney has shared the attached Attendance policy template that Hackney’s Learning Trust are recommending to their schools as a result of the review.  I am also attaching a copy of the Roles and Responsibilities regarding attendance for information purposes.

Attendance and Safeguarding Sample Policy 2017

Attendance – Roles and Responsibilities 2017

Eveleen Riordan, Assistant Director, Schools and Learning, Haringey Council

 

 

Categories
Governance Safeguarding

Updated safeguarding guidance from September

The Department for Education (DfE) has published an updated version of the statutory guidance Keeping children safe in education (external link)  which will come into effect on 3 September 2018. Until that date, the current guidance (published in September 2016) is still in force.

‘Keeping children safe in education’ is the key document setting out schools’ safeguarding responsibilities and governing boards should ensure that it is reflected in the school or trust policies and understood by all staff.

The DfE has also published separate advice (external link)    on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges. This follows an inquiry (external link)  by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee which found that 59% of girls and young women aged 13-21 said in 2014 that they had faced some form of sexual harassment at school or college in the previous year. The advice covers schools’ legal responsibilities, a whole school approach to prevention, and responding to a report of sexual violence or harassment.

 

Categories
Safeguarding School Admissions Schools

Children Missing Education (CME) protocol and new roll return

FAO all Primary and Secondary Schools

The CME statutory guidance (external link) published in September 2016 sets out key principles to enable local authorities in England to implement their legal duty under section 436Aof the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, children missing education (CME).

Like many of our neighbouring authorities, Haringey has devised a new protocol to ensure that we are fulfilling our statutory duty and safeguarding responsibility to all children known to us. I would be grateful if you could please take 5 minutes to read the attached protocol (external link) .

I would like to thank all schools who participated in the roll return pilot we rolled out a few weeks ago. This is now being rolled out to all Haringey maintained and independent schools following the half term break in the week commencing 5 June 2017. All schools who did not participate in the pilot will be sent the new roll return via email by the end of this week.

As well as the critical safeguarding imperative of ensuring that children are appropriately tracked and monitored and referrals sent to the appropriate service, the purpose of the new roll return is to ensure that we keep up to date figures on the availability of school places in the local area. This enables us to advise parents of pupils moving into the area or wishing to transfer schools of the number of vacancies in the relevant year group.

Please do not hesistate to contact me if you have any queries

Kind regards

Carlo Kodsi, Team Leader School Admissions

Categories
Governance Safeguarding

National Children’s Bureau report on children missing in education

The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) is urging the government to take action in order to assist, identify and support children who go missing in education. In a new report published by the NCB, insight is given into the experiences of young people who “drop off the school roll” and are not educated at home.

Governing boards have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, including those who go missing in education, particularly to aid identification of any risk of abuse and neglect. According to the report, experiences such as bullying, domestic violence, difficult home circumstances, special educational needs and disabilities, are amongst the challenges faced by children who miss out on education. To this end, governing boards must have appropriate safeguarding procedures and responses in place, to help protect such children. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance, Keeping children safe in eduction (external link) includes a dedicated annex outlining further information about children missing in education to help schools formulate their processes effectively in this regard.

The key conclusions and recommendations from the NCB include:

  • The legal definition of children missing education should be expanded
  • Monitoring and awareness should be improved to tackle missing education
  • Data collection and information sharing should be improved
  • Everyone should have clear responsibilities for prevention
  • Lessons should be learnt from existing good practice
  • More must be done to (re)integrate children into education
  • Financial constraints must be considered and addressed

 

Categories
Governance Safeguarding

Safeguarding matters

A free online iSafeguard Forum (external link) has been set up for anyone with an interest in safeguarding, whether they be school staff, health care professionals or social workers.
  
In addition, a recently created a group/ forum (external link) has been set up for school governors who have the child protection/ safeguarding role. 

Please pass this on to your governor with responsibility for safeguarding.

In addition, please contact Governors Services for a model role profile for your governor with responsibility for safeguarding.
 

Categories
Safeguarding

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016

The new Keeping Children Safe in Education document (external link) is now published.

Please make sure all safeguarding policies are updated to refer to this version.

Changes from the 2015 version can be found in annex H.


 

Categories
Safeguarding

Safeguarding

Please note that a new edition of Keeping Children safe in Education (PDF, 555KB) is now available in draft form and will be statutory from September, this is the document that you must refer to in policy and practice from 5 September 2016.

An updated template policy will be circulated prior to September ready for when you review your policy.