NSPCC Learning Podcast

80: How to build emotional resilience in children

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:42:43 +0000

In this podcast episode, staff from the NSPCC Scotland hub discuss an emotional resilience programme they developed and delivered across seven primary schools in Govan, Glasgow.

The discussion covers what emotional resilience is and why it is important; the benefits of running an emotional resilience programme; and how practitioners can be trauma-informed when delivering emotional resilience work.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Jennifer Dixon is a Team Manager at the NSPCC Scotland National Hub.

Jo Grace is a Children’s Services Practitioner with the NSPCC in Scotland.

Prajapa Seneviratne is a Research and Evaluation Officer at the NSPCC in Scotland.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Read the implementation evaluation report of the Emotional Resilience programme in Govan’s primary schools

> Take our Mental health and wellbeing safeguarding in education training

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79: An introduction to contextual safeguarding

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:55:57 +0000

In 2015, Professor Carlene Firmin coined the term ‘contextual safeguarding’ to describe an approach to safeguarding young people that looks at additional ‘contexts’ for harm outside of the family home and beyond the control of a child’s parents and carers.

In this podcast episode, we speak to Carlene about the concept of contextual safeguarding and how practitioners can incorporate contextual safeguarding practices into their work with children and families.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Professor Carlene Firmin MBE is a Professor of Social Work and Director of the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding at Durham University. She is also Co-Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Social Work, co-convener of a special interest group on Social Work and Adolescents for the European Social Work Research Association, a Global Ashoka Fellow, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Churchill Fellowship Advisory Council, and an Associate of Strathclyde University’s Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice. Her book, Contextual Safeguarding and Child Protection: Rewriting the Rules, won the Routledge Prize for a Sociology Monograph in 2020.

Shirley Maginley is a Senior Consultant in the NSPCC’s Professional Learning Services, with over 20 years’ experience supporting professionals and organisations across sectors to strengthen their knowledge, policy and practice in keeping children safe. She draws on her experience in youth and community development to help organisations improve their safeguarding arrangements and create safer environments for children and young people across diverse settings.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Visit the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding website

> Access further contextual safeguarding resources, including resources on context weighting, safety mapping and safety summits

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78: Male experiences of domestic abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:38:17 +0000

Men can be both survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse, and both experiences present distinct safeguarding challenges.

Drawing on practice experience from the NSPCC Helpline and Childline, this podcast episode centres on male experiences of domestic abuse. You’ll learn about the challenges of working with male perpetrators of domestic abuse, the barriers that male survivors of abuse face when coming forward, and the effects of domestic abuse on parent-child relationships.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Emily Harrison is a Domestic Practice Advisor on the NSPCC Helpline, with extensive experience in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector. Her roles include service management, Specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA), Chair of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), and member of the Domestic Abuse Scrutiny Committee. She has also provided training for first responders, equipping them with the skills to support those affected by domestic abuse effectively.

Adrian Somerville has been Helpline Practice Manager with the NSPCC for six years. Before this, he was a NSPCC Helpline Practitioner for over five years. Adrian is a qualified and accredited Counsellor, currently providing support to children and young adults in relation to anxiety and self-esteem issues. He has also previously worked with male survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Cormac Nolan is a Service Head with Childline. He holds responsibility for certain Childline bases delivering the live service as well as for the Childline website and social media.

Stephen Pilling is a Helpline Practitioner at the NSPCC. Before joining the NSPCC, worked as a Group Leader in residential settings, supporting both adults and children with additional needs and disabilities.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Learn more about protecting children from domestic abuse

> Learn how the NSPCC Helpline’s Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors support children and families experiencing domestic abuse

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77: Safeguarding in a multi-academy trust

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 15:07:44 +0000

This podcast episode is hosted by the NSPCC’s Local Services Director Karen Squillino, who is also chair of the wellbeing and safeguarding committee for Lift Schools.

She spoke to Jill Fuller, Head of Safeguarding for Lift Schools and Habib Hussain, who is Lift Schools’ regional DSL for London and the south.

The conversation covered:

the safeguarding roles and responsibilities of a multi-academy trust
the importance of DSLs sharing their experiences to support each other
how to ensure DSLs are continuously learning and adapting to new safeguarding challenges
the benefits and challenges of Lift Schools’ regional approach.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Karen Squillino has over 30 years safeguarding and child protection experience. She has been with the NSPCC since 2011 and currently serves as the Director of Local Services. In addition to her role at the NSPCC, Karen is a trustee at Lift Schools, where she chairs the Wellbeing & Safeguarding Committee.

Jill Fuller is the Head of Safeguarding for Lift Schools with responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive safeguarding strategy across a network of 57 schools, monitoring and supporting safeguarding practices and contributing to the overall educational vision. Her experience spans education, children's social care and multi-agency partners, leading workforce transformation projects and driving rapid performance improvements in children's services.

Habib Hussain has been in education for 21 years and spent 20 years in Lift Aylward. He is currently Deputy Head at Lift New Rickstones and Regional DSL for London and the South, working alongside 11 primary, secondary and special schools. Habib offers support and guidance to all the schools in his region and ensures they are compliant in all aspects of safeguarding and driving rapid performance.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about Lift Schools

> Take our designated safeguarding lead training

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76: Protecting boys from financially motivated sexual extortion

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 13:19:31 +0000

Online sexual extortion can be financially motivated sexual extortion and blackmail using both real and AI generated images of boys and young males. Although this is not a new issue the National Crime Agency and the NSPCC has seen an increase in the last two years of boys experiencing online sexual extortion.

In this podcast episode, the NSPCC's Danielle Harris, Childline manager, discusses online sexual extortion with Marie Smith, who oversees the CEOP education programme based within the National Crime Agency.

The discussion covered:

what online sexual extortion is
how to spot the signs
how to support boys who are experiencing online sexual extortion
how to report real and AI generated images.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Danielle Harris is the NSPCC's Childline Team Manager. Danielle has been part of the Childline family since 2018, starting out on the night service and moving up to Senior Supervisor before taking on their current role as Childline Team Manager.

Marie Smith is a Senior Manager who oversees the CEOP education programme that's based within the National Crime Agency.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> View the CEOP alert for education settings on financially motivated sexual extortion

> Find out more about the Childline Behind the Screen campaign, raising awareness of the sexual coerced extortion of boys

> Read the CEOP financially motivated sexual extortion guidance for parents and carers

> Share Childline’s page for young people about trusting others online

> Find out more about Report Remove

> Read the UK government guidance on responding to incidents of sharing nudes

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75: Child criminal exploitation and the importance of early intervention

NSPCC Learning — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:35:32 +0000

Child criminal exploitation (CCE) is a form of child abuse where a child or young person is forced or coerced to engage in criminal activity or commit any type of crime.

In this episode, the NSPCC Helpline’s Service Head, Denise Ellis spoke to Tara Mellowes who is a Detective Constable in the exploitation team with Leicestershire Police.

The discussion covered:

what CCE is and the different forms it can take
why children can be targets for CCE
signs of CCE that professionals working with children should look out for
why early intervention is so important and what that may look like
how the police can respond to CCE.

The episode was recorded in January 2025. Since then, the Crime and Policing Bill has been introduced into Parliament, which would introduce a new specific criminal offence of child criminal exploitation. This would target the adult as the primary offender in causing harm to the child by exploiting them to commit criminal activity.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Denise Ellis is the service head for the NSPCC Helpline and has almost 43 years’ experience of working with children and families. She previously worked for Manchester Safeguarding Unit and currently delivers training to professionals on identifying the signs of child criminal exploitation.

DC Tara Mellowes joined Leicestershire Police in 2020 and works in the field of child criminal exploitation helping vulnerable young people caught up in county lines. She is passionate about helping shape how we respond to and tackle child criminal exploitation and is proud to have been part of Leicestershire Police’s first prosecutions against CCE offenders.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Learn more about Childline

> Find out more about the NSPCC Helpline

> Take our elearning course on county lines

> Learn more about county lines

> Find out more about child criminal exploitation

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74: Protecting babies from the effects of domestic abuse

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 30 May 2025 13:14:03 +0000

Research by For Baby's Sake suggests that domestic abuse was a factor in almost 50,000 babies a year being referred to children's social care in England between 2021 and 2023.

Our NSPCC Helpline domestic abuse project lead, Paddi Vint, spoke with Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO of the For Baby's Sake Trust, about this research and what we can learn from it.

They offered insight into the importance of services for pregnant families and babies being able to identify concerns and provide support. The discussion covered the difficulties with working out exactly how many babies are impacted by domestic abuse, blockers to parents seeking support and how important accurate language is to reduce shame and stigma around domestic abuse.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Lauren Seager-Smith is the CEO of The For Baby's Sake Trust, pioneering trauma-informed and therapeutic support to break cycles of domestic abuse and give babies the best start in life. Lauren is an experienced charity leader, with previous roles as CEO of Kidscape and the National Coordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Lauren is a regular media spokesperson specialising in domestic abuse, online safety, and bullying. Lauren has held numerous board positions and currently serves on the Action for Children England Committee. Lauren is an Associate of the Institute of Responsible Leadership (IRL).

Paddi Vint is a Quality and Development Manager overseeing the NSPCC Helpline domestic abuse project. She has been with the NSPCC in Belfast for over five years, joining as a Helpline practitioner and then working as a practice manager.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Read the For Baby’s Sake research revealing almost 50,000 babies are referred to children’s social care in England with domestic abuse as a factor

> Watch the Channel 4 report on For Baby’s Sake’s research

> Find out more about For Baby’s Sake

> Learn more about protecting children from domestic abuse

> Find out why domestic abuse is so prevalent during pregnancy with this For Baby’s Sake article

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73: Supporting Black mothers facing perinatal mental health challenges

NSPCC Learning — Thu, 01 May 2025 13:27:23 +0000

Mental health difficulties can have a big impact on parents’ ability to provide responsive care for their babies, especially if parents aren't getting the support they need. Black mothers are disproportionately affected by mental health difficulties and are less likely to receive adequate perinatal mental health support.

In January 2025, Alexis Golden and Chi Mumbi from the NSPCC’s Pregnancy in Mind service spoke to Sandra Igwe Founder and Chief Executive at The Motherhood Group about the experiences of Black mothers and the importance of providing inclusive support for maternal mental health.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Alexis Golden has been with the NSPCC since 2022 and is a Project Development Manager. She develops evidence-based services for families within the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect in the Early Years Theme. Recently, she led the redevelopment of the Pregnancy in Mind service. With a background in education and early childhood development, Alexis is passionate about the wellbeing of children and young people and is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Sandra Igwe is a trailblazing thought leader in Black maternal health, TEDx speaker, and founder of The Motherhood Group and Blackmums. She leverages community engagement, technology and advocacy to improve outcomes for Black mothers. Sandra is Co-Chair of the National Inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care, a Trustee of Birthrights Charity, and author of 'My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System'. Her work has been recognized by Vogue UK and Forbes as an 'Influential Woman of the Year', and she has received the National Lottery Game Changer Award and Santander Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Chi Mumbi is a Children’s Services Practitioner and Social Worker at the London and South East Hub and is the Lead Practitioner for Pregnancy in Mind. Chi is passionate about the intersection of perinatal mental health and race.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Learn more about The Motherhood Group

> Find out more about Pregnancy in Mind

> View the full list of Pregnancy in Mind delivery locations on the NSPCC website

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72: The work of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel – part two

NSPCC Learning — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:45:15 +0000

At the end of 2024, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published a national review exploring the challenges in identifying, assessing and responding to child sexual abuse within the family environment. They also published their annual report for 2023-24, which covers the Panel’s work from April 2023 to March 2024.

This is the second half of our discussion with Annie Hudson, the Chair of the Panel, and Jenny Coles, a Panel member, about what these reports mean for anyone working with children and young people.

In this episode, you’ll hear about how the Panel translates the learning from its reports into improvements to safeguarding practice.

If you haven't done so already, listen to part one, covering the findings of the two reports.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Annie Hudson is the Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. A social worker by profession, Annie has held a range of practice, leadership and academic posts, including Strategic Director of Children’s Services for Lambeth London Borough Council and Director of Children’s Services for Bristol City Council.

Jenny Coles has been a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel since December 2021. Jenny is a qualified social worker and has been a senior manager in local authority children’s services since 1997. Jenny was the President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services from April 2020 to April 2021.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Read our CASPAR briefing summarising the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment

> Read our CASPAR briefing summarising the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel annual report 2023/24

> View our full collection of CASPAR briefings, including those covering previous Panel annual reports

> Read our CASPAR briefing on the national review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson

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71: The work of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel – part one

NSPCC Learning — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:21:43 +0000

In January 2025, we spoke to Annie Hudson, the Chair of the Panel, and Jenny Coles, a Panel member, about what these reports mean for anyone working with children and young people.

In the first half of the discussion, you’ll learn about the findings from the two reports.

Part two covers how the Panel translates the learning from its reports into improvements to safeguarding practice. Listen to part two.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Annie Hudson is the Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. A social worker by profession, Annie has held a range of practice, leadership and academic posts, including Strategic Director of Children’s Services for Lambeth London Borough Council and Director of Children’s Services for Bristol City Council.

Jenny Coles has been a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel since December 2021. Jenny is a qualified social worker and has been a senior manager in local authority children’s services since 1997. Jenny was the President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services from April 2020 to April 2021.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Read our CASPAR briefing summarising the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment

> Read our CASPAR briefing summarising the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel annual report 2023/24

> View our full collection of CASPAR briefings, including those covering previous Panel annual reports

> Read our CASPAR briefing on the national review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson

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70: Online safety – a young person’s perspective

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 11:57:55 +0000

The online world is constantly changing, and young people are often more informed about online trends than adults. Young people are equipped with their own knowledge and understanding of what they need to know and do to stay safe online. It’s important to listen to their thoughts and opinions, and try to incorporate their voice into your online safety work.

In this podcast episode, you’ll hear from Will and Zara, two young people from the NSPCC’s Voice of Online Youth Group. They provide an insight into what life online is like for them, what makes them feel safe online and what online safety topics they’d like to learn more about. The discussion touches on a wide range of topics, including moderation, privacy settings, algorithms, generative AI and online misinformation.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Will and Zara are members of the NSPCC’s Voice of Online Youth, a group of young people aged 13-17 who help advise the NSPCC and the wider online safety sector on how to help children have safe and happy experiences online.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Access all of NSPCC Learning’s free online safety resources

> Take our highly-rated online safety elearning course

> Read our new research report on the impact of Generative AI on children’s safety

> Find out more about the NSPCC’s Voice of Online Youth and read their manifesto
for change

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69: Mental health first aid kits

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 09:31:46 +0000

Mental health is as important to a child’s safety as their physical health; mental health issues can sometimes lead to safeguarding and child protection issues. By recognising when a child is struggling with their mental health, and intervening to provide appropriate support, professionals working with children can help prevent mental health problems from escalating into crisis.

A mental health first aid kit is one tool that can be used to help. The kit contains a selection of resources to help young people manage their mental health if they’re struggling, such as ways to distract oneself, relax or calm down, and pointers to further support.

Listen to this podcast episode to learn more about the mental health first aid kit and how you can use it with the young people you work with.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Gawain Griffiths is a Practitioner in the Childline Online Services team. He works to develop resources and content for the Childline website to help and empower young people using the Childline service.

Alice and Douglas are members of the NSPCC’s Young People’s Board for Change. They meet monthly to discuss issues they care about, giving young people the chance to shape and influence the NSPCC’s work and ensure the young people’s voices are heard both inside and outside the organisation. Mental health is one of the priority areas in the board’s 2023-25 manifesto.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Access the Childline mental health first aid kit resource

> Find out more about child mental health

> View Childline’s mental health information page for young people

> Learn more about promoting mental health and wellbeing

> Take our mental health and wellbeing safeguarding course

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68: How to plan meaningful participation work with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:46:49 +0000

The voices of people with lived experience of child sexual abuse play an important role in understanding how to respond to and prevent this form of abuse. Conducting participatory work with victims and survivors can move the conversation around CSA forward and create positive change.

In this episode, you’ll learn about the benefits of involving victim-survivors including the impact of an IICSA Changemaker event in which victims and survivors shared their testimonies with policy-makers; the importance of creating a comprehensive risk register and safety plans; how to create a safe and inclusive environment for participants; and what to do to support victims and survivors after the participatory work is complete.

The IICSA Changemakers are a group who want to amplify the voices of people with lived experience of child sexual abuse and ensure that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) remains an important moment for child protection.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Peter Wanless (he/him) was Chief Executive of the NSPCC from 2013 to 2024, during which time he also chaired the IICSA Changemakers group. Before this, Peter ran the Big Lottery Fund for 5 years and worked as a Director at the Department for Education. In the 2021 New Year’s Honours, Peter was awarded a knighthood for services to Children, to Young People and to the Charitable Sector.

Clare Kelly (she/her) is the Head of Programmes for the IICSA Changemakers and has previously worked for the NSPCC as an Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs. She has a 15-year background in policing and the criminal justice system, holding the role of Chief Executive Officer for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Bedfordshire and running a charity focused on supporting vulnerable victims and witnesses of crime.

Denise Pringle (she/her) is the Adult Survivor Participation Manager for the IICSA Changemakers. She has spent her career advocating and working alongside survivors in the wider abuse & and violence sector. In 2024, she was invited to deliver training at UNWomenUk on best practice. She has also provided expert consultancy to the NHS, UK and international police forces, FTSE 100 organisations, and the UK government.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about the IICSA Changemakers

> Listen to our podcast series on the IICSA final report

> Learn more about protecting children from sexual abuse

> Read our Why Language Matters blog on the use of the term 'victim' in relation to child protection

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67: Providing better support for teenagers — an interview with Anne Longfield

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:46:27 +0000

We speak to Anne Longfield, the Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, about what needs to be done to improve the safeguarding support available to teenagers in the UK, the topic of her new book Young Lives, Big Ambitions.

In the interview, Anne explains some of the problems facing vulnerable teenagers, and presents the solutions she would implement to give every young person the best chance to succeed in life.

View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Anne Longfield CBE has spent the last three decades working to improve the life chances of children, particularly the most vulnerable. She has recently founded and become Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives. From March 2015 to February 2021 she was Children’s Commissioner for England.

Wesley Powley-Baker is a Safeguarding Manager within the NSPCC’s Safeguarding Unit. He is responsible for supporting the development of high-quality safeguarding practice and providing professional expertise in matters relating to safeguarding and social work practice.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about Anne’s book, Young Lives, Big Ambitions

> Read our Learning from case reviews briefing on teenagers

> Learn more about keeping 16- to 25-year-olds safe from abuse with our elearning course

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66: How domestic abuse affects children

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 08:50:30 +0000

Being exposed to domestic abuse is a form of child abuse and children don't need to be directly involved for this to be the case. They may have seen or heard or experienced the effects of domestic abuse in the family and this can have a big impact on their behaviour, development, education and wellbeing.

In this podcast episode, experts from the NSPCC Helpline and Childline talk about that potential impact, as well as how you can spot the signs of domestic abuse and support children who are affected.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Paddi Vint is a Quality and Development Manager overseeing the NSPCC Helpline domestic abuse project. She has been with the NSPCC in Belfast for over five years, joining as a Helpline practitioner and then working as a practice manager.

Cormac Nolan is a Service Head with Childline. He holds responsibility for certain Childline bases delivering the live service as well as for the Childline website and social media.

Joanne Walsh is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor with a background as a senior family support worker and local authority domestic abuse champion.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Learn more about Childline

> Find out more about the NSPCC Helpline

> Get more information about domestic abuse

> Read about healthy and unhealthy relationships on the Childline website

> Learn more about multi-agency working

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65: Teaching sex and relationships education with Talk Relationships

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 07:23:40 +0000

Safe and effective sex and relationships education (SRE) plays a vital role in preventing abuse. However, teaching SRE can be challenging. According to a 2022 NASUWT and NSPCC survey, 46% of teachers say they don’t feel confident teaching sex and relationships education.

In this podcast episode, actor and Childline ambassador Natalie Dormer is joined by two teachers to talk about what it's like to teach sex and relationships in secondary schools. They discuss the challenges teachers may face when teaching SRE, as well as practical solutions to these problems.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Natalie Dormer is a British film, TV and stage actor and producer — her acting credits include Game of Thrones, The Tudors and The Hunger Games. Natalie is a passionate champion and advocate of children's rights. She is a longstanding supporter of the work of Childline, which is a life-changing service provided by the NSPCC. Natalie's support of the charity over many years culminated with her being appointed as the NSPCC's Ambassador for Childline in 2019 and in 2024 Natalie was made an Honorary Member of the NSPCC's Council.

Pete Basham is a science teacher and form tutor in a state-funded secondary school who also delivers the school's RSE programme.

Sarah Oakes is director of performing arts at an independent prep school in Dorset and head of RSE, delivering the curriculum to her form as well as overseeing it for the whole school.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about our Talk Relationships service

> Learn more about our Talk Relationships elearning courses

> Learn more about how to take a whole-school approach to teaching SRE

> Read 'We have to educate ourselves', a report on how young people are learning about relationships, sex and sexuality

> More information about our Report Remove tool

> Advice for parents and carers from nspcc.org.uk on how to talk to children about relationships, sex and consent

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64: The voice of the child in social work practice

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 07:30:00 +0000

It is important for social workers to consider the voice of the child — their experiences, their worries and their wants — when undertaking their work, particularly when conducting assessments. This improves professionals’ abilities to act in the child’s best interest.

In this episode, three consultant social workers from the NSPCC’s Quality and Practice team discuss: what we mean by ‘the voice of the child’ and why it is important; how to effectively capture the voice of the child and what barriers might get in the way of this; how to make use of the child’s voice in practical work, including in meetings, assessments, interventions and record keeping.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Julian Fabian has been a qualified Social Worker for more than 26 years. He is currently Consultant Social Worker in the NSPCC’s Quality and Practice Team with a remit of quality assurance and practice improvement.

Emily Waddington is a Supervisor in the Childline Service. Prior to this role, Emily has worked as a Consultant Social Worker at the NSPCC and in the Assessment and MASH teams in the Local Authority. Emily’s main areas of interest include systemic and reflective practice which is underpinned by a desire for continuous practice improvement.

Damien Fitzpatrick is a NSPCC Consultant Social Worker based in the Service Quality and Practice Team. His role involves quality assurance of direct practice through a safeguarding lens, pre-post inspection support, supporting the development and implementation of practice standards and guidance. Prior to joining the NSPCC, Damien practiced in the local authority for 12 years in a number of different roles.

📚 Related resources

> Find out what case reviews highlight about the voice of the child

> Listen to our podcast episode on pre-birth assessments

> Learn more about what makes a good assessment with our ten practice points

> Discover other NSPCC Learning resources for social workers

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63: Supporting d/Deaf children: putting the child at the centre of decision making

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 31 May 2024 14:01:35 +0000

Language and communication barriers faced by d/Deaf children and young people can manifest in a way that increases safeguarding risk. It's important that there are professionals who can understand and communicate with a child or young person if they need to report or disclose any issues they are experiencing.

In this podcast episode, a panel of experts from the Social Workers with Deaf Children and Professionals Working Group explore how the differing language and communication needs of d/Deaf children can affect their safety and the child protection support they receive.

📺 A fully accessible video version of this podcast is available on the NSPCC Learning YouTube channel. 📺

You can also read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Shirley Wilson MBE is the NSPCC's Senior Consultant on Deaf & Disabled Children and Young People and Professional Service Delivery Chair of the Social Workers with Deaf children and professionals group.

Jo Hornsby is a Social Worker in the Disabled Children and Young People’s Team in Suffolk and a member of the Social Workers with Deaf Children group.

Professor Alys Young is Head of Social Work at the University of Manchester and a member of the Social Workers with Deaf Children group.

Tim Richardson is the Provider Collaborative Lead on the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Children and Young People’s Mental Health Strategic Plan and a member of the Social Workers with Deaf Children group.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Read the full Guidance for Safeguarding Partners in England - Deaf Children, Young People and their Families document (PDF)

> Learn more about safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people

> Read our learning from case reviews briefing on d/Deaf children and children who have disabilities

> Take our training course on safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people in England

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62: Absenteeism in schools

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 08:18:35 +0000

Education is a vital part of ensuring children get the best possible start in life, and there can be safeguarding implications for children who are absent from school. If children miss school, the ability that schools have to offer them the support they need is compromised. And missing school may be an indicator of broader child protection concerns.

In this podcast episode, experts from the NSPCC and Childline discuss the potential causes for this, and what schools can do to address the problem. You’ll also hear two secondary school students share their thoughts on how the stresses and strains of school life can affect attendance.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Janet Hinton is the NSPCC's Strategic Service Manager for Schools, working on the delivery of a range of NSPCC programmes for schools, including Speak out, Stay safe.

Kelly Burnett joined the NSPCC in May 2021, as a Supervisor as the Childline Liverpool Base. Kelly is responsible for the management of staff and volunteers, training staff, and making safeguarding decisions on shifts.

John Anderton joined the NSPCC in 2008 as a Childline Supervisor, after serving two years as a volunteer. John is currently practice champion at Childline's Birmingham base, supporting and guiding Childline counsellors on shifts.

The NSPCC Young People's Board for Change is a cohort of young people who steer, advice and influence the NSPCC on issues that affect children and young people in the UK, ensuring that children and young people’s opinions and ideas are considered within the strategic direction of the organisation.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about Childline

> Find out more about our Building Connections service

> Take our Safeguarding training for schools, academies and colleges course

> View our other safeguarding resources for schools

> Learn more about protecting children from county lines

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

61: Understanding pre-birth assessments

NSPCC Learning — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:23:10 +0000

Pre-birth assessments help social work professionals to identify strengths, needs, risks and protective factors in the lives of expectant families. They play an important role in safeguarding babies; effective pre-birth assessments can ensure that families get the support they need before issues escalate.

In this podcast episode, In this podcast episode, Sophie Bell, Associate Head of Development at the NSPCC, talks to Anna Squirrell and Nina Bell, social work practitioners working in children’s social care in Blackburn with Darwen. The two experts discuss the practicalities of conducting effective pre-birth assessments, including what good practice looks like, what challenges might arise, and how tools such as Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal can help with assessments.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Sophie Bell joined the NSPCC in 2010, moving into the role of Associate Head of Development in 2022. Sophie heads up the portfolio of projects and services in the Prevention of Abuse & Neglect in the Early Years Theme, managing the development and implementation of evidence-based support for families.

Anna Squirrell has worked in children’s social care in Blackburn with Darwen for over 25 years. Anna has spent time working in different departments including the fostering team and residential homes with young people team. Passionate about early intervention and getting the right help to the families at the right time, Anna joined the Pre-Birth Team seven years ago as a family support worker, and now manages a team of seven practitioners.

Nina Bell is a children’s social care practitioner working in the Pre-Birth Team in Blackburn with Darwen.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about the Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal (GCP2A) assessment tool

> Read our Learning from case reviews briefing on assessments

> Learn more about attachment and child development

> Read our Learning from case reviews briefing on the early years sector

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

Justice and redress | Recommendations for Change: a series about the IICSA final report - episode 5

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 12:58:34 +0000

The criminal and civil justice systems play an important role in the way the State responds to child sexual abuse. However, many of IICSA’s investigations featured details of inadequate responses from the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts.

The final episode of the series looks at how the IICSA recommendations might improve victims and survivors’ experiences of the criminal justice system. Areas covered include policing, the courtroom experience and access to advocacy, and reforms to the Victims’ Code. You’ll also hear about the proposed changes to the available schemes of compensation and redress.

> Read the podcast transcript

About the speakers

Ian Critchley is the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Child Protection, Abuse and Investigation, a role he has held for three years. Ian’s role is to enhance and develop the police service in its prevention and response to child abuse working with Chief Constables, the College of Policing and statutory and charitable partners across the country. Ian was also formerly the Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.

Simon Bailey is a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Simon was a police officer for 35 years, the last 8 as the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary. Simon was also the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection.

Tomi Ogundele is a Child Protection Lawyer at the NSPCC.

Further resources

> Learn more about children and the law

> Read the UK Government's press release on establishing a redress scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse

> Read the Victims' Code and supporting public information materials

About the series

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change.

This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Intro/outro music is This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley

Online safety | Recommendations for Change: a series about the IICSA final report - episode 4

NSPCC Learning — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 12:06:28 +0000

Being online is an integral part of children’s lives, but it can expose them to risks, including sexual abuse. The past five years has seen a proliferation in child sexual abuse material online, and IICSA’s investigations into the problem found that law enforcement is struggling to keep pace.

In this episode of Recommendations for Change, we explore the scale of the online abuse problem and how the IICSA recommendations and the new Online Safety Act seek to tackle the issue. The episode covers the importance of implementing online protections for children and what professionals can do to keep children safe online. You’ll also learn how law enforcement responds to online-facilitated CSA.

> Read the podcast transcript

About the speakers

Susie Hargreaves is the Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. She is a member of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command Strategic Governance Group and an Executive Board member of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS).

Ian Critchley is the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Child Protection, Abuse and Investigation, a role he has held for three years. Ian’s role is to enhance and develop the police service in its prevention and response to child abuse working with Chief Constables, the College of Policing and statutory and charitable partners across the country. Ian was also formerly the Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.

Further resources

> Read the IICSA investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation facilitated by the internet

> Read the latest Internet Watch Foundation annual report

> Learn more about online safety with our introductory elearning course

> Read our article about what the Online Safety Act means for professionals

> Find out more about how young people can use the Report Remove tool to take down nudes shared online

About the series

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change.

This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Intro/outro music is This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley

Children in care | Recommendations for Change: a series about the IICSA final report - episode 3

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 10:46:28 +0000

Many children enter care because they have been abused or neglected. IICSA found that, rather than being protected, many vulnerable children who entered care were subject to further abuse.

This episode of Recommendations for Change looks at the IICSA findings relating to children in care. How did institutions fail to protect looked after children, and what changes – through IICSA or other reform – need to be made to improve the care system for young people and keep them safer in future? This episode also covers the mandatory reporting recommendation made in the final IICSA report.

> Read the podcast transcript

About the speakers

Claire Sands is an Associate Head in the NSPCC’s Research and Evidence team. She manages research projects across all areas of NSPCC work and runs the NSPCC Research and Ethics Committee.

Matt Forde is Partnerships and Development Director at the NSPCC. He leads services for children that the NSPCC delivers in partnership with other organisations and communities across the UK and Channel Islands.

Chloe Meaney is an HR Safeguarding Consultant with the NSPCC, she works nationally across a diverse range of sectors as well as providing internal advice and support, looking at HR policy, procedure and practice through a safeguarding lens.

Patricia Cannon is a Children’s Solicitor and Partner at national firm Simpson Millar Solicitors. She specialises in the representation of children and young people in care proceedings before the Family Court.

David Pritchard is the Registrar and Director of Regulation at Social Care Wales, which is responsible for regulation of the social care workforce in Wales. Over 60,000 social care professionals are registered with Social Care Wales, including domiciliary and care home workers, social workers and managers. Before joining Social Care Wales, David was a senior official at the Welsh Government where he led the development of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act.

Further resources

> Read IICSA's research report into child sexual abuse in children's homes and residential care

> View the NSPCC Learning information page on looked after children

> Read the latest Working together to safeguarding children statutory guidance

> Learn more about safer recruitment

> Take our safer recruitment training course

> Read our CASPAR briefing on the UK Government plans to reform children's social care in England

> Listen to our podcast episode on what's next for children's social care in England

About the series

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change.

This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Intro/outro music is This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley

The importance of data | Recommendations for Change: a series about the IICSA final report - episode 2

NSPCC Learning — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 10:13:51 +0000

Gathering and analysing data plays a key role in understanding the extent of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA and CSE). The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report suggests one of the reasons that the true scale of CSA in the UK is not fully understood is poor data collection.

In the second episode of our series looking at the IICSA final report, we explore the topic of data. You’ll learn how data can help professionals to prevent and respond to CSA, and what the existing data and evidence is telling us about the scale of CSA in the UK. We also cover how the introduction of a single core dataset in the UK will improve data collection.

> Read the podcast transcript

About the speakers

Lisa McCrindle is Assistant Director in Policy, Communications and Strategic Influence at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). She’s an experienced public policy and communications leader, researcher and evaluator with over 20 years’ experience working in public policy across the children and young people’s agenda.

Kelly Agudelo is Head of Analysis at the National Policing Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP).

Further resources

> Read the CSA Centre's latest trends in data report

> Read the VKPP's National Analysis of Police-Recorded Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Crimes Report 2022

> Read the NSPCC Learning briefing on some of the issues to consider when looking at child abuse statistics

About the series

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change.

This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Intro/outro music is This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley

An introduction to IICSA | Recommendations for Change: a series about the IICSA final report - episode 1

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:41:55 +0000

Recommendations for Change is a new five-part podcast series from NSPCC Learning, exploring the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final recommendations. The series breaks down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse.

This first episode of the series provides the background to the Inquiry. You will learn why IICSA was set up, how the NSPCC contributed to the Inquiry, and why it’s so important for professionals working with children to be aware of the Inquiry and its findings. The episode also covers how the Inquiry engaged with victims and survivors of CSA, including the set-up of the Truth Project.

> Read the podcast transcript

About the speakers

Peter Wanless is Chief Executive of the NSPCC. Peter joined as Chief Executive in 2013, after running the Big Lottery Fund for 5 years. Before this he worked as a Director at the Department of Education. In the 2021 New Year’s Honours, Peter was awarded a knighthood for services to Children, to Young People and to the Charitable Sector.

Lisa McCrindle is Assistant Director in Policy, Communications and Strategic Influence at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). She’s an experienced public policy and communications leader, researcher and evaluator with over 20 years’ experience working in public policy across the children and young people’s agenda.

Dr Maria Neophytou is the Director of Strategy and Knowledge at the NSPCC, joining in 2020 from Impetus, where she was Acting CEO. Maria has worked on strategy, public policy and research in the children’s sector for over fifteen years, exploring how we can harness evidence in aid of social change. She gained her PhD at Cambridge University, where her research was on gender equality and international relations.

Further resources

> Read the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report

> Read the CASPAR summary of the IICSA final report, and the government responses to the recommendations made

> View the CSA Centre's 'Key messages from research' series

> Access other practice resources from the CSA Centre

> Learn more about child sexual abuse

About the series

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change.

This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Intro/outro music is This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley

60: Supporting new parents through adversity – part two

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 10:25:34 +0000

The first 1001 days of a child’s life are crucial for their development and wellbeing. Having access to caring relationships and support networks can help a child’s brain develop in a healthy way.

New parents who experience adversity, such as domestic abuse, may need additional help to build these support networks for their child.

This is the second half of a two-part podcast discussion focusing on For Baby’s Sake, a service which provides therapeutic and trauma-informed support to expectant parents who have experienced domestic abuse.

You'll hear from Ged Docherty, a Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake Blackpool, and Colin Smy, Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. In this half of the discussion, Colin and Ged will talk about why it's so important to involve fathers in early intervention, and how service practitioners can engage fathers in their services.

If you haven't done so already, you can listen to part one here.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Colin Smy is Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. Blackpool Better Start is a 10-year National Lottery funded programme to transform services in the town and change childhoods through lived experience, science, and evidence. The Centre for Early Child Development is the research and development hub of Blackpool Better Start, and provides a whole systems approach to delivering universal services, early help, and specialist support.

Ged Docherty is Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake. For Baby’s Sake is a programme for expectant parents that takes a whole-family approach, starting in pregnancy and dealing with the entire cycle and history of domestic abuse, identifying and directly addressing the trauma or traumas that lie at the heart of the problem.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about For Baby’s Sake

> Find out more about Blackpool Better Start

> Learn more about how childhood trauma affects child brain development

> Take the NSPCC’s elearning course on trauma and child brain development

> Take the NSPCC’s safeguarding elearning course for anyone working with under 1s and families in the antenatal or postnatal period

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

59: Supporting new parents through adversity – part one

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 10:19:29 +0000

The first 1001 days of a child’s life are crucial for their development and wellbeing. Having access to caring relationships and support networks can help a child’s brain develop in a healthy way.

New parents who experience adversity, such as domestic abuse, may need additional help to build these support networks for their child.

This is the first part in a two-part podcast discussion focusing on For Baby’s Sake, a service which provides therapeutic and trauma-informed support to expectant parents who have experienced domestic abuse.

You'll hear from Ged Docherty, a Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake Blackpool, and Colin Smy, Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. The discussion explores how early intervention services can support families through adversity and give babies the best start in life.

Part two is available here.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Colin Smy is Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. Blackpool Better Start is a 10-year National Lottery funded programme to transform services in the town and change childhoods through lived experience, science, and evidence. The Centre for Early Child Development is the research and development hub of Blackpool Better Start, and provides a whole systems approach to delivering universal services, early help, and specialist support.

Ged Docherty is Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake. For Baby’s Sake is a programme for expectant parents that takes a whole-family approach, starting in pregnancy and dealing with the entire cycle and history of domestic abuse, identifying and directly addressing the trauma or traumas that lie at the heart of the problem.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about For Baby’s Sake

> Find out more about Blackpool Better Start

> Learn more about how childhood trauma affects child brain development

> Take the NSPCC’s elearning course on trauma and child brain development

> Take the NSPCC’s safeguarding elearning course for anyone working with under 1s and families in the antenatal or postnatal period

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

58: Building an evidence base for social work

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Evidence plays an important role in social work practice.

Knowledge gained from research and practical experience should be used to ensure decisions about safety and risk are well-informed and ethical.

In this podcast episode, a panel of experts from the NSPCC discuss how social workers can build and maintain an evidence base to support their work.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Julian Fabian is a Consultant Social Worker with the NSPCC. He works across all their direct services for children in the areas of quality assurance, practice improvement, and training.

Gurpreet Dosanjh-Bhatt is a Consultant Social Worker with the NSPCC looking at audit and review practice standards. She previously worked in the NSPCC as a children's services practitioner.

Holly Bentley is the Knowledge Manager within the NSPCC's Library and Information Service, producing written content on safeguarding and child protection for professionals.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about the NSPCC Library and Information Service

> Search the national case review repository

> Browse the collection of learning from case reviews briefings

> Browse the collection of CASPAR briefings on important safeguarding topics

> Take the NSPCC's learning from case reviews training course

> Subscribe to CASPAR, our safeguarding child protection email newsletter

> View the social work Professional Capabilities Framework on the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) website

> Listen to the Let's Talk Social Work podcast from BASW

The websites for Research in Practice and Foundations (a merger of the Early Intervention Foundation and What Works for Children's Social Care) also have a range of resources relating to social work evidence.

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

57: What's next for children's social care in England? A practical perspective

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 08:00:00 +0000

This is the second in a two-part series looking at the future of children’s social care in England. Listen to the first episode, an interview with Josh MacAlister, here.

Earlier this year, the UK government published its vision for the reform of children's social care in England: Stable homes built on love.

The strategy sets out a number of proposals to family support and early help services, including the rollout of new multi-disciplinary family help teams to provide earlier support to families so they don't reach crisis point.

In this podcast episode three experts from the NSPCC consider what the government’s proposals might look like in practice.

The discussion covered:

the planned reforms to family support and early help services
what new multi-disciplinary family help teams might look like
the benefits and challenges of taking a family-first approach to social care
the importance of developing meaningful relationships with families and considering lived experience
changes to social care workforce roles, including the introduction of a new lead child protection practitioner role
barriers to implementing reform, and how they might affect the day-to-day work of social care professionals.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Matt Forde is Partnerships and Development Director at the NSPCC, for services across the UK that work in partnership with communities and professionals. These include place-based projects and specialist partnerships for the most vulnerable children and families. Matt joined the NSPCC from local authority children’s services in 2010 as National Head for Scotland and took up his current role in 2020.

Rachael Holdcroft is a Strategic Services Manager overseeing the delivery of the Together for Childhood project in Stoke on Trent; a 10 year project which focuses on preventing Child Sexual Abuse. Rachael has been in this role with the NSPCC for 18 months following a 20 year career working with children and families in Local Authorities and the Private Sector.

Eavan Mckay is a Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the NSPCC. Prior to joining the NSPCC, Eavan worked in education, first as an English teacher, then as a middle leader in schools with curriculum and safeguarding responsibilities, then at the education charity The Literacy Pirates where she led education intervention and engagement programmes for children. Eavan has also held Policy and Public Affairs Officer roles at JDRF and London Councils.

📚 Related resources

> Early help and early intervention

> Why language matters: what is meant by 'early help'

> News: The government's plans to reform children's social care in England

> Government plans to reform children's social care England: CASPAR briefing (2023)

> The independent review of children's social care final report: CASPAR briefing (2022)

> The case for change: independent review of children's social care in England: CASPAR briefing (2021)

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

56: What’s next for children’s social care in England? An interview with Josh MacAlister

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 10:00:10 +0000

This is the first in a two-part series looking at the future of children’s social care in England.

Earlier this year, the UK government published its vision for the reform of children's social care in England: 'Stable homes, built on love'.

The Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England, which published its final report in May 2022, provided a cornerstone for this strategy. The review was chaired by Josh MacAlister and aimed to produce recommendations for a social care system that puts lifelong loving relationships at the heart of the care system and acts decisively in response to abuse.

In this podcast episode, Abigail Gill, the NSPCC’s Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs, sat down with Josh to talk about the review and what still needs to be done to meet its aims.

The discussion covered:

the story of the Care Review and what problems it was trying to address
how the review captured the voices and lived experiences of children, young people and adults that have received the help or support of a social worker, or who have been looked after
problems found with the social care system and how these negatively impact safeguarding and child protection
the reforms and recommendations proposed by the review to address these problems
how to implement reform and create positive future change in collaboration with professionals.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Josh MacAlister is the Executive Chair of Foundations, the What Works Centre for Children and Families. He is also Co-founder and Chair of SHiFT. He chaired the Independent Review of Children's Social Care between March 2021 and May 2022.

Abigail Gill is the Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the NSPCC. She works across a number of policy areas, including children's social care, place-based approaches, early help and early intervention, poverty, and neglect.

📚 Related resources

> Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation

> News: The government’s plans to reform children’s social care in England

> Government plans to reform children's social care in England: CASPAR briefing

> The independent review of children’s social care final report: CASPAR briefing

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

55: Domestic abuse support in the workplace

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Witnessing or experiencing domestic abuse can have a detrimental effect on a child's mental, physical and economic wellbeing. By recognising when an employee or colleague is experiencing domestic abuse, professionals working in any sector can help keep children safe.

In this podcast episode, domestic abuse experts from the NSPCC Helpline discuss what you can do to support and safeguard colleagues who experience domestic abuse.

The discussion covered:

why a workplace domestic abuse policy is good practice to support non-abusing parents and their children
what should be included in a workplace domestic abuse policy
the potential indicators of domestic abuse
the barriers that people may experience when they take steps to speak to their employer about domestic abuse
what managers can do to support colleagues experiencing domestic abuse or other safeguarding concerns.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Paddi Vint is a Quality and Development Manager overseeing a three-year domestic abuse project supported by the COVID-19 Support Fund. She has been with the NSPCC in Belfast for five years, joining as a helpline practitioner and then working as a practice manager.

Sarah Clarke is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor with a background as an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) specialising in high risk and complex needs within refuge.

Emily Harrison is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor with a background as an IDVA specialising in high risk and complex needs within police services.

Joanne Walsh is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor with a background as a senior family support worker and local authority domestic abuse champion.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about domestic abuse

> Read our learning from case reviews briefing on domestic abuse

> Listen to our podcast episode about why domestic abuse is a child protection issue

> Listen to our podcast episode about the NSPCC Helpline's Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

54: An introduction to Report Remove, an online self-reporting tool for young people

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 08:39:10 +0000

Report Remove is an online tool that under-18s can use to report nude images or videos of themselves that have been shared online, to see if they can be removed from the internet. Developed by experts from Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation, the tool provides a child-centred and non-judgemental approach to image removal.

Listen to this podcast episode to learn more about why a tool like Report Remove is needed, how the tool works, and how you can signpost young people to the tool as part of your response to incidents of sharing nudes.

You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Samantha Firth has been involved with Childline since 2006. With a background in child development and training, she was initially a volunteer Childline counsellor, becoming a Childline counselling supervisor in 2013 and then moving into the Childline Online Service in 2020.

Zara is a Senior Content Analyst who has worked at the Internet Watch Foundation for over nine years. She spends each working day assessing online images and videos of children suffering sexual abuse and removing them from the Internet.

📚 Resources mentioned in this episode

> Find out more about the Report Remove tool and download accompanying print-outs

> Watch an introductory video for professionals on how Report Remove works

> Access the Report Remove tool on the Childline website

> Take the Managing incidents of sharing nudes elearning course to learn more about the topic

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

53: Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing in schools

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 12:03:31 +0000

Mental health problems can impact on all aspects of a child’s life, and in some cases can lead to safeguarding and child protection concerns. Education professionals are in a good position to look out for children’s mental health, promote their wellbeing and help prevent any mental health problems from escalating into more serious concerns.

This episode examines what education professionals can do to build a positive mental health culture in schools, recognise when young people are struggling with their mental heath and respond appropriately if those struggles escalate into safeguarding concerns.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Sharon Cole is the Head of Safeguarding at Place2Be, a UK-wide children’s mental health charity providing a whole-school approach to supporting children and their families with mental health in schools. She previously worked as a manager of a large multi-disciplinary team supporting schools in Hackney and was involved in setting up the area's first Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

Stefania Nicotra has worked on the Childline Helpline for over 10 years; in her current role, she is accountable for the live day-to-day running of the service through a duty system that ensures resources across the UK are utilised and coordinated effectively, to deliver a high standard safeguarding service to as many children and young people as possible.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about children's mental health

> Learn more about Place2Be

> Access the Childline resources on mental health, to be used by children and young people

> Take the NSPCC Learning mental health safeguarding in education elearning course

Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

52: Together for Childhood — what we've learnt to help prevent abuse and neglect

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 08:17:29 +0000

Together for Childhood (TfC), the NSPCC's place-based approach to prevent child abuse and neglect, was launched almost five years ago.

Listen to Pat Branigan, Assistant Director for Together for Childhood, talk to the panel of development managers from all four TfC sites about the benefits of a place-based and community-focused approach to preventing child abuse and neglect.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

About Together for Childhood

Together for Childhood was a place-based approach that aimed to strengthen the way local communities and organisations work together to keep children safe from abuse. It ran from 2017 to 2026 in four towns and cities across the UK - Grimsby, Glasgow (Govan), Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent.

💬 About the speakers

Pat Branigan is the Assistant Director for Together for Childhood at the NSPCC. In addition to this, he’s an anthropologist with a background in public health and has led research into sensitive sexual health topics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Shelley Shaw is the Development Manager for Together for Childhood Plymouth and has worked in the team since early 2018.

Bernie Taylor has been involved in Together for Childhood for five years, initially as a research and evaluation officer and subsequently Development Manager for Together for Childhood Grimsby.

Jennie Hammond is a Development Manager for the NSPCC and leads on the development and implementation of the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Plan through the Together for Childhood programme in Stoke-on-Trent.

Di Porter is a Development Manager for the NSPCC at Together for Childhood Govan in Glasgow.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about the Together for Childhood programme

> Learn more about child abuse and neglect

> View our other resources for voluntary and community groups

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51: Researching mental health support for adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 09:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we hear from Dr Helen Beckett and Dr Debbie Allnock, two researchers from the Safer Young Lives Research Centre (SYLRC), who worked on a study looking at adolescents’ experiences of sexual abuse and how this has affected their mental health and wellbeing.

The discussion covers the purpose of the study, the importance of listening to and learning from young people, and the ‘six pillars’ of an effective response to adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Dr Helen Beckett is Director of the Safer Young Lives Research Centre and a Reader in Child Protection and Children’s Rights at the University of Bedfordshire. She has 25 years’ experience of undertaking applied social research, across academia and the voluntary and statutory sectors. She holds particular expertise in researching sexual harm and related adolescent safeguarding issues, and in ethically engaging children and young people in such research.

Dr Debbie Allnock is a Senior Research Fellow at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre, part-seconded to the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme within Norfolk Constabulary. She has undertaken a wide range of research on issues of social justice within the US and the UK, where she has taken a specific focus on the field of child protection and safeguarding. She has particular expertise in CSA disclosure and service provision and policing and criminal justice responses to child and adult harm.

Chloe Gill is a Senior Research and Evaluation Officer at the NSPCC. Over the last nine years Chloe has carried out exploratory and evaluation research focusing on Childline, the NSPCC Helpline, children’s social care, sexuality and relationships education, and child safety online. Chloe has supported the joint NSPCC and ESRC research grants programme since 2017, helping disseminate findings to NSPCC’s internal and external audiences.

📚 Related resources

> Read the full Safer Young Lives Research Centre report

> Read more about what child sexual abuse is and how to respond to protect children from this form of abuse

> Learn more about supporting children and young people’s mental health

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50: Sibling sexual abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 09:02:00 +0000

Listen to Katy Tomkinson and Rowan Wolfe who work on our harmful sexual behaviour service talk about the effects of sibling sexual abuse on children and families; how to provide whole-family support; the impact of family dynamics and contributing factors to harmful sexual behaviour being displayed.

This episode touches on our practitioners’ experiences of working directly with children and families. Although all experiences are generalised, they could be upsetting for some, and may cause distress.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Katy Tomkinson is a qualified social worker who has worked at the NSPCC for over five years. She has undertaken assessments of therapeutic need and provided therapeutic interventions for young people who have been sexually harmed.

Rowan Wolfe has worked at the NSPCC for fifteen and a half years as a qualified social worker. She has worked with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour by undertaking assessments and providing therapeutic interventions.

📚 Related resources

> Browse our resources and research about harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to our episode on direct work with children displaying HSB

> Play our episode on planning therapeutic sessions for children displaying HSB

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49: Understanding denial in children displaying harmful sexual behaviour

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 11:06:00 +0000

In this podcast episode, Katy Tomkinson and Rowan Wolfe, who deliver our HSB service, talk about:

what denial and shame might look like in children and young people
the physical signs and non-verbal cues that children might display when talking about their experiences
building trusting relationships and using therapeutic and trauma-informed approaches
exercises for practitioners to help understand children’s lived experiences and explore feelings of shame and denial
the impact on children of parents or carers experiencing denial
techniques for working with a child or young person when they are fixed in their denial.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Katy Tomkinson is a qualified social worker who has worked at the NSPCC for over five years. She has undertaken assessments of therapeutic need and provided therapeutic interventions for young people who have been sexually harmed.

Rowan Wolfe has worked at the NSPCC for fifteen and a half years as a qualified social worker. She has worked with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour by undertaking assessments and providing therapeutic interventions.

📚 Related resources

> See our resources and research about harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to our episode on direct work with children displaying HSB

> Play our episode on planning therapeutic sessions for children displaying HSB

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48: An interview with the NSPCC Helpline’s Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 11:13:46 +0000

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NSPCC's national helpline saw a 35% increase in contacts about domestic abuse.1 In response to these rising figures, the NSPCC secured funding from the COVID-19 Support Fund to launch a three-year domestic abuse project and extend the capacity of the helpline to support contacts who have experienced domestic abuse. This project included the appointment of two Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors, Lisa Begley and Naomi Hawthorne.

In this episode, Lisa and Naomi speak to the NSPCC’s Quality and Development Manager, Paddi Vint. They discussed the risk factors and indicators of domestic abuse, and their work in ensuring all NSPCC Helpline staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to support children and families who are experiencing domestic abuse.

Topics covered include:

holistic support provided to callers of the Helpline
how experiencing domestic abuse can affect children and young people
how helpline practitioners are trained to safeguard children and young people from any further emotional harm.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Paddi Vint is a Quality and Development Manager overseeing a three-year domestic abuse project supported by the COVID-19 Support Fund. She has been with the NSPCC in Belfast for five years, joining as a helpline practitioner and then working as a practice manager.

Lisa Begley is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor for the NSPCC Helpline. Lisa has worked within the field of domestic abuse for over 13 years, in a range of frontline, training, and management roles within Women’s Aid in Northern Ireland. Lisa has been trained as a panel member for Domestic Homicide Reviews and represented Women's Aid at MARACs (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences).

Naomi Hawthorne is a Domestic Abuse Practice Advisor for the NSPCC Helpline. Before joining the NSPCC, Naomi worked in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector for over 10 years in a range of frontline, training, consultancy and management roles.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about how you can protect children from domestic abuse

> Read our learning from case reviews briefing on domestic abuse

> Listen to our episode on why domestic abuse is a child protection issue

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47: Why child neglect can happen and how to respond to it

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 09:36:00 +0000

Neglect is a form of child abuse that can have serious and long-lasting effects on a child’s life, but it can be difficult to recognise.

In the second episode in this two-part podcast series exploring what can be done to support children and families experiencing neglect, Dawn Hodson, the NSPCC’s development lead for neglect, Mandi Tambourini-Moore, a family support worker for Liverpool Children’s Services, Lisa Shannon, the Graded Care Coordinator from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Sharon Graham, an Early Help Manager at Shropshire Council discuss:

why neglect happens
the importance of keeping children at the forefront when working with families
what can be done to support parents or carers when there is neglect
how practitioners use Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) alongside other resources
the importance of early intervention.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Dawn Hodson is the NSPCC’s development lead for neglect. She has led on the development and research of several evidence-informed assessments and interventions in relation to neglect, including the only authorised update to the Graded Care Profile. Her work on implementation has led the way for the GCP2 to be adopted in over 90 areas in the UK.

Amanda (Mandi) Tambourini-Moore has over 25 years' of experience working with children and young people in child development, youth and play work, and targeted services. Mandi currently works as a Family Support Worker at Liverpool Children’s Services, where she is also the ‘GCP2 champion’, promoting the use of GCP2 to support families to fully understand neglect and improve the lives of children experiencing neglect.

Lisa Shannon started her career as an early years practitioner with over 25 years’ experience in that field. Lisa was also a family worker for 13 years. She is currently a Graded Care Coordinator for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

Sharon Graham is an Early Help Manager within Children’s Services at Shropshire Council and has a lead role around the prevention of neglect. Sharon has over 17 years experience of supporting vulnerable families and 11 years experience of managing Early Intervention services.

📚 Related resources

> Read more about protecting children from neglect

> Learn more about Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2)

> Read our case study evaluation of GCP2

> See our range of child protection resources

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46: What is child neglect and how to spot the signs

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 09:30:00 +0000

Neglect is a form of child abuse that can have serious and long-lasting effects on a child’s life, but it can be difficult to recognise.

In the first episode, Dawn Hodson, the NSPCC’s development lead for neglect, Mandi Tambourini-Moore, a family support worker for Liverpool Children’s Services, Lisa Shannon, the Graded Care Coordinator from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Sharon Graham, an Early Help Manager at Shropshire Council discuss:

what neglect is and some of the harder to spot signs of neglect
the difficulties and challenges when conducting assessments
issues and challenges that arise in relation to children’s age and stage; covering early years, adolescence and additional needs.
what they’ve learnt from their experiences and what they find works when supporting families.

45: Understanding technology-assisted harmful sexual behaviour (TA-HSB)

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 09:30:00 +0000

TA-HSB is when children and young people use the internet or technology such as mobile phones to engage in sexual activity that may be harmful to themselves or others.

Listen to Pat Branigan, the NSPCC’s Associate Head of Development, Emma Hodgson, an NSPCC development social worker and Carol Carson from the AIM Project discuss:

the prevalence and different forms of TA-HSB
the NSPCC's research into this area
the challenges for professionals around the fast-paced nature of technology
resources available to help develop confidence in managing incidents of TA-HSB.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Pat Branigan is the Associate Head of Development at the NSPCC and leads the charity’s response to child sexual abuse with a focus on preventing harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people. In addition to this, he’s an anthropologist with a background in public health and has led research into sensitive sexual health topics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Emma Hodgson, a qualified social worker, has worked for the NSPCC for the past 16 years and is a part of the NSPCC/AIM development group that has produced guidance on HSB and technology. Her current role as a Development Social Worker involves developing and delivering HSB and child sexual abuse training and facilitating workshops for professionals working with children and families.

Carol Carson is an independent social work consultant with 30 years’ experience in safeguarding children and is the manager of The AIM Project. She has 25 years specialising in assessing and working with children and adolescents with harmful sexual behaviours. This includes writing several books on the subject.

📚 Related resources

> See our resources and research about harmful sexual behaviour

> Read more about Hackett's continuum

> Have a look at our research on the prevalence of TA-HSB

> Listen to the first episode in this series on direct work with children

> Listen to the second episode in this series on planning therapeutic sessions

> Find out more about the AIM Project

> Learn more about the TA-HSB guidance training course

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44: Planning therapeutic sessions for children displaying harmful sexual behaviour

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Continuing on from episode 43, social workers and children’s practitioners, Katy Tomkinson and Rowan Wolfe, talk about planning therapeutic sessions and assessing children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour.

You’ll learn more about:

preparing therapeutic session plans and helping children explore their life experiences through the use of timelines, family trees and cartoons
addressing sensitive topics such as sex and HSB, and exploring children and young people’s understanding around consent.

This episode touches on our practitioners' experiences of working directly with children and young people. Although all experiences are generalised, they could be upsetting for some, and may cause distress.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Katy Tomkinson is a qualified social worker who has worked at the NSPCC for over five years. She has undertaken assessments of therapeutic need and provided therapeutic interventions for young people who have been sexually harmed.

Rowan Wolfe has worked at the NSPCC for fifteen and a half years as a qualified social worker. She has worked with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour by undertaking assessments and providing therapeutic interventions.

📚 Related resources

> Browse our resources for understanding, preventing and responding to harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to the first episode in this series on direct work with children

> Listen to the third episode in the series on technology-assisted harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to our episode about harmful sexual behaviour in schools

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43: Direct work with children displaying harmful sexual behaviour

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 09:30:00 +0000

Hear NSPCC practitioners talk about conducting therapeutic sessions with children and young people and understanding how to manage incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.

You'll hear us discuss:

creating safe spaces in therapeutic session and using different techniques and strategies
providing clarity around confidentiality and safeguarding when working with children and young people
managing expectations of assessments
their own experiences of working with children and young people.

This episode touches on our practitioners’ experiences of working directly with children and families. Although all experiences are generalised, they could be upsetting for some, and may cause distress.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Katy Tomkinson is a qualified social worker who has worked at the NSPCC for over five years. She has undertaken assessments of therapeutic need and provided therapeutic interventions for young people who have been sexually harmed.

Rowan Wolfe has worked at the NSPCC for fifteen and a half years as a qualified social worker. She has worked with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour by undertaking assessments and providing therapeutic interventions.

📚 Related resources

> See our resources for understanding, preventing and managing incidents of harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to the second episode in the series on planning therapeutic sessions

> Listen to the third episode in the series on technology-assisted harmful sexual behaviour

> Listen to our episode about harmful sexual behaviour in schools

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42: Black girls’ experiences of sexual abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 08:30:00 +0000

We spoke to Jahnine Davis, co-founder of Listen Up, about her work into exploring the lack of representation of Black girls’ experiences in research and child sexual abuse services, including suggestions to help improve practice.

Ineke Houtenbos, a senior consultant with the NSPCC, and Jahnine discuss:

why the experiences of Black girls are missing from research and the impact on policy and practice
key findings from Jahnine’s research, including the experiences of participants
learning to improve practice and research
Jahnine’s experience as a Black woman embarking on this work.

This episode contains quotes from research participants about their experiences which might be upsetting and cause distress. If you need further support, please contact the NSPCC helpline or visit the Childline website.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Jahnine Davis, a PhD researcher, has over 20 years’ experience in the charity sector and is recognised nationally as a leader in the field of intersectionality, adultification and safeguarding Black children and young people.

Ineke Houtenbos is an experienced child protection professional with over 21 years’ experience and has provided training and consultancy on anti-racism awareness and anti-racist practice. She is a Senior Training and Development Consultant for the NSPCC in Northern Ireland.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about Listen Up

> Read more about preventing child sexual abuse

> Browse our research reports and briefings

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41: Understanding intersectionality in social work practice

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 08:12:00 +0000

A child or young person’s identity and lived experience can affect how they engage with professionals and services.

This episode features Jahnine Davis and Nick Marsh, founders of Listen Up, where we explore intersectionality and its application within safeguarding practice. Ineke Houtenbos, a senior consultant at the NSPCC, leads the discussion around:

what intersectionality is
why intersectional thinking is important in safeguarding
the impact of not taking an intersectional approach when working with children and young people
the challenges in capturing intersectional experiences during assessments
how you can apply intersectional understanding to your work and develop your social care practice.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Jahnine Davis, a PhD researcher, has over 20 years’ experience in the charity sector and is recognised nationally as a leader in the field of intersectionality, adultification and safeguarding Black children and young people.

Ineke Houtenbos is an experienced child protection professional with over 21 years’ experience and has provided training and consultancy on anti-racism awareness and anti-racist practice. She is a Senior Training and Development Consultant for the NSPCC in Northern Ireland.

Nick Marsh is a researcher and social worker with over 20 years’ experience in statutory settings. Nick’s PhD research focuses on child exploitation and social work interventions. Since 2014, Nick’s work has focused on developing strengths-based approaches and turning evidence in to practice.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about Listen Up

> See all our safeguarding and child protection resources

> Search for more research and resources

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40: Recognising domestic abuse as a child protection issue

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 08:45:00 +0000

In this episode, we discuss the complexities of domestic abuse and why it is a safeguarding and child protection issue. We talk about the main themes that emerged from our learning from case reviews briefing on domestic abuse and share what we see in practice.

Exposure to domestic abuse has a direct impact on children and can affect their physical health and mental wellbeing. Just because it isn’t disclosed, does not mean that a child or family you’re working with isn’t experiencing it.

Listen to the episode to:

gain an insight into the dynamics of domestic abuse (e.g. how abusive relationships work and patterns of abusive behaviour)
understand the effects on children and young people, including how their experiences may be minimised and why professional curiosity is important
learn about how you can improve your practice around domestic abuse and reduce risks to children.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

This episode was supported by the COVID-19 Support Fund.

💬 About the speakers

Nikki Vasco is a chartered library and information professional and has experience working directly with vulnerable children and young people. She has worked in the NSPCC’s Library and Information Service for five years, developing written content about child protection for NSPCC Learning.

Paddi Vint is a Quality and Development Manager overseeing a three year domestic abuse project supported by the COVID-19 Support Fund. She has been with the NSPCC in Belfast for five years, joining as a helpline practitioner and then working as a practice manager.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about how you can protect children from domestic abuse

> Read our learning from case reviews briefing on domestic abuse

> Listen to our episode on how our service helps children recover from domestic abuse

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39: Building children and young people’s digital resilience

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The internet can be a useful resource for children and young people to learn, access educational materials and stay in touch with friends and family.

Now more than ever, young people are using tablets, laptops and mobile phones to interact with others, especially during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But with this comes an increased risk of technology-assisted child sexual abuse (TA-CSA), bullying and grooming, which can affect children outside of the online world.

We invited practitioners from our InCtrl service, a preventative group-work programme, to talk about creating safer online experiences, building digital resilience and encouraging positive behaviour online. Listen to the episode to find out about:

developing InCtrl and how we've delivered the service virtually during the pandemic
the risks and concerns related to the online world and how these can be prevented
the importance of involving parents and carers when it comes to online safety
how we’ve listened to children and young people’s views and built on this learning.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Nicola McConnell is a Senior Evaluation Officer at the NSPCC, with over 20 years of experience in evaluating health and social care services for children and families. She has contributed towards a range of evaluations across different topic areas, such as child protection, domestic abuse and preventing child abuse, and recently published an implementation evaluation of the InCtrl service.

Gurpreet Dosanjh is a Team Manager based at the NSPCC’s Coventry service centre and has 10 years of social work experience working with vulnerable children and families. She has been a practitioner for four years within the NSPCC and has worked for various services, including the InCtrl service.

Lucy O’Callaghan is a Children’s Services Practitioner and was involved in the adaptation of the InCtrl programme for virtual delivery. She has worked across a number of NSPCC services in the last seven years, on topics ranging from sexual abuse to harmful sexual behaviour and child sexual exploitation.

Theresa Park is a qualified social worker with over 20 years of experience of working within the children’s services sector. She is currently a Development and Impact Manager at the NSPCC and leads on building an evidence base of what works in child welfare and protection.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about the InCtrl service

> View all our online safety resources

> Find out how you can protect children from grooming

> See more information about preventing child sexual exploitation online

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38: Involving volunteers in delivering services for vulnerable families

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 09:10:00 +0000

Volunteers play an important role in helping to engage vulnerable families in a service and can provide ongoing peer support on a one-to-one basis. We commissioned a review that explores current research evidence on involving volunteers in delivering services to support families and examine the outcomes for parents, children and volunteers.

In this episode, we’re joined by the authors of the review, Dr. Louca-Mai Brady and Berni Graham, as well as Dr Georgia Hyde-Dryden, who is a part of the NSPCC’s Development and Impact Team. You’ll hear us discuss the key findings and best practices identified from the literature review, including:

how we undertook the research
the services volunteers provided to families and how this work was carried out
challenges that need to be considered when involving volunteers in service delivery
the evidence on volunteer support to families
how the NSPCC will use this research to inform future opportunities.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Dr Louca-Mai Brady is a researcher, trainer and consultant who has worked in the voluntary and public sector and academia. She has particular interests and expertise in qualitative and participative research methods, research with children and young people, disability and health and social care. She also holds a part-time role as a Senior Research Fellow at NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, UCL.

Berni Graham is an independent social researcher and evaluator. Most of her work relates to children, young people and families and services run for them by UK public sector and voluntary and community sector agencies. Her research and evaluation typically explores life challenges such as poverty, disability and access to support, and framing these in a policy or practice context to help improve services.

Dr Georgia Hyde-Dryden is a Development Researcher for the NSPCC’s Development and Impact team. She is involved in a range of research and insights projects to inform the organisation’s evidence-based service development. Prior to joining us three years ago, she was a Research Associate at the Centre for Child and Family Research at Loughborough University where she was involved in research and evaluation with a primary focus on looked after children, care leavers and children on the edge of care.

📚 Related resources

> Discover volunteering opportunities at the NSPCC

> Find out how we can help you with community needs or campaigns

> Explore all our services for children and families

> See our COVID-19 information and resources for voluntary and community groups

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37: What have we learnt during COVID-19?

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 15:08:53 +0000

The past nine months has been difficult for everyone. Lockdowns, social distancing measures and local restrictions meant that adults working with children had to change the way they operate. But how have we adapted and how has COVID impacted on the NSPCC’s priorities?

In this episode, we reflect on the past nine months with our CEO, Peter Wanless, discussing the issues and challenges children and young people are facing; what child protection and safeguarding themes have emerged; delivering services for children and families remotely.

This episode covers:

the issues and challenges children and young people are facing
what child protection and safeguarding themes have emerged
experiences of delivering services for children and families remotely
how we’ve worked with partners to ensure their employees are confident in recognising possible signs of abuse
our work to increase awareness of the NSPCC helpline for adults and ensuring Childline is still there for children during this time.

View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speaker

Peter Wanless joined as Chief Executive of the NSPCC in 2013, after running the Big Lottery Fund for five years. Before this, he worked as a Director at the Department for Education. As Chief Executive, Peter is advancing the NSPCC's vision to end child cruelty in the UK.

📚 Related resources

> Browse our COVID-19 safeguarding resources to support your work

> Access our 'It's your call' safeguarding awareness course

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36: Bonus episode: what research tells us about our Baby Steps service

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 09:15:00 +0000

Listen to the episode to hear key learning from the research and how it’ll help develop practice; why we’ve adapted our service delivery models; what families, practitioners, facilitators and external partners think about the changes; and how the voice of the child was captured.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Michelle Maybury is a project manager at the NSPCC with a key responsibility for all the services currently within our Scale-Up portfolio, including Baby Steps. She has worked in a variety of roles focussed on supporting our development and delivery of services to children and families across the UK and Channel Islands.

Julia Mayes is the Baby Steps Implementation Manager at the NSPCC and has over 10 years of experience working in services for children and families. She has worked across various roles in the NSPCC’s service development and impact programme, with a particular focus on services designed to support relationships between parents and infants.

Dr Aisling McElearney is Senior Development Researcher and leads research and insights projects within the Development and Impact team at the NSPCC. Before joining the NSPCC 17 years ago, she worked as a teacher and has since then been involved in engaging the voices of children, families and professionals in developing services and evaluating the impact of services.

Meredith Russ is the Programme Lead for Baby Steps in Wiltshire. She has facilitated Baby Steps courses in the past and took on her new role this summer. Previously she has worked as a community midwife and most recently holds a safeguarding caseload.

📚 Related resources

> View the key findings from the implementation evaluation of the Baby Steps service

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35: Giving birth during a pandemic: what parents experienced and how we’re helping

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 09:15:00 +0000

Our Baby Steps service – a perinatal education programme – has been designed to help prepare people for becoming new parents. Our service ensures the mental health and wellbeing of parents, healthy development of the child and that there’s a positive relationship between the child and parents.

We’ve released a new podcast episode that focuses on how we’ve delivered our Baby Steps service with our external partners during the pandemic and what changed. If you're interested in the research we undertook to gather insights and better adapt our services for parents, listen to our bonus episode.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Michelle Maybury is a project manager at the NSPCC with a key responsibility for all the services currently within our Scale-Up portfolio, including Baby Steps. She has worked in a variety of roles focussed on supporting our development and delivery of services to children and families across the UK and Channel Islands.

Julia Mayes is the Baby Steps Implementation Manager at the NSPCC and has over 10 years of experience working in services for children and families. She has worked across various roles in the NSPCC’s service development and impact programme, with a particular focus on services designed to support relationships between parents and infants.

Dr Aisling McElearney is Senior Development Researcher and leads research and insights projects within the Development and Impact team at the NSPCC. Before joining the NSPCC 17 years ago, she worked as a teacher and has since then been involved in engaging the voices of children, families and professionals in developing services and evaluating the impact of services.

Meredith Russ is the Programme Lead for Baby Steps in Wiltshire. She has facilitated Baby Steps courses in the past and took on her new role this summer. Previously she has worked as a community midwife and most recently holds a safeguarding caseload.

📚 Related resources

> View the key findings from the implementation evaluation of the Baby Steps service

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34: How we’re delivering our Schools Service during the pandemic

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Over the last few months, our Speak out Stay safe volunteers and staff have been unable to visit primary schools to help children understand what abuse is and that they have the right to be safe. In order to continue to reach every child during the pandemic, we’ve worked hard to launch an online version of the programme that can be used in the classroom.

Hear us discuss:

how COVID-19 has affected the Speak out Stay safe programme and children’s lives
the development of the online programme and the process behind it
what the differences are between the face-to-face and online programme
how we’ve worked with external organisations to create further resources for teachers
what the NSPCC’s Schools Brochure is and the support it offers schools.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Karen Squillino is the head of the NSPCC’s Schools Service and has a lead role in the development of the NSPCC’s Speak out Stay safe programme. She is a registered social worker who has 28 years of experience in child protection and safeguarding.

Sally McFawn is an area coordinator at the NSPCC, managing the Speak out Stay safe service across Surrey. She has worked across various roles within the Schools Service and has over 10 years of experience working with children and families. You might have seen her presenting our online assemblies.

📚 Related resources

> Get more information about Speak out Stay safe online

> Listen to our previous episode on Speak out Stay safe

> See our safeguarding and child protection resources for schools

> Sign up for monthly child protection updates

> Develop your knowledge of child protection with training

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33: Children never just witness domestic abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:04:00 +0000

Domestic abuse can both directly and indirectly disrupt the relationship between a parent and their child (Humphreys et al, 20061; Buchanan, 20182). Abuse can happen in any relationship, and both males and females can be abused or be abusers.

It’s important to recognise that children are never just witnesses to domestic abuse but they also experience it. For the last ten years, the NSPCC has been running a service called Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART™) which is a ten-week group work programme to help children and families overcome the adverse effects of domestic abuse.

To mark DART’s ten-year anniversary, we invited some of the team who were involved in delivering the service, including one of our scale-up partners, My Sister’s House Women’s Centre, to talk about the impact it’s had on children and families they’ve worked with.

You’ll hear about:

how DART differs from other domestic abuse services and how it has evolved over the past decade
what it’s like to be at the frontline working with children and families who have experienced abuse
how we’ve widened our reach to support more mothers and children by partnering with other organisations and what this has achieved
the impact of current circumstances such as the pandemic and lockdown on domestic abuse.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Claire Burns is an implementation manager at the NSPCC and has 12 years of experience in health and social care. Her role involves taking evidence-based interventions and scaling them up to help others deliver them and developing research responses.

Natalie Everson works for My Sister’s House Women’s Centre and is an experienced and skilled domestic abuse and sexual violence advisor as well as a DART programme co-ordinator. Since 2017, she has facilitated and delivered the DART programme across the West Sussex locality.

Mel Hughson has worked at the NSPCC for nearly 36 years and has been involved in domestic abuse services since the early 1990s. She is the lead practitioner for DART at the NSPCC Liverpool Service Centre and is involved in the scale up and knowledge transfer of the service to other agencies and practitioners.

📚 Related resources

> Find out about the signs of domestic abuse

> Read our latest evaluation of the scale-up of DART

> Learn more about how the service works and how to deliver it in your local area

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32: Safeguarding advice for tutors

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:39:01 +0000

The tutoring sector is largely unregulated. However, like teachers, tutors are also responsible for ensuring the young people they work with are protected. Students may open up to them about what is going on in their lives. It could be related to abuse, neglect or any other concerns they have. Therefore, it’s vital that all tutors are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and what appropriate practices and behaviour are so they don’t put a child or themselves at risk.

In this episode, you’ll hear us talk to two members of The Tutors' Association (TTA) about:

the biggest safeguarding challenges tutors face
regulation of the tutoring sector and the role associations play
the impact of the pandemic, lockdown and social distancing on tutoring
whether parents have had concerns about safeguarding
content and resources available on NSPCC Learning for new and existing tutors.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Sarah Gordon started her career as an English teacher and left full-time school-teaching to set up her own private tuition company, Signature Tuition. She is also a member and Board Director for the UK's only accredited tutoring body, The Tutors' Association. Sarah believes firmly that safeguarding awareness should be at the core of all tutors' work.

Helen Munn is the Head of Online Learning at the NSPCC and is responsible for the organisation’s elearning courses and our podcast programme. Prior to joining the NSPCC, she held a similar role at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

John Nichols has many years of experience in teaching and delivering tuition to whole classes, small groups and individuals. He has worked for an educational charity and has also served as director, vice president and president of The Tutors' Association (2020-21).

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about safeguarding for tutors

> See our safeguarding guidance for working on your own with children

> Get tips for writing safeguarding policies and procedures

> Read more about teaching students remotely

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31: Living through a pandemic: what children told us

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 08:05:00 +0000

Every young person’s experience of the pandemic and lockdown has been different. Some have been confronted with new challenges during this period and are finding new ways to cope. Others may have limited contact with a trusted adult or someone with a safeguarding responsibility who they can turn to for support.

We invited Kirsty Donnelly and Robert Burns who both work for Childline to talk to us about what children and young people have been telling them in counselling sessions and online message boards. You’ll hear about:

children’s thoughts and worries over the last couple of months
a change in the way children and young people have been contacting Childline
how Childline has adapted and adjusted their online and counselling services and dealt with new issues they haven’t had to consider or tackle before
how children have been supporting each other through Childline’s online communities
the child protection issues that may emerge as we transition back to the ‘new normal’.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Robert Burns started as a volunteer counsellor at Childline to complement his work as a secondary school teacher. He is now a supervisor and looks at how children and young people are using Childline.

Kirsty Donnelly is a Community Manager at Childline and a part of the Online Services team. She is responsible for various digital channels and is involved in maintaining the safeguarding policies and procedures for user-generated content on these platforms, moderating this content and liaising with external agencies when required.

📚 Related resources

> View our Childline briefing for an insight into issues raised in counselling sessions between January and April 2020

> Read about online safety during coronavirus

> See all our resources for safeguarding during the pandemic

> Visit and share the Childline website with children and young people you work with

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30: Children’s services, social distancing and COVID-19

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 08:05:00 +0000

Social distancing measures and lockdown has made it difficult for practitioners to provide direct contact to children and families. Other than occasional doorstep visits, check-ins are no longer face-to-face but take place through video and telephone calls. How are practitioners ensuring that children and families’ needs are still being met?

You'll hear from a children’s services practitioner about:

the pressures of lockdown and the long-term impact, including looking out for concerning signs of abuse and neglect
how they’re working with multiple agencies to meet different children and families’ needs and distributing resources for parents and carers
potential child protection issues that may emerge as we transition back to pre-lockdown life
how children are being supported to understand current issues in a child-friendly way
next steps for delivering services virtually, such as group work programmes.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speaker

Dannie Adcock-Habib is a Children’s Services Practitioner at the NSPCC’s Grimsby Service Centre and a qualified social worker who is involved in undertaking Family Focus assessments. She delivers the NSPCC’s Building Blocks service and Young SMILES service (Simplifying Mental Illness plus Life Enhancement Skills).

📚 Related resources

> See our resources for children and families at risk

> Find out more about the Together for Childhood programme

> Learn about the effects of toxic stress on child development

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29: Uncovering the reality of the pandemic on schools

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 08:15:00 +0000

Schools have been at the frontline in supporting the wellbeing of vulnerable children since the lockdown began in March 2020. From remote learning and online platforms to taking on a more active pastoral role, how have schools responded to the challenges?

In this episode, we speak to Shirley Dunn, a form tutor and head of department at a secondary school about measures her school has taken to safeguard children including:

remote teaching and how pupils have responded to this
supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing
the pastoral aspect to teaching
how concerns have been dealt with
pupils’ resilience to changes.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speaker

Shirley Dunn has 18 years of teaching experience and is currently the head of department at a large secondary school and a form tutor.

📚 Related resources

> Listen to our episode on enquiries we’ve received from the education sector recently

> Learn more about how you can support children and young people’s mental health

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28: Returning to school post-lockdown

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 08:05:00 +0000

Some children and young people are starting to go back to school and teachers are preparing to welcome pupils back after a three-month hiatus. But what’s happened in the past few months? How have schools adjusted to the new ‘normal’ and what will change now that these pupils have begun to return?

We invited Kay Joel, NSPCC’s Senior Education Consultant to talk about the current situation and provide an insight into the enquiries the NSPCC’s Library and Information service has received from people who work with children. The episode explores:

managing safeguarding concerns
supporting and communicating safely with pupils and families remotely
changes to multi-agency approaches
updating safeguarding policies and procedures
resources and advice available for the education sector.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Kay Joel is a Senior Education Consultant at the NSPCC who works closely with schools to provide consultancy and has over 25 years of experience as a qualified teacher in primary and special education. Her current role includes undertaking safeguarding policy audits and visiting schools to verify safeguarding practices.

📚 Related resources

> Read more information on what school governors and trustees need to consider during this time

> Take a look at the areas you need to consider when updating your safeguarding policies and procedures during COVID-19

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27: Antenatal and postnatal care during coronavirus (COVID-19)

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 08:49:24 +0000

During the perinatal period (during pregnancy and up to a year after birth), parents can be under a lot of pressure. They may also be dealing with feelings of anxiety, stress or depression.

The effects of social distancing due to coronavirus may also increase mental health issues and without the right support, this can make it difficult for parents to care for and connect with their baby.

First up in our coronavirus series, we are joined by a midwife, health visitors and perinatal psychiatry experts for a special episode to mark Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (7-12 June 2020).

The panel discuss how the pandemic and lockdown is affecting pregnant women, parents, their families and babies; antenatal and postnatal care services have adapted in response; health visitors have been conducting assessments; and how vulnerable families are being supported.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 The speakers

Dr. Jo Black - consultant perinatal psychiatrist
Penny Dougan - health visitor
Dr. Alain Gregoire - chair of Maternal Mental Health Alliance UK
Eileen O’Sullivan - a specialist health visitor in parent and infant mental health
Claire Spencer - midwife in London
Katie Worley - a health visiting and school nursing service manager.

26: The invisible voice of children under two

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 09:34:59 +0000

In this month’s podcast episode we discuss our learning from case reviews briefing on infants with three social workers. Case reviews are conducted when a child has died or been seriously injured due to abuse or neglect. Reviewing the learning from reviews can help us to identify areas of practice to focus on and improve.

Infants under two may not be able to verbally express what they see and experience to social workers and practitioners. So how do you decide on whether you need to intervene and help a child whose needs aren’t being met or who might be showing signs of early trauma?

The episode highlights the vulnerabilities of infants and emphasises the importance of preventative intervention if you’re concerned a child is experiencing abuse or neglect. We’ve suggested tools and techniques to help you improve your own practices and ensure that young children are kept safe.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Rachel Anslow is a qualified social worker with a BSc in Social Sciences and an MA in Social Work. She has worked at the NSPCC for over a year, contributing to a range of services such as Letting the Future in (LTFI), Domestic Abuse Recovering Together (DART), Seeking Solutions and Life Story Work. Previously she worked for a Local Authority assessment team.

Wendy Noctor has worked as a qualified social worker for 20 years and is currently a Safeguarding Manager in the NSPCC’s Safeguarding Unit. She has experience in managing a specialist investigation service, providing consultation to external organisations and sitting on panels related to serious case reviews. She is committed to improving the quality of children’s lived experiences where there are welfare and protection concerns.

Liana Sanzone joined the NSPCC’s London Infant and Family Team (LIFT) in September 2015, a multidisciplinary team specialising in infant mental health. She has a BA in Social Work and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Therapeutic Work with Children. Throughout her career, she has gained experience in frontline child protection, therapeutic group-work specific to domestic violence issues, integrative therapy and group facilitation with social workers.

📚 Related resources

> Read an outline of the learning we’ve gathered from published case reviews about infants

> Access our national case review repository, recently published case reviews and more

> Discover more about the effectiveness of multi-agency working

> Make a referral to the Infant and Family Teams service

> See our briefing on sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI)

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25: Preventing harmful sexual behaviour in education

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 09:20:00 +0000

What is good practice for preventing harmful sexual behaviour? We explore how you can use preventative and proactive measures to protect young people and manage incidents of sexualised behaviour appropriately.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

delivering PSHE education programmes and relationships and sex education (RSE)
providing the right support for young people in educational settings, the wider community or online
what you can do to help staff in dealing with peer-on-peer sexualised behaviour and peer-on-peer abuse
how you can support parents and carers in creating safer environments for their children
the importance of working collaboratively with external services such as the police or children’s services.

The NPSCC would like to thank Academy Transformation Trust and Ormiston Academies Trust for sharing their expertise and helping us develop our series on harmful sexual behaviour.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Pat Branigan is a Development and Impact Manager for NSPCC’s Children’s Services. He leads the NSPCC’s response to child sexual abuse with a focus on preventing harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people.

Antoinette Jackson is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) at a Secondary Provision where she is responsible for student welfare, mental health and PSHE and careers education. She leads a team of teaching staff and partners who are involved in providing outstanding care and support for young people at the Academy.

Dave Jenkins is a Vice Principal and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and has been working in the secondary education sector for 24 years. In his current role at a secondary school, his responsibilities cover safeguarding, special educational needs and disability (SEND), behaviour, alternative provision and attendance.

Katy Tomkinson is a qualified social worker who has worked at the NSPCC for over five years where she has undertaken assessments of therapeutic need and provided therapeutic interventions for young people who have been sexually harmed. She has two BA degrees in Sociology and in Social Work.

📚 Related resources

> Manage sexualised behaviour in your school with our interactive elearning course

> Access our Talk Relationships service for secondary school teachers

> Browse teaching resources for children and young people aged 11+ about positive relationships

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24: Assessing sexualised behaviour

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:28:11 +0000

It can be hard to determine what is healthy, problematic, inappropriate or serious sexual behaviour in schools, particularly where there are limited resources available.

This is where specialist provision and services can help. They can support you in assessing the young person who has displayed sexually harmful behaviour and help you to understand the nature and extent of this behaviour. However, not all behaviour concerns will require a referral to a specialist service.

In this episode, our guest speakers discuss:

how assessments such as the AIM assessment are used to determine levels of risk and where they should be applied
why it’s important to integrate responses to sexualised behaviour into your wider policies and overarching strategy
how to address serious harmful behaviours and when a referral should be made to a service for an assessment
what actions to take when lower level behaviour concerns are displayed and how to minimise risks going forward.
why it’s vital to keep your professional knowledge and training up-to-date.

23: Harmful sexual behaviour in schools

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 09:25:42 +0000

Around a third of child sexual abuse is by other children or young people (Hackett, 2014). Educational settings play a key role in identifying and preventing harmful sexual behaviour. However, this can be difficult to manage without adversely affecting the education of both the child and young person that has experienced the abuse and the child who has displayed the behaviour.

This episode will help you to understand:

the issues schools, colleges and academies are currently seeing and why there’s an increase in sexualised behaviour in young people
what healthy, problematic and harmful behaviours are and how you can respond appropriately
how children and young people are affected, including those who display sexualised behaviour
what you can do to balance needs so that safeguarding is prioritised without affecting education.

The NPSCC would like to thank Academy Transformation Trust and Ormiston Academies Trust for sharing their expertise and helping us develop our series on harmful sexual behaviour.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Fiona Barber has been a Children’s Service Practitioner at the NSPCC since 2010, delivering services that involves the assessment and treatment of children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour and who have been affected by sexual abuse. She has background in providing support to children and families in the field of social work and therapeutic care in residential work. In 2014, Fiona joined the National Clinical Assessment Team (NCATS), a service for treating young high-risk harmful sexual behaviour.

Pat Branigan is a Development and Impact Manager for NSPCC’s Children’s Services. He leads the NSPCC’s response to child sexual abuse with a focus on preventing harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people. In addition to this, he’s an anthropologist with a background in public health and has led research into sensitive sexual health topics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Lucy Dawes started out as a primary school teacher in mainstream provision in 2007, teaching across Key Stage 2. In 2012, she moved to her current school which is a SEMH Provision where she supports children who have social, emotional or mental health needs identified on their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). She is now the Assistant Principal and Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Co-ordinator and Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Jacqui Ferris has worked in education for 25 years and is currently part of the leadership team at a secondary academy which serves a community with higher than average levels of deprivation. As a Senior Assistant Principal, she leads on behaviour, attendance and safeguarding and liaises regularly with agencies including social care, the police and family services. She is focused on working in the best interests of children and serves to maximise their educational opportunities and life chances.

📚 Related resources

> Read our blog on understanding children’s sexual behaviour

> Take a course for managing sexualised behaviour in primary and secondary schools

> Refer anyone up to the age of 21 who has displayed harmful sexual behaviour to our NCATS service

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22: Supporting young people with learning disabilities

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 09:18:00 +0000

The NSPCC developed Love Life in partnership with Dr. El Stannage and Connecting Youth Culture for young people with learning difficulties or special educational needs.

The films and resources help support adults in starting conversations with young people aged 11 to 25 about topics such as feelings, privacy and boundaries, relationships and online safety.

Listen to our episode to find out:

why and how the films and resources were developed
how the resources can be delivered
the benefits these resources provide for young people with learning disabilities

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Helen Westerman is joint acting Head of the Safeguarding in Communities team at the NSPCC and has been working at the charity for the past 13 years. She is also the Local Campaigns Manager in the North of England, running local and regional campaigns in partnership with health, social care, police, education and voluntary sector agencies which aim to safeguard children and young people.

Elanor Stannage has a PhD in Arts in Mental Health and has worked as a theatre practitioner, director, writer, and producer for over a decade. This involves creating projects and performances with marginalised communities and specialising in the areas of mental health and learning difficulties. She has also developed and worked with Connecting Youth Culture on Fuse Theatre - an inclusive youth theatre for over 10 years - which has helped inspire the concept for Love Life.

📚 Related resources

> Access our Love Life resources

> Read more about safeguarding children with SEND

> Hear about our study into safeguarding disabled children from sexual abuse

> Read our blog on exploring emotions and relationships with young people with SEND

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21: Steps to Safety programme

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 09:24:54 +0000

Listen to this week’s episode to learn about:

the Steps to Safety programme, including the research behind the service and its development process
what the outcomes were from the feasibility study and what we learnt from the service
how practitioners assessed parents, delivered sessions and modules and used Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)
the challenges practitioners encountered whilst implementing the pilot programme
how children’s voices were considered at each stage to ensure the service was delivered safely.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Nicola McConnell is a Senior Evaluation Officer within the NSPCC’s Evidence Team who has over 20 years of experience in evaluating health and social care services for children and families, including training and supporting others to undertake this work. She has researched and published a range of evaluation reports across different topic areas such as child protection, domestic abuse and preventing child abuse.

Roberta Neill is a qualified social worker and Children’s Services Practitioner working at the NSPCC’s Belfast Service Centre. During her time at NSPCC she has delivered domestic abuse services including DART and Steps to Safety as well as a number of different sexual abuse services. She has also been delivering a Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) service since 2011 across Northern Ireland.

Paula Telford is a qualified social worker with over 40 years’ experience in both delivering services and managing teams. She has largely worked in child protection, especially sexual abuse and in mental health. She is currently a Development and Impact Manager at NSPCC and led on the Steps to Safety Service among others. Paula is working with a team of colleagues to take forward the learning from Steps to Safety into other services.

📚 Related resources

> Discover how to recognise, respond and prevent domestic abuse happening to a child

> Learn more about what early intervention services are and the benefits of early help

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20: Protecting disabled children from sexual abuse

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 09:33:49 +0000

Joining us for this episode, Sarah discusses:

our report findings including the key issues for parents and carers
the need for accessible relationships and sex education for children and young people with disabilities
how parents and carers can work with schools to provide children with consistent messages around relationships and sex education
involving children, young people and their parents and carers in the development of services and approaches to preventing sexual abuse

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Sarah Goff is Safeguarding Disabled Children Services Manager at the Ann Craft Trust. She carries out research; delivers training to agencies and local safeguarding children partnerships; and, provides consultancy to organisations about safeguarding disabled children. Her recent work has focused on seeking the views of disabled children and young people placed away from home; the experiences of deaf and disabled children and young people facing domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation; and, developing training to support practitioners in keeping children safe.

📚 Related resources

> Read more about safeguarding children and young people with SEND

> Download our resources for young people aged 11 to 25 with learning disabilities

> Browse our PANTS guides for children with learning disabilities

> Read more about how you can protect children from sexual abuse

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19: What is the Underwear Rule?

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 09:17:34 +0000

Tune into our episode for more about:

the impact PANTS has had since it launched in 2012
having conversations around PANTS and embedding the messages into daily life
how local safeguarding boards, parents, schools and local communities are helping to raise awareness of the campaign
what children have said about the PANTS campaign and future developments to materials and resources.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Ally Sultana is the Local Campaigns Manager for the NSPCC covering the East and West Midlands and is involved in keeping children and young people safe from all forms of abuse, including child sexual exploitation and online risks. She has played a pivotal role in the NSPCC’s PANTS campaign - working with hundreds of parents and professionals to help safeguard children from abuse.

📚 Related resources

> Download our PANTS teaching resources for schools

> Find out more about Talk PANTS for parents and carers

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18: Together for Childhood in Stoke

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 08:24:33 +0000

In this episode, we speak to Leila Canay, one of Stoke’s Children Services Practitioners about:

what evaluation activities are currently being run in Stoke
how the initiative has invited change and developed over time working with the community and partners
establishing professional and community partnerships, including embracing collaboration and co-creation
how young people can be involved in influencing and informing Together for Childhood in their local area.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

About Together for Childhood

💬 About the speakers

Leila Canay is a Children’s Services Practitioner at the NSPCC’s Stoke Service Centre and a qualified social worker. She has a background in delivering child sexual abuse services, including Letting the Future In (LTFI) and Turn the Page (TTP). She is currently seconded into the role of Community Engagement Officer for Together for Childhood in Stoke.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about Together for Childhood

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17: Charity trustees’ responsibilities

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:22:05 +0000

In this episode, our contributors discuss:

the role and responsibilities of a charity trustee
the key to good governance in a charity
the importance of complying with legislation and guidance around keeping children safe
top tips to ensure charity trustees and managers are working well and playing an active role in safeguarding.

This series was carried out as part a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Chris Cloke was the Head of Safeguarding in Communities at the NSPCC for over thirty years. He has a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in safeguarding, particularly within the voluntary and community sector where he has been a trustee and advisor to several voluntary groups. He has been a member of and worked closely with a number of local safeguarding children boards and was chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance for many years.

Cate Meredith has been working for the NSPCC for 10 years as a Senior Consultant in our Safeguarding in Communities team. She continues to lend her expertise to organisations in the voluntary and community sector to ensure their safeguarding responsibilities are supported, understood and met, so that children and young people are safe.

Kathy Evans joined Children England in 2010 as Deputy Chief Executive and she became CEO in April 2013. During her career Kathy has been the Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, a trustee of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, a member of the ACMD Hidden Harm group and DCSF Care Matters advisory group. She was also consultant to the Police Foundation and Justice, devising potential alternatives to Youth Courts, to support the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about safeguarding in faith communities

> Find out more about safeguarding children and young people as a charity trustee

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16: Safeguarding in faith-based communities

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:16:45 +0000

We are almost reaching the end of our series on safeguarding children and young people within local communities. Tune into this week’s episode to find out more about:

the role faith-based communities and groups have in children and young people’s lives
why it’s essential groups and communities understand their safeguarding responsibilities
how to address safeguarding challenges and develop a safeguarding culture that works alongside cultural beliefs, values and customs
the importance in listening to children and young people and ensuring children always feel listened to.

These episodes were produced as part of a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Cate Meredith has been working for the NSPCC for 10 years as a Senior Consultant in our Safeguarding in Communities team. She continues to lend her expertise to organisations in the voluntary and community sector to ensure their safeguarding responsibilities are supported, understood and met, so that children and young people are safe.

Mike Williams has been working in evaluation for 20 years and joined the NSPCC in 2007. During this time, he has evaluated a range of initiatives relating to the prevention of child sexual abuse which includes working with the Somali community in East London and more recently the NSPCC’s child sexual exploitation programme, Protect & Respect.

Shirley Maginley is the NSPCC’s Senior Consultant for Faith and Minority Ethnic Communities. She works across communities to support and promote good practice in keeping children safe, facilitate learning and develop safeguarding initiatives that reflect cultural and ethnic diversity.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about safeguarding in faith communities

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15: Schools’ role in safeguarding overview

NSPCC Learning — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 23:00:00 +0000

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn about:

good safeguarding practices for schools
the barriers children can face when talking about their experiences of abuse
managing relationships with parents
supporting students and staff and promoting positive mental health
how to work with other organisations and statutory services in the community to ensure pupils feel safe and supported.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Kay Joel is a Senior Consultant at the NSPCC who works closely with schools to provide external consultancy. This includes undertaking safeguarding policy audits and visiting schools to verify safeguarding practices. She has also worked for over 25 years as a qualified teacher in primary and special education.

Our guest speaker, Helen, is the parent of a child who is in year one and provides us with an insight into what she has experienced as a parent.

📚 Related resources

> Take our child protection online course for schools

> Safeguarding responsibilities of schools in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

> Read the updated statutory guidance on Keeping children safe in education by the DfE

> Discover what makes an effective anti-bullying policy

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14: Enhancing online safety for children overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 08:12:00 +0000

Our host Chris Cloke and Gawain Griffiths, a Website Supervisor for the NSPCC discuss:

how to run online services safely and manage an online presence effectively adopting professional and personal life boundaries online, particularly, with social media and email accounts
the impact of bullying and how to prevent it online and respond appropriately
who organisations can go to for resources, guidelines, templates and support
what children and young people tell Childline about keeping safe online.

These episodes were produced as part of a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Chris Cloke was the Head of Safeguarding in Communities at the NSPCC for over thirty years. He has a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in safeguarding, particularly within the voluntary and community sector where he has been a trustee and advisor to several voluntary groups. He has been a member of and worked closely with a number of local safeguarding children boards and was chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance for many years.

Gawain Griffiths is a Website Supervisor for the NSPCC and focuses on content development on the Childline website. Gawain has worked at the NSPCC for nine years and has developed a wide range of online resources to help keep children and young people safe in the online and offline world.

📚 Related resources

> View our safeguarding resources for voluntary and community groups

> Learn more about online safety

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13: Safeguarding adults and children

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 08:11:58 +0000

Through this episode, you’ll find out more about:

the similarities, differences and challenges in safeguarding adults and children
how organisations working with mixed-age groups can safeguard children and adults in their care
the importance of separate policies and procedures for adults and children
safer recruitment and changing organisational culture so that safeguarding is a priority
the support and resources available to mixed-age group organisations.

These episodes were produced as part of a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Chris Cloke was the Head of Safeguarding in Communities at the NSPCC for over thirty years. He has a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in safeguarding, particularly within the voluntary and community sector where he has been a trustee and advisor to several voluntary groups. He has been a member of and worked closely with a number of local safeguarding children boards and was chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance for many years.

Sarah Stanley is the Education and Development Co-ordinator for Brass Bands England and has created a safeguarding training course for its members with the help and guidance of the NSPCC. She now delivers this training to bands across the country.

Lisa Curtis is the Safeguarding Adults at Risk Manager and Deputy CEO of the Ann Craft Trust and has worked on various projects including the provision and development of services for adults with learning disabilities. She has continued to influence safeguarding and the delivery of quality services to vulnerable adults.

📚 Related resources

> View our safeguarding resources for voluntary and community groups

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12: Nominated child protection lead overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 08:04:11 +0000

This summer, we are releasing a compilation of episodes on key topics related to safeguarding children and young people within your community.

Learn more about:

building a safer culture in your organisation
how to deal with and respond to concerns about a young person or adult
making the nominated lead role visible to children, staff and parents so they know who to go to for support
training and development needs, including supervision and support for nominated leads
the importance of establishing multi-agency relationships.

These episodes were produced as part of a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Helen Munn is the Head of Online Learning at the NSPCC and is responsible for the organisation’s elearning courses and our podcast programme. Prior to joining the NSPCC, she held a similar role at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Cate Meredith has been working for the NSPCC for 10 years as a Senior Consultant in our Safeguarding in Communities team. She shares her expertise with organisations in the voluntary and community sector to ensure their safeguarding responsibilities are supported, understood and met so that children and young people are kept safe.

Trupti Kavia is Head of Family Services for Home-Start in Barnet, Brent, Enfield and Harrow and has worked with the family support organisation for 15 years delivering efficient and effective services. As a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO), Trupti is responsible for ensuring that safeguarding procedures are followed and staff and volunteers receive ongoing safeguarding training and support.

📚 Related resources

> View our safeguarding resources for voluntary and community groups

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11: Introduction to safeguarding at events

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 09:35:34 +0000

In this episode, we focus on:

advice, tips and guidance on safeguarding to get you started
common challenges organisations face when addressing safeguarding issues
bringing organisations up to speed with current legislation
the need for organisations to tailor policies and procedures
keeping communication channels open between children and organisations.

These podcasts were produced as part of a partnership led by NCVO, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Fund within the Safeguarding Training Fund programme.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Chris Cloke was the Head of Safeguarding in Communities at the NSPCC for over thirty years. He has a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in safeguarding, particularly within the voluntary and community sector where he has been a trustee and advisor to several voluntary groups. He has been a member of and worked closely with a number of local safeguarding children boards and was chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance for many years.

Cate Meredith has been working for the NSPCC for 10 years as a Senior Consultant in our Safeguarding in Communities team. She continues to lend her expertise to organisations in the voluntary and community sector to ensure their safeguarding responsibilities are supported, understood and met, so that children and young people are safe.

Heidi Bradley is a Club Support Manager for England Athletics and leads on the development of safeguarding resources. She also sits on the NSPCC’s National Advisory Group for the voluntary and community sector.

📚 Related resources

> View our safeguarding resources for voluntary and community groups

> Browse our introductory safeguarding and child protection elearning courses

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10: How safe are our children? report overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 08:34:37 +0000

The lead author of the report, Holly Bentley, a Senior Information Specialist at the NSPCC speaks about:

why we chose to focus on online safety and online abuse this year
where we sourced the data from
how we collaborated with experts who have an insight into the world of online safety
the key findings and main conclusions drawn from the report
how our surveys gave children a safe space to talk about their experiences.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Holly Bentley is a Senior Information Specialist at the NSPCC leading on the organisation’s use of statistics and data. Holly has worked at the NSPCC for eight years and has managed the compilation and delivery of the ‘How safe are our children?’ report since 2013. Prior to working at the NSPCC, she was a librarian at the Guardian.

📚 Related resources and further reading

> Read the full How safe are our children? 2019 report

> Get an overview of data on abuse of adolescents in our 2020 report

> Find out more about preventing online abuse and harm

> Read a summary of risk factors and learning for improving practice around online harm and abuse

> Take a look at the NSPCC helplines report about online safety

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9: Military families overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 08:30:56 +0000

Tune into the podcast to listen to our experts discuss:

what professionals should consider when working with military families
how the child’s voice was incorporated into our evaluation activities
safeguarding and child protection issues faced by military-connected children
parental resilience, social connections and emotional development
key findings and recommendations from our service evaluation report.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Nicola McConnell is a Senior Evaluation Officer within the NSPCC’s Evidence Team who has over 20 years of experience in evaluating health and social care services for children and families, including training and supporting others to undertake this work. She has researched and published a range of evaluations across different topic areas such as child protection, domestic abuse and preventing child abuse as well as recently completed an evaluation of NSPCC’s early help services to military families.

Vicky Wainwright has worked as the Team Manager at the NSPCC’s Service Centre in Tidworth for the last three years where she has supported practitioners in delivering direct services to the local community. She is a qualified social worker who has previously worked within local authority safeguarding and child protection teams and has personal experience of the military as her husband is in the RAF.

📚 Related resources

> Read our military families evaluation report to learn more about our key findings

> Find out more about how early help/intervention services can reduce risk factors

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8: Safer recruitment in education overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 08:18:03 +0000

This episode features two of our Senior Consultants at the NSPCC, Donya Pourzand and Craig Keady, who discuss the importance of safer recruitment in educational institutions.

They explore:

how schools, colleges and academies can recruit safely
what can go wrong when a safer recruitment process isn’t followed
examples of high-level profile cases that have put education in the spotlight for the wrong reasons
the common errors made by educational institutions during recruitment processes
why training is key to bringing safer recruitment statutory guidance to life
the importance of including the child’s voice in recruitment.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Craig Keady is a Senior Consultant for Education at NSPCC. He has worked extensively in the education sector and has experience in varied roles including safeguarding, leadership and management, special educational needs and inclusion in schools, multi-academy trusts.

Donya Pourzand is a Senior Consultant with the NSPCC Consultancy Service specialising in HR safeguarding. She has over 11 years of experience in HR and consultancy roles across the public and private sectors and now works on a consultative basis with schools and external organisations to explore ways to improve their HR practice for children and young people.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about safer recruitment policies, vetting, disclosure and barring checks and managing allegations of abuse

> Get bespoke face-to-face training sessions on safer recruitment in education or take control of your learning with our online course

> Read our four top tips on how you can start incorporating safer practices in your recruitment processes

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7: Anti-bullying in schools overview

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 28 May 2019 08:21:39 +0000

We talk to the NSPCC’s Senior Educational Consultant, Kay Joel, about the following:

the importance of having anti-bullying policies and procedures
why schools need an anti-bullying ethos approach
how policies and procedures have changed over the years
what makes an effective anti-bullying policy and procedure
where to go for further tips and advice on bullying.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speaker

Kay Joel is a Senior Consultant at the NSPCC who works closely with schools to provide external consultancy. This includes undertaking safeguarding policy audits and visiting schools to verify safeguarding practices. She has also worked for over 25 years as a qualified teacher in primary and special education.

📚 Related resources

> Read more about how you can protect children from bullying and cyberbullying

> Download a range of specialist training and resources aimed at teachers, schools and colleges

> Use our free online tool to assess your current safeguarding procedures

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6: Speak out Stay safe overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 13 May 2019 08:24:34 +0000

Speak out Stay safe is our free safeguarding service that we’ve been running in primary schools since 2011. The programme is delivered by specially trained staff and volunteers with the help of our Speak out Stay Safe mascot, Buddy the speech bubble. Pupils are taught in a lively, memorable and child-friendly way.

Joining us in this podcast, we have Rose Bray, NSPCC’s Reach Development Project Manager for the NSPCC’s Schools Service, Karen Squillino who leads on our direct work with schools, and Katie, a parent whose son has taken part in the programme.

This podcast explores:

the scale of the programme and its delivery in schools
a real life example of how the service has benefitted a parent and their child
how the child’s voice is kept at centre of the programme
challenges around reaching and accessing schools
next steps for the Speak out Stay safe service.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Karen Squillino has a lead role in the development of the NSPCC’s Speak out Stay safe programme and is a registered social worker who has 28 years of experience in child protection and safeguarding.

Rose Bray is the Reach Development Project Manager for the Schools Service at the NSPCC. Her role focuses on ensuring the Speak out Stay safe programme reaches as many schools and children as possible. Rose is also a volunteer for the Childline service.

📚 Related resources

> Learn more about Speak out Stay safe

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5: Perinatal mental health overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 08:22:36 +0000

The NSPCC runs two services that support parents with their mental health, Pregnancy in Mind (PiM) and Baby Steps. In our fifth podcast, we speak with Louise Harrington, Development and Impact Manager and Victoria Joel (Tori), Implementation Manager about preventative mental health services and perinatal educational programmes.

Find out why parents might be referred to these types of services, how they engage with families to provide the right support and what provisions are currently available to parents outside of the NSPCC.

We end the podcast with a discussion about how the child is kept at the centre of the programmes and how this is managed in cases where babies are yet to be born.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Louise Harrington is a Development and Impact Manager at NSPCC and works on developing Pregnancy in Mind, amongst other services. Louise’s background and expertise lies in evaluation, research and service development in the field of children, families and communities, with a specific focus on early intervention and preventative approaches within the early years.

Victoria Joel is a trained midwife who works with vulnerable families; in particular, her work has focused on attachment-based interventions and reflective functioning. Victoria is the Implementation Manager for Baby Steps at the NSPCC and seeks out new partners to adopt and deliver Baby Steps and supports organisations that use the service.

📚 Related resources

> Learn how Pregnancy in Mind is supporting parents' mental health during pregnancy

> Learn more about parental mental health problems

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4: The Lighthouse overview

NSPCC Learning — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 09:10:39 +0000

The Lighthouse is a multi-agency service for children and young people in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington who have experienced any form of sexual abuse, including exploitation. At The Lighthouse, the child is at the centre, to make sure they have a safe place to recover at their own pace and rebuild their lives. The Lighthouse (Child House) is led by University College London Hospitals in partnership with NSPCC and Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and will be piloted for two years.

In this podcast episode Ali is joined by two members of the Lighthouse team: Emma Harewood, Service Manager and Deborah Hodes, Community Paediatrician and Health Lead, along with Jon Brown, Head of Development and Impact at the NSPCC.

Emma, Deborah and Jon provide an insight into how The Lighthouse was established, discussing how the NSPCC along with four core funders (the Home Office, NHS England, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the Department for Education) helped shape it to become the first service of its kind in the UK.

We hear about the range of services children can access under one roof from therapeutic and medical services to support with police investigations, the court system and counselling for them and their family. They also talk about how children are consulted at every step as well as the future plans for The Lighthouse service.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Jon Brown is the Head of Development and Impact at NSPCC. He is a qualified social worker and has been responsible for setting up and managing a range of sexual abuse services ranging from therapeutic services for child victims, services for children and young people with sexually harmful behaviour and services for adult sex offenders.

Emma Harewood is the Delivery and Service Manager at The Lighthouse, leading the delivery of the first UK ‘Child House’ pilot. Prior to this Emma trained as a paediatric dietitian, before moving into system leadership and change management. For the last 10 years she has held various director level roles in health providers and clinical commissioning groups, leading change in health and social care with a focus on integrated services to support children and adults.

Dr Deborah Hodes is the paediatric lead for The Lighthouse. Deborah has been a Consultant Community Paediatrician since 1990. She has vast clinical, teaching, strategic and research experience in all aspects of child abuse and neglect and has presented and published her work widely. In 2014, she started the only paediatric UK clinic for children and young people with female genital mutilation (FGM).

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about The Lighthouse

> Learn more about how to protect children from sexual abuse

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3: Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) overview

NSPCC Learning — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 04:33:47 +0000

In this podcast episode Ali talks to four members of the team: Mandy John-Baptiste, Service head of CTAC, Martina Murray, Assistant team manager, and Charlotte Jamieson and Sylvia Vuong who are social workers.

Mandy, Martina, Charlotte and Sylvia provide us with an overview of CTAC's work and explain why children and young people are trafficked and the ways in which they are exploited. They also discuss the “tricks” child traffickers employ to control and isolate children and young people and what professionals should do if they suspect a child might have been trafficked.

We also hear about the child’s voice and the part this plays in shaping the essential service CTAC provides.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Mandy John-Baptiste is the Service Head of CTAC and leads on CTAC's strategic partnerships with the Home Office Immigration Criminal Financial Investigation and Enforcement, National Crime Agency.

Martina Murray, Assistant team manager, and Charlotte Jamieson are qualified social workers and provide case consultation, advice and training to a range of professionals who come into contact with children where there is a concern for trafficking. Charlotte also leads on CTAC's work to improve cross border responses between the UK and Calais, France with Refugee Youth Service.

Sylvia Vuong is a social worker and led on CTAC's work to improve training with health professionals and developed a partnership with NHS Trusts to deliver modern slavery training to frontline health professionals in safeguarding trafficked children.

📚 Related resources

> Find out more about protecting children from trafficking and modern slavery

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2: Protect and Respect - The NSPCC's CSE service

NSPCC Learning — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 08:45:00 +0000

In this podcast episode, Ali talks to four members of the Protect and Respect team: Holly Gordon, Impact and Development Manager, Laura Gaffor and Amy Stelfox, Child Service Practitioners and Mike Williams, Senior Evaluation Officer.

Holly, Laura, Amy and Mike discuss the Protect and Respect service, which offers two types of support: awareness raising group work and a support and protection service. They talk about the issues surrounding CSE and how best to work with children and young people who have been or are at risk of exploitation.

They also discuss the findings of a recent evaluation of Protect and Respect and how the insight from the service evaluation, research and the voices of practitioners, children and young people has been used to make improvements to the service delivery.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

💬 About the speakers

Laura Gaffor and Amy Stelfox are Child Service Practitioners who work directly with young people, delivering the Protect and Respect service. They have a range of experience working with professionals, young people and their families who are affected by CSE.

Holly Gordon is Impact and Development Manager for Protect and Respect. She led on the development of Protect and Respect in North Wales and supported the development of the services.

Mike Williams is Senior Evaluation Officer and has worked on Protect and Respect for the last five years. He has evaluated a range of initiatives for the NSPCC relating to the prevention of child sexual abuse.

📚 Related resources

> Read our evaluation of the Protect and Respect service

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1: Together for Childhood overview

NSPCC Learning — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 16:58:41 +0000

In this podcast episode, we speak to Jon Brown, the NSPCC's Head of Development and Impact. Jon gives us an overview of Together for Childhood, which is being developed in four sites: Glasgow, Grimsby, Plymouth and Stoke. He talks about the collaborations and co-developments between voluntary, statutory and community sectors, how the programme is helping develop current and new NSPCC services and how it is being funded, evaluated and rolled out.

We'll be visiting the four sites in future episodes to talk more in depth about the work they are doing.

Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

About Together for Childhood

💬 About the speaker

Jon Brown is Head of Development and Impact at NSPCC. He is a qualified social worker and has been responsible for setting up and managing a range of sexual abuse services ranging from therapeutic services for child victims, services for children and young people with sexually harmful behaviour and services for adult sex offenders.