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Vulnerable learners often face challenges that extend far beyond the classroom. Traditional safeguarding measures, while essential, may not always address the complex needs of these students. To truly protect and empower them, we need a more holistic and proactive approach.
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Alternative provision (AP) settings often support young people with complex needs, making safeguarding a paramount consideration. While sharing many similarities with mainstream schools, the unique challenges of AP require a tailored approach.
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Contextual safeguarding recognises that as children grow up they can encounter many factors that may put their lives or well-being in jeopardy. Embedding strong partnerships can foster a stronger safeguarding environment so children can reach their educational potential and thrive in adulthood.
It can be difficult to manage every encounter a child has in their neighbourhoods, online, in school or during leisure activities. Using a collaborative approach can build strong partnerships to provide effective contextual safeguarding.
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Safeguarding children should be of paramount importance, but spotting the signs of why a child might be in danger of being involved in county lines can be tricky.
In this blog, we’ll explore what county lines are, the dangers and what you can do to effectively support your students who desperately need support.
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Building meaningful relationships can play a fundamental role in ensuring a student feels more confident in their academic ability and well-being. We must find common ground with students, parents and families so everyone involved can have better experiences in education.
How can we achieve this? In this blog, we’ll delve into strategies you can look at implementing to build effective relationships with your students.
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Safeguarding students should be paramount within the education system. As stated in KCSIE 2023, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Robust and stringent measures need to be implemented to ensure everyone involved in a school environment is protected and secured.
Jonathan Keay, Senior HMI stated:
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Children who have been exposed to trauma or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) may exhibit certain behaviours or refuse to attend education. How can we overcome their barriers and what can we implement to support them?
EDClass spoke to Danny Wolstencroft, from Lads Like Us, who are safeguarding consultants going across the UK to discuss trauma-informed care to all types of professionals. Their goal is to inform professionals on how to effectively support children who have experienced trauma and what strategies we can implement to overcome barriers.
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Students who are persistently and severely absent need creative and innovative solutions that address their specific needs. How can this be achieved? What support can be put in place to ensure they are safe?
EDClass spoke to international safeguarding consultant, Victoria Raynor, and we discussed safeguarding, absenteeism and driving engagement using a hybrid model.
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Conducting due diligence on alternative provisions should be of paramount importance. The provision should prioritise supporting students with specific needs and implementing the most effective support possible.
Integrating an effective alternative provision can be achieved by identifying the specific needs of students and providing an element of support that they feel most comfortable with. This is so their personal development can be prioritised in terms of their well-being and academic growth and potentially lead to a successful reintegration.
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School refusal can manifest in many forms, and for many different reasons. It is usually expressed as severe emotional distress at the prospect of attending school, caused by a number of different issues or conditions. It may be a short-term issue caused by a specific incident, or it could be a long-term problem that occurs continually or intermittently.
From incidents of bullying or other social problems to anxiety, school phobia, issues with separation from parents, unidentified special education or mental health needs and more, no case of school refusal is the same, there are endless reasons behind the problem, and identifying those is crucial in developing an appropriate response early on.
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Alternative provisions are highly important within the education system. What should APs now look like and what should be implemented?
An alternative provision effectively provides students education who cannot make it into mainstream education for whatever reason. APs can be situated in a variety of locations and can also be online. According to statistics:
“It is estimated that there are at least 32,083 pupils educated across at least 761 alternative provision settings in England.”
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Safeguarding procedures now must be scrutinised following several high-profile incidents. On Childhood Day, it is vital to highlight such an important issue and open a conversation discussing how the situation can improve.
There has been a significant increase in the number of incidents over the past year. A study from Tes found:
“There was a 77% increase in the number of safeguarding incidents in schools within the past 12 months.”
Why has there been an increase in the number of incidents? Have you seen an increase in the number of safeguarding incidents within your establishment?
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Students home learning has increased due to the pandemic how can students make the most of a difficult situation? Here’s 5 tips.
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In the past 20 years or so, we’ve become more and more aware of the different types of identities in the LGBTQ community, how can we make them feel safer in education?
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Reading time: 4 minutesStudents absent from public school without reasonable justification legally...
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Students with special educational needs deserve an equal chance at education and alternative provision can be a viable option for them.
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Children missing education can cause a mass of problems for schools. Schools must do their best to ensure their students’ safety and increase their chances of reintegrating.
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Attending school is crucial if students are to progress with their studies. Covid has hampered student’s education, but alternative provision can help.
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Mental health issues may have increased in young people during the pandemic but online learning can help. How can online education benefit students’ lives?
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Safeguarding students during the summer holidays is crucial and online learning can effectively help when delivered properly.
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EDTech has proved to be a great asset in providing teaching and learning over the past year. EDClass has taken it to another level.
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The issue of sexual abuse and harassment within schools has become an increasingly concerning matter in today’s society.
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With the introduction of the digital age, online safety for children has become subject to an influx of threats from a whole host of intimidatory factors.
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Separation anxiety could pose challenges for schools returning this autumn.
“It can be hard to recognise an anxiety disorder. Kids who worry are often quietly worried,” says Dr Michelle Curtin, developmental-behavioural pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health.
What are the signs of separation anxiety disorder, why might it occur and what can be done about it? This blog post explains.
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“It just feels like nobody cares about us”, paediatrician Sarah Cockman had been told by parents and children on visits to B&Bs where homeless families had been staying. From bed-wetting to anxiety to leering men on doorsteps missed safeguarding issues have caused great concern during 2020.
Teachers have been told to expect a “tsunami of safeguarding concerns” when schools return this week.
The horrendous situation for families has been compounded during lockdown. The impact of inequality has exploited young people. EDBlog takes a look at missed safeguarding issues and how communities can work together to resolve them.
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There could be an increase of 250% in child protection referrals that need to be investigated and kept safe when lockdown is eased further, according to the head of the largest child protection department in the UK.
Matt Dunkley, corporate director for children and young people at Kent County Council, said: “What we are looking at is a huge surge in September in children needing to be seen, families needing to be assessed, when they are at the end of their tether after six months being locked down or being out of the eye of their school… that leaves us with a huge problem.”
EDBlog previously reported that teachers were feeling “stressed and overwhelmed” about a surge in safeguarding concerns post-lockdown. But what do the latest revelations mean? This blog post explains.
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According to Apprenticeship statistics for England, in the 2017/18 academic year, 814,800 young people joined an apprenticeship scheme, nearly a quarter of whom were under 19. Any organisation educating young people under the age of 18 has statutory responsibilities under current legislation such as ‘Keeping Children in Education’ KCSIE. Your safeguarding responsibilities are no different than that of a school.
Due to their relative inexperience in the workplace apprentices may be particularly vulnerable to anxiety or struggle to cope with the transition. Systems can help staff recognise this and offer suitable support to those who need it. Organisations offering any kind of apprenticeship or traineeship to young people need to put processes in place to protect their learners.
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Eyes-on learning means you can gain the experience of classroom learning combined with the benefits of online learning – as well as being in a fully safeguarded environment.
Students can access a range of facilities once they have logged in to our online virtual portal and seats.
Eyes-on learning combines live teaching and support for your learning. A live stream ensures safeguarding and the learners can ask for assistance anytime.
But what are the five benefits of eyes-on learning?
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All educational institutions have a fundamental responsibility to ensure children and young people are protected and kept safe from harm.
But what does safeguarding policy entail? And how can it keep students safe in more ways than one? This blog post explains.
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The impact of the lockdown on safeguarding is starting to show – with a number of reports showing a rise on phycological stress and safety concerns among young people.
EDLounge reported in June that schools were braced for a “tsunami of safeguarding disclosures” when schools reopened.
Safeguarding Week 2020 has taken extra significance due to the unprecedented circumstances, according to the Chair of North Yorkshire’s Safeguarding Adults Board (NYSAB).
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The Government has continuously said throughout the pandemic that vulnerable students are their priority.
Schools have remained open for vulnerable children and those children whose parents are keyworkers. However many vulnerable children have not attended.
Issues such as digital poverty have arisen, and while schools return to normal the question remains: are you caring for vulnerable students?
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Teachers feel overwhelmed and helpless due to a large number of safeguarding concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A “tsumani of safeguarding disclosures” is feared when pupils do return to the classroom, according to one safeguarding lead. It has been reported that schools and PRUs may struggle to cope with the huge rise in cases.
When learning from home, schools remain responsible for safeguarding students. But are schools doing everything to safeguard their students and can they do more?
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School phobia even in pre-Covid times is a very real issue. The causes of which could increase during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not only this but Covid-19 has increased apprehension in the education setting. Children of key workers as well as vulnerable children are still expected to attend. But in reality only 5% of vulnerable children have actually been attending.
School phobia can be caused by a number of issues. The anxieties of parents, teachers and wider community will also have a substantial effect on parents. How will this all fit together and what is the Education Minister trying to do about it?
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The Education Minister has hit back at claims more can be done to ensure vulnerable children receive an education.
It is widely reported in the media that only a minority of vulnerable children expected to still attend school during lockdown have been doing so. Further concern has been raised that children required to do home-learning may have vulnerabilities which have not been considered.
At a Government briefing on Sunday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson showed appreciation to staff who had kept schools and nurseries open over the Easter holidays to protect vulnerable children. He also pledged laptops and tablets, as well as additional funding to charities, to help ensure children can receive an online education as well as have greater safeguarding means in their own homes.
On Wednesday, the Education Minister was called to explain decisions and guidance to other MPs via an online Education Select Committee Meeting. Here is what Vicky Ford, had to say.
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Since school closures were announced 18 March, schools have turned to various forms of virtual learning to ensure education can still be achieved.
From specialist remote learning platforms to a do-it-yourself-style teaching with help from video conference software, the difference in learning experience can be stark.
But how safe is your online teaching mechanism?
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Safeguarding trumps GDPR.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018. Yet, there is still some confusion within education about whether it takes priority over safeguarding – leaving some vulnerable young people at risk.
According to the Government, “Information sharing is essential for effective safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. It is a key factor identified in many serious case reviews (SCRs), where poor information sharing has resulted in missed opportunities to take action that keeps young people safe.”
But how do safeguarding and GDPR fit together? What should you do if both options contradict?
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