Practitioner Forums help people who work with children and young people learn from each other, understand each other's roles and responsibilities and what local provision is available in each part of the county. The Practitioner Forums are free to attend, so why not give your local forum a try?
Please see dates below.
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Cumberland (Allerdale, Copeland & Millom) Thursday 6th July 2023 (10:00 - 12:00) via Teams
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Cumberland (Carlisle) Wednesday 12th July 2023 (12:30 - 14:30) Belle Vue School, Carlisle (this is a face to face session)
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Westmorland & Furness (Penrith) Thursday 6th July 2023 (15:00 - 17:00) via Teams
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Westmorland & Furness (Barrow & South Lakes) Tuesday 11th July 2023 (10:00 - 11:30) via Teams
The forums are being delivered through Microsoft Teams or face to face and you will need an invitation. If you have not had an invitation before or you have not attended a Practitioner Forum but would like to join one of the forums please email practitioner.forums@cumbria.gov.uk and we will send you an invitation.
We look forward to seeing you.
For more information - Practitioner Forums
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Early Help Training 3rd and 4th July - places still available
There are still places available on our How to Support Children and Families with Early Help - Signs of Wellbeing and Success Level 2 Training in July.
The aim of this training is to increase knowledge and enable practitioners to work more effectively with children, young people and their families using Early Help, and identify needs early to give all children the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
Target audience :
- Staff and volunteers who come into contact with children, young people and/or families.
- Resource pack with relevant reading material will be sent on confirmation of booking for each session.
The training is in 2 parts
Session A - Monday 3rd July 2023 (6-8pm)
Participants will:
- Increase their understanding of the Early Help – Signs of Wellbeing and Success assessment and process, including the SEND process.
- Gain an understanding of the Early Help Bottom Lines, Young People’s Toolkit and Step up / Step Down Process.
- Share learning from CSCP Safeguarding Groups around Information Sharing and understand how to improve their practice.
Session B - Tuesday 4th July 2023 (6-8pm)
Participants will:
- Understand our roles within the multi-agency Team Around the Family (TAF).
- Gain confidence in how to complete and/or contribute to the Early Help Signs of Wellbeing and success assessment.
- Be able to identify sources of support to meet further training needs.
To book your places, please click on the link below
https://cumbriasafeguardingchildren.co.uk/training/howtosupportchildrenandfamilieswithearlyhelp.asp
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Both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Safeguarding Hubs will be launching a 'Request for Information' form from 1st July 2023.
The purpose of this form is so that professionals who require information regarding a child and their family can request information in the correct format required for the staff in both hubs to respond efficiently and appropriately. This will also provide an audit trail for information requested and details provided to ensure compliance with GDPR and data sharing protocols and legislation. This should not detract for the need to share and or request information with the Safeguarding Hubs where there is an immediate safeguarding concern about a child.
Use this form to request information that the relevant Safeguarding Hub may hold about a child and their family such as:
- Social care involvement
- Referral outcomes
- Historic involvement
Do not use this form if you know the child has an allocated social worker or Early Help worker involvement, please contact the relevant worker directly.
Please fill out and submit the request for information form held on the CSCP website (links below).
Once the completed form is received you should expect a response to your request within a maximum of 5 working days. If you have not received this, please contact the the relevant Safeguarding Hub.
Should you have an immediate safeguarding concern about a child please contact the relevant hub to discuss your concerns or make a referral in the usual way.
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In Cumbria we have been promoting the appropriate use of language when dealing with children and young people who are or may be at risk of Child Exploitation. You can access Child Exploitation Appropriate use of Language Guidance here on the CSCP website.
The NSPCC have also produced a blog on Why Language matters ‘older boyfriend’ which is useful to read.
The blog looks at: why the term is unhelpful; how the young person’s voice can be heard; and ways professionals can talk about the safeguarding concerns around potentially exploitative relationships.
Read the blog: Why language matters: how the label ‘older boyfriend’ can mask child sexual exploitation
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NSPCC Learning has published a new blog on the term “malicious allegations” as part of its Why Language Matters series. The blog post looks at: the risks of labelling allegations as “malicious”; how this can impact the way professionals perceive concerns; and the importance of properly assessing a situation.
Why you should avoid labelling allegations as 'malicious'
Criminal and sexual exploitation
Barnardo's has published a briefing on child criminal and sexual exploitation in the UK and how to safeguard and support child victims and those at risk of abuse and exploitation. Recommendations include: introducing a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation; using the Online Safety Bill to strengthen protection for children online; rolling out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian service across England and Wales; and investing in Scotland-specific research on the scale and nature of child criminal and sexual exploitation.
Read the briefing paper: Child exploitation: a hidden crisis
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The Healthy Steps programme has launched!
A free 8-week email programme that encourages families to eat better and move more, with budget conscious, easy and practical ides.
Help us get as many families as possible with 5-11 year olds by going to www.healthysteps.uk to sign up in your local area. There are a range of free and useful resources on our Campaign Resource Centre, where you will find recipe cards, newsletters, a social toolkit and more. Download Resources
Parents/carers can sign up at any time by completing a quiz about their current eating and physical activity habits. Once they’ve completed the quiz they will receive weekly emails on one of these themes, tailored to their quiz results:
- Reducing sugar
- Eating 5 a day
- Meal planning
The content in the emails will provide families with simple ways to take steps towards healthier behaviours. As part of the programme, families are set goals or tasks to complete every other week, such as swapping out sugary fizzy drinks, or adding fruit or veg to their breakfasts. Regular feedback points give families the opportunity to celebrate their successes and continue to make positive changes.
Also created is a range of resources for primary schools, including a whole-school assembly, featuring fun quizzes and Healthy Steps quests covering 5 A Day, planned cooking, sugar intake and snacking. Please promote these new resources to teachers and those working with young families in your networks.
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Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council, in partnership with SafeLives, are offering the training opportunity to complete ‘Responding Well’ Domestic Abuse Training.
SafeLives are a UK-wide charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, for everyone and for good. They are independent, practical and evidence-led, with survivor voice at the heart of our thinking. They work with organisations across the UK to transform the response to domestic abuse.
Click here for further details, dates and how to access the training.
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The Department for Education is offering eligible schools and colleges a grant of £1,200 to pay for training for senior mental health leads in educational settings.
The training will help embed an effective whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing, this includes:
- identifying mental health and wellbeing needs and monitoring the impact of support
- approaches to plan and lead change aligned to the work of designated safeguarding leads/special educational needs coordinators
- developing universal and targeted support offers
- engaging students/pupils and developing positive relationships with parents, families and carers.
Mental health leads can choose from over 100 courses (beginner, intermediate and advanced levels) tailored to the needs of their settings. They can register for grant funding to attend a mental health course beginning before 31st March 2024. The grant can also be used to pay for supply cover to backfill the individual undertaking training, or for further support to sustain approaches to mental health and wellbeing
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The Department for Education (DfE) has published updated statutory guidance on safeguarding for schools and colleges in England. Keeping children safe in education 2023 will replace the 2022 version of the guidance from 1st September 2023.
Read the updated guidance: Keeping children safe in education 2023
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The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on revisions to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance for England. The consultation aims to gather views on updating Working Together to help deliver on the government’s plans to transform children’s social care set out in Stable Homes, Built on Love. It closes on 06 September 2023.
Find out more: Working together to safeguard children: changes to statutory guidance
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The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on revising non-statutory advice to support practitioners in the processes of sharing information in England. The consultation aims to gather perspectives on how to make the advice clear and easy to understand so that practitioners feel confident in sharing safeguarding information effectively and appropriately. It closes on 06 September 2023.
Find out more: Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners
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