June 2024
Previous news items are available by month of publication from the news tab.
Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership circulate monthly E-Bulletins; if you would like to be included on the distribution list, please email sscp@salford.gov.uk.
GM Safeguarding Children policies – new website!
The multi-agency safeguarding children policies hosted by TriX have moved to a new URL. If you had the old link saved as a favourite on your desktop you will need to delete it and update to the new website. Here is the new link:
Welcome to the Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children... (trixonline.co.uk)
The procedures are updated twice a year in June and December. Recent updates in June 2024 include:
- A new chapter on Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse
- Updates to relevant chapters to include revised guidance from Working Together 2023
You can sign up for updates to the procedures by clicking on the Register for Updates box on the Home page of the website.
Creating Strength based partnerships with families guidance
We have developed reflective practice guidance to support professionals to deliver effective, strength-based partnerships in the context of safeguarding children, families, and communities in Salford.
The aim is to invite partnership working to engage families and to guide change taking a ‘doing with’ rather than a ‘doing to’ approach. The basis of the approach can be implemented by anyone working with children, young people, and their families, even if the Family Partnership Model is not your day-to-day approach. The model encourages practitioners to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of families and children by seeing the world through their lens, keeping the child(ren) at the forefront of all decision making and interventions. In addition to the guidance Creating Strength-based partnerships with families in Salford ( SSCP June 2024) you can also access briefings and training on the Family Partnership Model.
GM Safeguarding Week Of Action 24th-28th June
National Safeguarding Children Week of Action 24th- 28th June.
The 10 Safeguarding Children Partnerships have worked together to co-ordinate a programme of events highlighting the importance of safeguarding children. Each session is open to any practitioner who works or volunteers directly or indirectly with children, young people and their families. The sessions are free of charge and all you will need is access to teams/zoom. Attending one of the sessions can contribute towards ‘continuing professional development’. The SSCP have also included any Salford specific information.
Monday 24th June: Safer Sleeping - Virtual or Face to Face 10:00 – 11:30am This session will share learning from Rapid Reviews in Bury, which have focused on safer sleeping in the context of safeguarding. It will include an introduction to the safer sleeping toolkit, which some partnerships also have in Greater Manchester. This will be an opportunity for everyone to exchange ideas on what is working well and to support colleagues in identifying additional risk factors within a family home, and how best to deliver the tough messages of how these additional risk factors increase the risk of baby dying. Book your place with Bury Safeguarding Partnership here: GM Child Safeguarding Week of Action - Bury Safeguarding Children Partnership (office.com) Salford specific information: Safeguarding Babies | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership |
Tuesday 25th June: Learning from North West Reviews (Virtual 11:00 – 12:30am) This session will share recent learning from Rapid Reviews across the North West, with a particular focus on Child Sexual Abuse in the Family Environment. The session will also provide an overview of learning from recent national reviews. The session is open to all practitioners working or volunteering with children, young people and their families across Greater Manchester. Book your place with Bolton Safeguarding Children Partnership and Stockport Safeguarding Children Partnership here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/child-safeguarding-reviews-learning-from-across-the-north-west-registration-692312484277 Salford specific information: Practice reviews | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership |
Wednesday 26th June: Online/E-safety (Virtual 9:30am – 1:00pm) A journey into the online world which our young people navigate every day. During this ½ day course you will learn about online risks, how to respond to incidents, and how to encourage young people to be safe online. The course considers what young people are doing online, what we should be looking for and how to practically deliver direct work to children and young people. Who should attend? Staff from all agencies who work with children, young people and families in a professional capacity. The course will also be relevant to practitioners working with adults. Book your place with Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership please email debbie.hulme@salford.gov.uk with the following information: Name of delegate, Job title, Agency, Full Address, Email address, Name of delegates’ manager, Manager’s email address Salford specific information: E-safety | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership |
Thursday 27th June: Graded Care Profile 2 Training (Trafford Town Hall 9:30 – 16:30) A strengths and evidence-based assessment tool to measure the care quality parents or carers give a child Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) helps professionals measure the quality of care provided by a parent or carer in meeting their child's needs. Using the GCP2 assessment tool, professionals grade aspects of family life on a scale of one to five. This helps them identify areas where the level of care children receive is good and where it could be significantly improved. Professionals can then provide guidance and/or interventions, or signpost or refer on to the most appropriate supporting agency. Book your place with Trafford Strategic Safeguarding Partnership here: tssp.learning@trafford.gov.uk Salford specific information: Neglect | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership |
Salford only Friday 28th June: Child Sexual Abuse: Call to Action The SSCP in response to feedback from Salford professionals has created a CSA repository of training, resources and information. We are calling for your action to ensure all practitioners, managers and leaders access and share this resource Child Sexual Abuse | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership across your workforce and with children, young people, parents/carers and community members. Call to action in June: Watch the series of videos to give you the knowledge to identify concerns of child sexual abuse and the confidence to respond to it You could also access the CSA Centre’s free eLearning | CSA Centre (or equivalent), Identifying and responding to intra-familial child sexual abuse, which takes just 90 minutes to complete and consists of three engaging modules, with interactive tasks, video explainers and a final assessment. It is designed for professionals at all stages of their career; for those new to safeguarding, or as a helpful refresher. Visit the Child Sexual Abuse page for more training and information from basic to specialist levels including but not limited to
For continued improvement and provision of resources please complete the short survey with your feedback and recommendations – this will support us to evidence impact and build a confident and skilled workforce. |
Online Gaming and Gambling Harm
The SSCP will have a programme of learning available from including the YGAM Spotlight General Awareness Briefing Monday 23 September 2024 - 11am - 11.45am
However there are a number of sessions also available targeted at different agencies and groups. For further information and booking see flyer and visit Safeguarding Children Partnerships - Ygam
Prevention Around Social Media and Suicide
PASS Prevention Around Social Media and Suicide deliver a range of workshops and training including "60 minute webinars offer shorter training presentations where we share our knowledge and summarised key points of information on Safe and Responsible use of Social Media in the Aftermath of a Suicide. Those who attend will come away equipped with new knowledge and recommendations and guidance for practice on how to mitigate against harmful effects and promote positive effects of social media use following a suicide."
4th July 2024 : 1.30-2.30pm
20th September 2024 : 1.30-2.30pm
Financially motivated sexual extortion
Globally there has been an increase in reports of children and young people being victims of financially motivated sexual extortion, often referred to in the media as 'sextortion'.
The National Crime Agency's CEOP Education have issued an alert to education settings across the UK in response to this threat. The alert will help professionals to:
- recognise and understand financially motivated sexual extortion
- raise awareness and help seeking behaviours amongst children and young people
- give suitable messaging and support to parents and carers
- support victims of financially motivated sexual extortion
To support colleagues in Salford including Designated Safeguarding Leads and other safeguarding colleagues a briefing has been organised by our education partners on 10th July at 9:15-10:45 am The session will include information on sextortion, it's relationship with artificial intelligence and, organisations that can assist when this happens. Participants will also be provided with literature which can be shared with parents/carers. If you would like to attend the briefing please contact SSCP@salford.gov.uk |
Children missing from home, care and education
Children and young people may be absent from where they should be for many reasons, not least wanting to spend more time with their friends. But if a parent or carer doesn't know where they are, they could be at risk of harm and any prolonged or repeated absence can be cause for concern. In such circumstances parents and practitioners need to respond and act on concerns. You can find more information on the SSCP Children missing from home, care and education web page which has recently been updated to include the Greater Manchester Missing From Home Procedures, details of the the Salford Missing from Home Service, and additional resources.
Placing Children Outside the UK
A case review in Salford highlighted the complexities of placing local children with family members who live outside the UK. The learning from the case review prompted the development of 7 Minute Briefing aimed mainly at Social Workers Placing Children Outside the UK
Think Family: Good Practice Event
Tuesday 11th June 2024 9:30-12 noon via Microsoft Teams
Think family means securing better outcomes for adults, children and families by coordinating the support and delivery of services from all organisations. In Salford, we want all professionals / practitioners to recognise the importance of this approach and to adopt and embrace it in their work.
We are holding this joint event to raise awareness of these reoccurring learning themes and to share good practice guidance. The event will explore how professionals can support children and adults in a more person-centred way, and in the context of the family in which they live.
This session is relevant to a wide range of multi-agency professionals from all services, especially practitioners and managers who come into contact with adults and children.
Further information and on booking details on the Think Family Good Practice Event
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Programme Challenger is running a series of three webinars for parents and carers
The sessions are intended to raise awareness of child criminal exploitation and the support available to you if you believe a child is at risk.
Salford's Joint Exploitation Strategy has also been published and sets out the vision "for all children, young people, and adults in Salford to feel safe and protected from the risk of exploitation.
Trauma Responsive: The Salford Vision
Salford’s vision of becoming a trauma-responsive city through a whole system journey to improving the outcomes for people in our city who have experienced, trauma, adversity and adverse childhood experiences (ACES). We are committed to preventing and mitigating the impact of trauma in Salford for all ages, across services, including our workforce
For further information, resources and training visit Trauma Responsive Greater Manchester (trgm.co.uk)
Self Care
Aside support, supervision and services available to us in our organisations to support you and your colleagues, you should also prioritise taking better care of yourself and pay attention to what you need.
The following information and resources have been identified to support the wellbeing of our people and teams in the workplace including how we look after ourselves.
- Self care resources | Partners in Salford
- Stress - Every Mind Matters - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
- Managing stress and building resilience - tips - Mind
- Greater Manchester Resilience Hub - health and care staff wellbeing service
- Greater Manchester Wellbeing Toolkit | Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership
- Togetherall
- Six Degrees Social Enterprise – Supporting Your Mental Health (six-degrees.org.uk)
- Meditation and Sleep Made Simple - Headspace
In case you missed it...
Parental Mental Health: Think CHILD
Parental mental health problems are not in themselves a child safeguarding concern. However, case reviews show that without the right support a parent with poor mental health can sometimes struggle to provide safe and loving care for their child.
The learning from case reviews highlights that professionals from adult and children’s services need to work together to safeguard children when there are signs that a parent’s mental ill-health is impacting their ability to look after their child ( Parents with a mental health problem: learning from case reviews | NSPCC Learning)
In Salford, the Think CHILD practice guidance toolkit and recorded briefing has been developed to support professionals to work collaboratively with parents via a conversational guide, to understand the impact of mental health on their children. This is increasingly important in the context of following the pandemic and current local and global matters which can amplify stress and mental health difficulties.
7 Minute Briefing Impact Survey
Learning from local case reviews in Salford tells us that sometimes we need to look beyond the surface of what is presented to us to find out what is really going on in a child or young person’s life. Asking the right questions even if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, being ready to listen to the answers and act on what you hear, can really make a difference to a child’s life. Find out more in this 7 Minute Briefing on Professional Curiosity and watch this space for further resources.
We are still gathering information for the Practice Review Sub Group on the impact of 7MBs. Please help us by completing a short survey on how you use the learning from this briefing. You can also disseminate the 7MB across your agency with a request to complete the survey. The link is also provided on the document.
#BeeWell Headline Findings, Autumn 2023 Survey
The headline findings from the latest #BeeWell survey, delivered in autumn 2023 have now been published. Over 38,000 young people in all 14 local authorities across Greater Manchester (GM) and Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton (HIPS) took part.
The headline findings include:
- Persistent inequalities in the wellbeing of young people, especially across gender and sexual orientation.
- In Greater Manchester, young people’s hope and optimism for the future is on the rise, back in line with pre-pandemic levels.
- In Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton over eight out of ten young people surveyed feel ‘fairly safe’ or ‘very safe’ in their local area.
- Across both regions, spanning 14 local authorities, 37% of young people are meeting or exceeding the Chief Medical Officers recommended 1 hour of physical activity per day.
For more information visit the BeeWell 2023 Report dedicated web page.
Gaddum: free training offer
Gaddum is offering free training to professionals in Salford on understanding what it is like to be a young carer and what support is available.
Training can be delivered virtual or in person. Gaddum have produced this poster with more details and how to book a session.
Gaddum fundraising
Gaddum have currently set up a fundraising page. Any donations will help to take on more therapists to provide Children and Young People Bereavement and Complex Care Therapy.
Hidden Harms
The 'Hidden Harms' video was originally developed by Norfolk SAB and has been adapted for use in Salford. It looks at the different types of domestic abuse and explains how it may present in older adults, however it can be used more widely
Policies and Procedures
Policies and procedures provide clarity and consistency, by communicating what people need to do and why, Policies can also communicate goals, values and the culture of the organisation with enough direction for professionals and community members to understand the roles and responsibilities we all have in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
Organisations in Salford and Greater Manchester are advised to refer to the Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual and relevant local Policies and Procedures.
All enquiries concerning the welfare or safety of a child or requests for information MUST BE SENT DIRECTLY to the Bridge Partnership.
The Bridge Partnership can be contacted on 0161 603 4500. All referrals and requests for support must be completed on the online referral form. The Bridge Partnership is available Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm. If you need to speak to someone outside these times, please contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 0161 794 8888. If a child is in immediate danger of being harmed or is home alone, call the police on 999.
If you are worried about an adult - Report abuse or neglect by telephone on: 0161 206 0604. For further information visit https://www.salford.gov.uk/adult-safeguarding
Latest news
Details of all the latest news from the Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership.