News - May 2024

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

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.

New 7 Minute Briefings & 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.

Professional Curiosity 7MB

We are currently 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.

7MB Impact Survey

Another recent 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 a new 7 Minute Briefing aimed mainly at Social Workers:

Placing Children Outside the UK

Water Safety - Free lessons

Salford Community Leisure is offering FREE to access Water Safety sessions at Swimming Pools across the city. As a fundamental life skill we want to ensure that all children in Salford understand basic requirements for water safety, particularly as we enter the warmer months and the risk of water related incidents is increased.

Throughout Whit half term (Tuesday 28th-Friday 31st May 20p24), Salford Community Leisure are offering the opportunity for parents to enrol their children on a FREE water safety swimming lesson to provide essential water confidence and survival techniques for children with limited swimming ability between the ages of 8-14 years old.

During this 1 hour lesson your child will learn basic water safety awareness and survival techniques, such as climbing in and out of the pool, floating techniques, treading water, and other essential personal survival and swimming techniques.

For further information and how to join visit

SCL offer free water safety swimming lessons during Whit half term

New Joint Exploitation Strategy for Salford

A new joint exploitation strategy for children and adults has now been published. The strategy sets out the vision "for all children, young people, and adults in Salford to feel safe and protected from the risk of exploitation. We aim to ensure that those who are vulnerable to abuse have clear pathways of support rooted in the local community. We aim to have a whole system that works together to improve the outcomes for those at risk of, or experiencing exploitation". The priorities include:

Preventing exploitation
Protecting young people and adults from exploitation
Communications and engagement
Listening and responding to the voice of young people and adults
Safeguarding effectiveness

The strategy can be downloaded from the link below and can be found on the Policies and Procedures page of the SSCP website.

Salford's Joint Exploitation Strategy

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.

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)

#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.

Youth Voice Census

Youth Voice Census survey delivered by Youth Employment UK, is an annual check-in on how people aged 11-30 feel about education, employment, training, work and their community.

The survey covers questions about:

Transport and Safety
Digital Inclusion
Transition experience (primary to secondary, school to post 16 and work)
Careers support
Employers
DWP and benefits
Wellbeing
Voluntary and extracurricular activity

If you work with young people, have links with schools, colleges, universities or youth organisations, you can help to spread awareness and encourage participation. This will provide Greater Manchester level insights to understand what’s important to young people in the city-region. The findings will also be shared with MPs to help inform policy in order to better meet their needs. The survey is open until 7th June 2024 and findings will be shared in September 2024.

Youth Voice Census Survey 2024

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.

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.

Voice of the Child

The NSPCC have produced a briefing document on the Voice of the Child in relation to learning from case reviews. Download the document below or visit the SSCP Voice of the Child page for this and information about Salford's Voice of the Child subgroup.

NSPCC Voice of the Child Briefing

In case you missed it!

SSCP Listening Hub Update: Focus on Mental Health Continued

The Salford Safeguarding Partnership (SSCP) works with a wide range of partners and is committed to promoting engagement and participation from a wide range of professionals and those that live in Salford. We believe that children, young people, families, carers, and local communities in Salford need to be listened to so that we can understand what matters and can make a positive difference to people living in Salford. For more information visit the Listening Hub web page.

Over the last few years a number of consultations has shown that concerns around mental health and mental health support is a priority for young people. Over the past 3 months the Listening Hub has been reviewing these consultations and seeking to understand any changes in practice or service provision resulting from them. This information is now being collated to share with young people, parents/carers, and professionals.

If you have any information on this topic you would like to share, either regarding views and voices of young people and families, or in relation to services provided then please email thelisteninghub@salford.gov.uk.

For information and support on local mental health and emotional well being services please see The Salford Thrive Directory. The below articles may also be of interest:

Suicide Prevention:

Unpacking Complex Trauma: Free live webinar

Thursday May 16, 2024, 05:00 PM – 06:30 PM - Further information and booking details

The live event is aimed at professionals supporting children and young people who have experienced trauma.

Oliver McGowan Training on Learning Disability and Autism

You can access the training including other e-learning courses by visiting E-Learning Courses | Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership

Autism and Suicide Awareness Training

To access this course and other online courses visit SSCP E-Learning Courses

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

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