"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them"
Welcome to Issue 104 of Quest News. We have 11 hours of off-the job training for our apprentices in care & education to read and learn.
Events this week:
September 23 - September 29 - FSC Forest Week 2023
September 23 - October 23 - Seed Gathering Season 2023
September 24 - September 30 - Migraine Awareness Week 2023
September 25 - September 29 - Fire Door Safety Week 2023
September 25 - September 29 – Cycle to School Week 2023
September 26 - European Day of Languages 2023
September 29 - National Teaching Assistants Day 2023
September 29 - Thankyou #Hiddenheroes Day 2023
September 30 - National NonSpeaking/Nonverbal Awareness Day 2023
Policy of the Week
Code of Conduct Policy
A code of conduct is a set of internal guidelines that employees must follow while they work for you. It outlines your corporate values and commitments as a company. More specifically, it sets the standards and expectations for employee behaviour, and allows you to tailor your company culture.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Please remember to review this in your policy/legislation review workbook)
Videos of the week
The TikTok Effect
What connects amateur sleuths turning up at crime scenes, anti-social behaviour in UK schools and riots in France? The answer, according to a BBC investigation, is that they are all examples of a TikTok 'frenzy'.
Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation correspondent, has spent the last year investigating harmful behaviour on TikTok spilling out into the real-world. She tracks down users, victims and former employees to expose how extremely high engagement on TikTok around some topics appears to be creating these 'frenzies' linked to behaviour previously seen as unacceptable.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Event of the week/month
Cycle to School Week 2023
Schools and families across the UK are being invited to take part in the Cycle to School Week, running from 25 to 29 September 2023
(This can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Completing activities Approx. 60 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) has published a podcast episode on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) which looks at its prevalence and discusses understanding around FASD.
(Reading and listening to this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
New Film Highlighting Child Exploitation - NSCP
One of our main focuses at Success in Schools Ltd. is in the area of aiding to prevent child exploitation. It features heavily in our publications and in the briefing. This week Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) has released a short film aimed at raising awareness of child criminal exploitation. Frequently executed through the intentional grooming of children for sexual or criminal purposes, the issue is of increasing concern across the UK. No doubt aided by the constantly evolving technological landscape. This film is both highly impactful and filled with information on how to better spot, children involved in these situations.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 10 mins)
Child sexual abuse material
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has raised concerns around child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and the use of artificial intelligence software by sex offenders. The IWF has also shared new data which shows CSAM hosted in the EU has increased by 26% so far this year compared to the same period last year.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Building connections
The NSPCC has launched Building Connections, a new online service developed to help young people tackle loneliness. Over 11 sessions, trained Building Connections befrienders support young people to develop tools and resilience to cope with feelings of loneliness.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Sharing information and child protection
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published new guidance on data protection when sharing information to safeguard children. The guidance is aimed at professionals involved in child safeguarding and sets out steps around: being clear about data protection; identifying objectives for sharing information; and following the data protection principles.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Kinship care
The Family Rights Group has published a news story on kinship care setting out steps for the government to consider ahead of the national kinship care strategy. The charity is calling on the government to deliver on areas including: an inclusive definition of kinship care; educational support for children and young people raised in kinship care until the age of 25; and access to therapeutic and mental health support for all kinship children.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Child neglect
Community Care has published an article discussing challenges around identifying neglect and approaches for practitioners working with children experiencing neglect in the UK. The article explores the reflective discussion approach and looks at how engaging in reflection can assist professionals.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Safeguarding in schools
The National Governance Association (NGA) has published its annual governance survey results which highlight safeguarding and behaviour concerns across schools and trusts in England. The survey was open to school governors, trustees and academy committee members and there were 2,695 responses. Findings include: safeguarding concerns have increased for 56% of schools and trusts over the past 12 months with bullying, neglect and domestic abuse being the most common concerns; 68% of respondents said challenging behaviour increased in the past 12 months; and 23% of respondents reported an increase in permanent exclusions in the past 12 months.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Online Safety Bill to become law in crackdown on harmful social media content
Peers have passed a controversial new bill aimed at making social media companies more responsible for the content shared on their platforms.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
#WakeUpWednesday: What Parents & Carers Need to Know about WhatsApp
It’s a description of encryption proscription! The world’s most popular instant messaging service, WhatsApp has been appearing in the headlines even more often than usual recently over its opposition to aspects of the UK government’s Online Safety Bill.
Encrypting messages to protect users’ privacy has undeniable merit, but it also poses obvious risks – especially to young people. Updated to reflect the newest version of WhatsApp, today’s #WakeUpWednesday guide brings trusted adults the latest essential info.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Probation service failing to carry out necessary child protection and domestic abuse checks, finds inspectorate.
Service would be better run locally, instead of nationally, to enhance joint working with social services, mental health trusts and other partners, suggests outgoing chief inspector.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Health & Safety
Councils lost over 500,000 working days to mental ill-health and stress among social care staff last year
Poor mental health and wellbeing accounted for 30% of staff sickness absence among council social care staff, finds research by British Psychological Society and BASW
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Risk to mental health in the workplace – what are they and how to manage them
It is World Mental Health Day on 10 October: an opportunity to raise awareness and campaign for change. This year we want to highlight the responsibilities of employers to create mentally healthy workplaces.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Enhanced duties of responsible persons under the Fire Safety Order: An overview
The government has published new guidance on the enhanced duties of responsible persons under amendments made to the Fire Safety Order by the Building Safety Act, as Ron Alalouff reports.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Wider Curriculum
‘We never hear about the children social workers help’: a day in the life of a social work team
Four journalists from Community Care spent the day shadowing practitioners to understand what it's really like to be a social worker
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Agency social work rules: ‘hugely frustrating’ delay to DfE consultation response
ADCS criticises decision to delay response from September to later this year, which department says is because of the time needed to get policy right.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Sibling sexual behaviour: helping social workers assess risk and support families.
Sexualised behaviour between siblings is sometimes developmentally appropriate but can also constitute abuse, meaning blanket policies are unhelpful. New guidance seeks to help social workers with these cases.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Most home care providers have seen fall in number of hours commissioned by councils – survey
Agencies say trend is leading to them losing staff and attribute drop-off both to councils using more providers and to them commissioning less care overall, finds Homecare Association.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
