"One kind word can change someone’s entire day”
Welcome to Issue 76 of Quest News. We have over 14 hours of off-the-job training for apprentices in care and education to read and learn.
Events of the week
International Women's Day March 8th
International Women's Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
Approx. 60 mins
March 5 - March 12 - No More Week 2023: Spearheaded by the national campaign UK SAYS NO MORE, No More Week is a week to raise awareness against domestic abuse
March 6 - March 11 - National Careers Week 2023: National Careers Week runs from the 6th to the 11th of March 2023 and aims to promote the importance of good careers education in schools and colleges.
March 6 - March 12 - Cultivation Street Week 2023: Cultivation Street Week celebrates community gardening across the UK
March 6 - March 12 - British Pie Week 2023: As a fully fledged nation of pie lovers, it’s a great fun awareness day to get behind and can be a nice way of getting all of the family involved in the cooking.
Video
Guilty Bystander
Can being in the wrong place at the wrong time make you a criminal? Guilty Bystander meets people who've been convicted under the controversial joint enterprise law. Part of True Crime on Channel 4.
Approx. 60 mins
Policy of the Week – Whistle blowing policy
Whistleblowing is the common term for making a protected disclosure. It covers situations where a worker reports wrongdoing in the public interest to their employer or a relevant organisation. This is commonly referred to as 'blowing the whistle' or 'making a disclosure.
Approx. 60 mins
Safeguarding and ED & I
Safer Internet Broadcasting
In the modern world many children and adults are seeing live streaming as a valid way of generating low start up income. The rise of YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and other platforms, have opened up ways of making money that didn’t exist before. Now users are able to get opinions, views, and advice across to people all over the world, simply from your computer or laptop. There is no minimum age to these kinds of activities. And people that make a success of YouTube can be as young as primary age. However, this opens up opportunities for those who pray on these channels of under aged people. They encourage them and ultimately try to gain their trust. This requires those in the educational and safeguarding sphere to be able to give good advice to keep them safe whilst pursuing these online objectives. The Safer Internet Centre has produced a page dedicated to mitigating harm for those engaging in these online activities. To find out more please follow the link below:
Approx. 30 mins
Young People’s Experiences of Violence
Violence is, unfortunately, a very real part of the human experience. It’s unavoidable but children are very ill-equipped to deal with this most unpleasant part of life. But when children are exposed to violence consistently at a very young age it can cause, a horrendous knock on effect which can damage their life chances, their psychology and their future opportunities. And even if violence is not witnessed or experienced, the fear of violence and the effect of menacing behaviour, can leave children scared to leave their environments and hamper child development. As individuals involved in the safeguarding and educational spheres though, it is important to understand just how devastating violence can be when a young person or child is exposed to it. The Youth Endowment Fund has produced a new report informing on ways in which violence is shaping children’s lives. To read more please follow the link below:
Approx. 30 mins
Online Gaming – The White Hatter
The rise of video games as the preferred medium for children and young people to blow of steam, has been going on for over three decades now. Ever since the launch of the affordable computer, and the gaming console children and young people having been hooked. And with every evolution, it is only a matter of time before the price of novel gaming technologies drops to the level that it becomes ubiquitous. When that occurs it doesn’t take long for it to filter into the common youth culture, creating terms of reference that are difficult for the lay person to decipher. The White Hatter has recently published an article which seeks to clear up some of the confusion presented by such popular phenomena. To read more follow the link below:
Approx. 30 mins
Research Conclusions on Harmful Sexual Behaviour
This month the CSA centre has released research on the significance of the display harmful sexual behaviour among children and young people. As educators and safeguarding professionals within this fast changing threat landscape, it is vital to keep aware of new phenomena and issues in this area. For this reason, I recommend giving the report summary a good readthrough. To examine the research summary in full please follow the link below:
Approx. 30 mins
Recognising Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse
Most of the time, our safeguarding briefing deals with situations where a child is being abused by a parent or carer. But it can occur the other way round. What happens when an abusive child is in the household? Particularly if said child or adolescent is stronger and more powerful than the adult. These situations are difficult to deal with, and must be approached with as much sympathy and care as the opposite situation. The support for carers or parents in this situation is often not there however, as a spotlight is very rarely shone on this form of abuse. To open up the conversation, research in practice, this month, has authored a page on just that issue. To find out more follow the link below:
Approx. 30 mins
Online Reporting Hub with Downloadable Resource Released
This brand-new hub that gives you all the information you need around how to report harmful online content.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Download The New Online Safety Bill Guide
We have created a new, easy-to-understand guide to the Online Safety Bill with leading crisis management firm Schillings. Download for free from our website.
Approx. 45 mins
#CutOffTheCatfish - Raising Awareness of Sextortion with the Revenge Porn Helpline
Earlier this month, the Revenge Porn Helpline team raised awareness about the issue of Sextortion in their #CutOffTheCatfish campaign.
Approx. 30 mins
Greater Manchester Police accused of failing 14-year-old child sexual abuse victim
Scarlett, now 18, from Greater Manchester, has waived her anonymity as a sexual abuse victim in the hope of helping others in her position.
(Content warning: This article contains details of child sexual abuse)
Approx. 30 mins
#WakeUpWednesday: What Parents and Carers Need to Know about NGL
It seems people just can’t resist finding out what others really think of them – whether that’s for better or worse. NGL, an app which invites a user’s social media followers to send them anonymous questions and feedback, flew to the summit of the App Store’s charts last summer and racked up almost 30 million total downloads throughout 2022.
The brutal honesty – and outright malice – that such anonymity can encourage, however, brings obvious drawbacks for a young audience. Teens seeking validation or reassurance may instead find themselves bombarded by negative comments highlighting aspects of themselves that they were already insecure about. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide has all the details on NGL.
Approx. 30 mins
Why language matters: in need of attention
NSPCC Learning has published the latest post in its Why language matters blog series. The blog looks at why it's important to focus on the reasons behind a child’s behaviour, rather than labelling them as 'attention seeking'. The blog looks at the reasons why children might use behaviour to indicate that something is wrong and argues that reframing 'attention seeking' as 'in need of attention' can help prompt professionals to consider the child's underlying needs.
Approx. 30 mins
Online safety
The NSPCC has published a news story on online child sexual abuse in the UK. Findings from a Freedom of Information request show a 66% increase in child abuse image offences recorded by UK police in the past 5 years. The news story reports that in 2021/22 Snapchat, was the most commonly named site being used to share child abuse images, mentioned in 43% of cases where this information was recorded. The NSPCC is calling on the government to create a statutory child safety advocate to put children’s experiences at the front and centre of decision making.
Approx. 30 mins
Safeguarding in the community - What encourages the general public to act on their concerns about a child and what prevents them from acting?
NSPCC Learning has published a literature review into the role of members of the public in identifying and responding to child maltreatment. The review explores what makes some members of the public take action when worried about a child, and why others fail to act on their concerns. Findings from various sources and countries include: people in the UK appear to have a basic understanding of neglect and feel confident about their ability to identify concerns; some forms of maltreatment, such as sexual abuse and neglect, are less well-understood than others; and members of the public (based on international studies) seemed more likely to report concerns that they feel are more significant, serious or abusive.
Approx. 30 mins
Harmful sexual behaviour
The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre) has published a report compiling recent studies on children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour. Findings include: during 2021/22 in England harmful sexual behaviour accounted for 40% of referrals to local authority children's services involving sexual abuse; and some forms of harmful sexual behaviour are so common in education settings that they have become ‘normalised’ to young people. Recommendations include: assessments should be holistic and should view harmful sexual behaviour through the lens of trauma; and the role of patriarchal values and attitudes in the development of harmful sexual behaviours needs to be considered.
Approx. 30 mins
Health & Safety
Women going through menopause to get year's supply of HRT for under £20
The government said the new scheme could save about 400,000 women up to £205 a year on hormone replacement therapy that helps relieve symptoms of the menopause.
Approx. 30 mins
UK loses 17 million working days to stress, depression and anxiety
The UK lost 17 million working days to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in the year 2021 to 2022 according to the latest data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Approx. 30 mins
New Building Safety Regulator a ‘landmark moment for building safety’
Those responsible for the safety of high-rise residential buildings in England are urged to ‘be ready’ to register with the new Building Safety Regulator from April 2023.
Approx. 30 mins
Employees are increasingly calling in sick or working while ill – and still inclined to leave their role, a report has found
A report has found a dramatic increase in the frequency and volume of employees calling in sick or working while ill.
Approx. 30 mins
HSE issue warning about fake Health & Safety posters
The Health & Safety Executive has warned employers to check that they are not buying fake health and safety law posters advising that only HSE can approve a version of the health and safety law poster. If you employ anyone, the law says you must display an approved version of the poster, or provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent leaflet. Employers must display the poster where workers can easily read it and cannot print copies themselves. HSE is aware of suppliers selling fake versions online that haven’t been approved.
Approx. 15 mins
Wider Curriculum
Systems for challenging adult social care decisions failing, warns regulator
Inaccessible information, confusing complaints processes and lack of advocacy undermining people's ability to challenge adult social care decisions, finds Equality and Human Rights Commission
Approx. 30 mins
Should directors of children's services be former social workers?
Leadership training body says authorities missing out on talent from other disciplines, with two-thirds of children's directors having social care background and councils seeing it as a necessity post Baby P
Approx. 30 mins
Unavailability of beds, doctors and transport increasing risks for those in crisis, warn AMHP heads
AMHP Leads Network says lack of duties on partner agencies to support Mental Health Act assessment process is leading to significant delays
Approx. 30 mins
40% rise in number of social workers quitting children’s posts annually over past five years
Those leaving jobs exceeded number joining for first time since records began, with departures concentrated among frontline practitioners and those with less than five years' service with their employer
Approx. 30 mins
