"Learning is not the product of teaching, Learning is the product of the activity of learners"
Welcome to Issue 96 of Quest News. We have 12 hours of off-the-job training for apprentices in care and education to read and learn.
Significant Events:
August 1 - August 7 - World Breastfeeding Week 2023
August 1 - August 31 - National Immunisation Awareness Month 2023
August 1 - August 31 - Psoriasis Awareness/ Psoriasis Action Month 2023
Aug 3 - Playday 2023
Aug 4 - Cycle To Work Day 2023
Legislation/Regulation of the week
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
These Regulations (often abbreviated to LOLER) place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment. This includes all businesses and organisations whose employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by them or not. In most cases, lifting equipment is also work equipment so the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) will also apply (including inspection and maintenance). All lifting operations involving lifting equipment must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Video of the week
The Issue: My Grandfather The Abuser: Poppy's Story
A teenager’s story of survival and making a difference. By talking openly about the sexual abuse that devastated her early life, Poppy is determined to challenge the taboos that make it difficult for survivors to ask for and get help.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Event of the week
Playday
Playday is the national day for play, celebrated each year across the UK on the first Wednesday in August. Playday 2023 will be celebrated on Wednesday 2 August.
We are delighted to announce that the theme for this year’s Playday is …
Playing on a shoestring – making every day an adventure.
(This can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Completing activities Approx. 60 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
Child sexual exploitation
NSPCC Learning has published an updated Learning from case review briefing on child sexual exploitation (CSE). The briefing includes key learning around: identifying children and young people at risk of CSE; recognising and responding to signs of CSE; and the use of victim blaming language. Learning for better practice includes the need for ongoing and child centred support for young people experiencing CSE.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Body image and eating problems
The NSPCC has published a news story on counselling sessions with Childline about body image and eating disorders. Findings from Childline data show that in the last year: Childline delivered 4,179 counselling sessions around body image and eating problems; 40% of these took place between June and September; and eating problems and body image was the 8th most common concern for children contacting Childline.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Child criminal and sexual exploitation
The Commission on Young Lives and Manchester Metropolitan University have published a report on girls at risk of child criminal and sexual exploitation. The report discusses issues around reliable data due to: under-reporting of concerns or offences relating to exploitation; and stereotypical assumptions held by the police and the public concerning girls’ behaviour. Recommendations include: prioritise the protection of girls from gang related harms in safeguarding frameworks; and provide education programmes that support girls and tackle misogyny.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Director General Graeme Biggar launches National Strategic Assessment
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has published its National strategic assessment of serious and organised crime for 2023. Issues identified include the rise of extended reality technologies and their potential impact on online and technology assisted child sexual abuse offending.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Prime Minister must act on threat of AI as IWF ‘sounds alarm’ on first confirmed AI-generated images of child sexual abuse
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has published a news story calling on the UK government to address harms around artificial intelligence (AI). IWF investigations identified seven URLs containing AI generated child sexual abuse material over a 5-week-period, and an online “manual” written by offenders to train AI to return more realistic results.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Domestic abuse
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales has published a report on protecting children in the Family Courts. The report draws on data from surveys with legal practitioners and roundtables and discusses: issues in the Family Court for children who have experienced domestic abuse; and centring the voice of the child.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Youth custody
The UK government has published a framework on youth custody which sets out the duties, rules and general guidance for staff who work with children and young people in custody in England and Wales. The framework includes guidance on: safeguarding responsibilities; legislation and the law; and understanding vulnerability and harm.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Young carers
The Carers Trust and Action for Children have published new research highlighting feelings of stress and worry among young carers in the UK. Findings from a survey of young carers aged 11-18 show 82% feel lonely during the summer holidays.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Report Remove
To support young people to remove sexual images of themselves online, the IWF and NSPCC have developed the Report Remove tool, in partnership with age verification app, Yoti. Report Remove can support a young person in reporting sexual images or videos shared online and enables them to get the image removed if it is illegal.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 50 mins)
#WakeUpWednesday: 10 Top Tips for Helping Children Stay Safe Online this Summer
It won’t be a cricket bat. It won’t be a good book. It won’t even be the sun-cream. The first thing that many children reach for to keep themselves entertained this summer is far more likely be an internet-enabled device.
The school holidays, of course, almost invariably bring a dramatic rise in young people’s screen time. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has some useful online safety reminders – so you can help make sure that nothing from the digital world causes a case of the summertime blues.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Health & Safety
Safety through the lens of environmental health
Louise Hosking, now Executive Director at CIEH, says a strong collaboration between the health and safety and environmental health sectors could create safer, cleaner and healthier environments for the benefit of all.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Industry urged to learn from Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak
Following reports of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at a plastics manufacturer’s facilities, Wilo is calling on stakeholders involved in plumbing, heating and building services to avoid making the same mistakes.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
BRIDGING THE GAP: A SERIES ON DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
“At Arsenal F.C. my role is dynamic and diverse…why not do something that makes a difference?”
In a new series for SHP, we speak to professionals working in or around health and safety to start conversations that go beyond the day job, sharing individuals’ challenges and ideas for the profession. In this article, SHP’s Rhianna Sexton speaks to Jaspreet (Jas) Sekhon, Health and Safety Manager at Arsenal Football Club (F.C.), about encouraging others into health and safety.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Schools invest in vape detection systems as vaping incidences among children rise
An increasing number of schools are turning to vape detection technology to counter the growing prevalence of illicit vaping by pupils, as Ron Alalouff reports.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Wider Curriculum
Social work sector decries passage of ‘small boats’ legislation
From the government’s controversial asylum bill becoming law and children being subjected to solitary confinement in a young offender institution to an update report on the Child Q case, here’s our week in social work:
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Isabelle Trowler: ‘Cherish the responsibility you have to make a positive difference to others’
The chief social worker for children and families advises the practitioners of the future to recognise the privilege they have in shaping others' lives, in the latest letter from our Choose Social Work campaign
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
‘Catastrophic’ loss of one in five supported accommodation beds projected, as regulation looms
ADCS urges phasing in of standards regime for semi-independent placements for children in care and care leavers, after report finds providers planning to withdraw from market and councils facing escalating costs
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Social work bodies bemoan profession’s omission from NHS workforce plan
BASW and Think Ahead voice disappointment at long-term plan's lack of reference to social workers despite their increasing role in the health workforce
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
