Open Forum Events invite you to join us at the Safeguarding Children: Promoting Welfare-Preventing Harm conference. This event is the 6th in a series of meetings focusing on how safeguarding can be successfully overseen to ensure all children are:
The agenda will feature expert speakers in child welfare and protection and is designed to bring together all stakeholders for a day of information sharing, discussion and networking, in order for children to receive the best possible outcomes and maximise achievements.
The UK Government has defined the term ‘safeguarding children’ as: ‘The process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.’
Each organisation or agency, involved with, or working with children, have a statutory duty to have safeguarding policies and procedures in place. However, ensuring the welfare, rights and safety of children and young people is everybody’s responsibility.
To improve safeguarding new and revised statutory guidance has been published. The Working Together to Safeguard Children is a guide to inter-agency working and was published by the Department of Education in July 2018. It sets out how organisations and agencies must safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Key areas of change are:
The education system plays a major role in applying the safeguarding agenda. In December 2018 Ofsted published its annual report on the state of the education and children’s care in England. Although the overall conclusion is the quality of education and care is good and improving, there are a couple of areas causing concern. The report reveals that nearly 10,000 pupils have disappeared from the school system as a result of illegal off rolling. Although some pupils may have moved to the private sector or are now being homeschooled, others could be in an unregistered school or have dropped out of education entirely.
The watchdog also has concerns about SEND provision across the country and describes it as too disjointed and inconsistent. In 2017, over 4,000 children with an approved EHC plan have received no provision and many local areas have still not implemented the 2014 SEND reforms. The government has subsequently made available an extra £350 million to benefit children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities. This additional funding will provide specialist support for those with complex needs.
Children that are affected by either or both of the above issues are at significant risk of poor attainment and a bleaker outlook, signifying safeguarding concerns.
Safeguarding issues arise in many aspects of children’s lives, some more visible than others. The risks associated with being homeless and exposure to criminal exploitation, including, county lines, trafficking and modern-day slavery, are very prevalent and particularly difficult to manage. Online activity creates opportunities for grooming and sexual exploitation, as well as cyberbullying.
This conference will highlight new developments and address some of the challenges to ensure our children are kept safe from harm and their welfare protected.
How I used my adversity to empower victims & survivors to make positive change happen on an individual, institutional and societal level.
Justine Currell, Director, Unseen and Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Bedfordshire Police (confirmed)
This presentation will provide an understanding of modern slavery and how it manifests in the UK and further afield.
It will show how identifying vulnerabilities and signs to spot is key to preventing young people from being abused and exploited.
It will show how collaboration and partnership is vital in preventing more people from becoming victims of this horrendous crime.
Children in children’s homes placed out of borough; the risks of going missing, and the criminal and sexual exploitation of looked after children.
Wendy Thorogood, Chair, The Association of Child Protection Professionals (AoCPP) (confirmed)
Mark Foster, CEO, Child Protection Company (confirmed)
Deborah Jeremiah, Associate, Bevan Brittan (confirmed)
Carolyne Willow, Director, Article 39 (confirmed)
The Department for Education have updated 'Working Together to Safeguard Children', setting out how organisations and agencies must work together to keep children safe. This discussion session will discuss the guidance to better understand the legislative changes to multi-agency safeguarding and debate how it can be put in practice.
The presentation will:
- provide an overview of the work of the Independent
Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Truth Project;
- detail how the Truth Project has helped achieve
successful outcomes for a victim or survivor;
- support attendees to raise awareness of the opportunity
to participate in the Truth Project.
The issue of medical neglect is a challenging aspect of neglect for many practitioners. When does the exercise of parental responsibility work against the best interest of the child for clinical care?
This presentation will look at what action is needed to support children being left behind in education, including young people with special education needs and/or disabilities and those who are subject to unlawful exclusion and ‘off-rolling’. It will look at children’s experiences of exclusion and outline the findings from the government’s school exclusions review.
This session will cover:
- Exploring the prevalence of bullying in schools and cyberbullying
- Understanding the relationship between face to face bullying and cyberbullying
- Establishing what schools need to have in place to combat this issue
Children or young people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness are likely to be vulnerable and will often be at risk of harm in the absence of intervention. Safeguarding and promoting their welfare should be central to any service provision.
Pendulum Hotel & Manchester Conference Centre is the ideal solution when searching for conference venues in Manchester. Top-of-the-range conference suites, 3 star value hotel accommodation, delicious dining and friendly service are the ideal components for a successful conference or event in the heart of the city centre.
The 18 conference rooms are decked out with all the mod cons including state-of-the-art AV technology, projectors and screens, free Wi-Fi and flip charts. Our clients cover the whole spectrum and include government organisations, trade unions, large corporate companies, non-profit organisations, health and education sectors and small to medium-sized businesses.
From the get-go we strive for excellence in everything we do and our dedicated team of conference professionals go all out to make sure your conference, event or exhibition runs like clockwork.
