Barnet Safeguarding

Safeguarding and protecting children is everyone’s responsibility. Government guidelines have clarified the difference between Safeguarding and protecting children as below. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

・ Protecting children from maltreatment

・ Preventing impairment of children’s health or development

・ Ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

・Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm. The recently reviewed 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013' has reinforced the need for organisations and the children and young people’s workforce to work collaboratively to safeguard and protect children and young people through various means. This includes taking responsibility to share valid information and keep up with learning and development in order to improve the quality of their service.

CommUNITY Barnet, an umbrella organisation for the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) in Barnet, a membership organisation, supporter and representative of voluntary and community groups, charities and faith groups across the borough, is running a series of training courses. These courses are designed to assist with your roles within the workplace and to ensure your knowledge and skills are kept up-to-date.

There are a number of training courses that are held, such as Introduction to Safeguarding Children Level 1. This fantastic course covers a variety of child protection issues and is suitable for anyone who comes into contact with children either as part of their working life or on a volunteer basis.

November was Safeguarding Month, and our Children and Young People’s Team are continuously contributing to this great awareness month. Barry Rawlings, Safeguarding Officer, is delivering an ongoing course of safeguarding courses for the voluntary sector, private sector and individuals, which include the following:

• Introduction to Safeguarding

• Safeguarding for Adults levels 1 and 2

• Safeguarding for Children levels 1 and 2

• Safeguarding for Trustees and Governors

If the course you require is not listed, please get in touch with us to discuss your requirements. Furthermore, if you have a number of staff that need training, please do not hesitate to contact us. The link to our website which contains our contact details and further information on our courses can be found at the end.

Please find details below with regard to our next training course, which we hope you will be able to attend:

Programme: Introduction to Safeguarding Adults

Date: Monday 15th February 2016

Location: Barnet House, Whetstone

Start Time: 10:00 am

End Time: 1:00 pm.

Cost: £25.00

The above course applies to those with safeguarding responsibilities within their organisations. You will learn about what your responsibilities entail and what support is available. This useful course is for the staff and volunteers who work with adults and older people, and is a great introduction, in addition to the first step of our excellent safeguarding training package.

By participating, you will gain the following:

• An understanding of what is meant by the term ‘vulnerable adult’

• Knowledge of the forms abuse may take

• The ability to recognise the signs and symptoms

• An understanding of how to respond appropriately to disclosures of abuse

• An understanding of roles and responsibilities towards vulnerable adults

• An understanding of the legislation and guidance concerning safeguarding adults at risk

• A certificate on completion

In order to attend the above course, you need to register your place as soon as possible. We hope to see you on the day.

Details of the second event are as follows:

Programme: Safeguarding Children and Young People Level 2

Date: Monday 29th February 2016

Location: Barnet House, Whetstone

Start Time: 10:00 am

End Time: 4:00 pm.

Cost: £50.00

This course if for those with safeguarding responsibilities in their organisations, for staff and volunteers who have already completed a Level 1 Safeguarding course. This helpful course focuses on the four areas of abuse and provides detailed information with regard to understanding and recognising the possible signs of indicators of abuse. You will learn the appropriate actions for responding and reporting concerns regarding a child’s welfare in line with your organisational safeguarding policy, in addition to gaining an understanding of the local authority’s reporting protocol.

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the four categories of abuse

• Recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse

• Know how to respond to a disclosure

• Understand the referral process

• Be aware of safer working practices

Those who wish to participate in the above course need to register their place as soon as possible. We hope to see you on the course.

DBS Service (Disclosure and Barring) Our DBS service continues to grow. We are aware that it is sometimes difficult for you to get this done inside of office hours. After listening to your concerns, we are pleased to inform you that we have launched an out-of-hours block booking service that enables us to come to you, so you can complete all your volunteers’ ID checks on a day and at a time that is convenient for you, only for a small charge. Our friendly team is always on hand and available to support people through their applications, should they require additional support.

For assistance with your queries and to book a DBS check, please contact Audrey Montet, CommUNITY Barnet Leads Family Service Officer, on 020 8364 8400 or audrey.montet@communitybarnet.org.uk

Moreover, we are delighted to be able to offer our newly reduced fees for our checks, an enhanced volunteer check at £15.00 and an enhanced check for a paid member of staff at £65.00.

Further information can be found at http://www.communitybarnet.org.uk/pages/safeguarding-and-early-intervention.html

The Safeguarding and Early Intervention Team looks forward to hearing from you and assisting with your queries.