Author: '112 Safeguarding' for Expatriate Communities

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This is a common issue in my International Schools’ work. Legislation and guidance exists for UK based schools for ‘toilet and washing facilities’. Requirements are governed by the Department of Education as detailed in ‘Advice on Standards for School Premises’ (March 2015).

 Independent School Standards Regulation 23A stipulates:

1. Suitable toilet/washing facilities are provided for the sole use of pupils;
2. Separate toilet facilities for boys and girls aged 8 years or over are provided except where the toilet facility is provided in a room that can be secured from the inside; and
3. Suitable changing accommodation and showers are provided for pupils aged 11 years or over who receive physical education.

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For those of you still actively involved in the delivery of online learning please note that back in April 2020 the Safer Recruitment Consortium (UK) published an addendum to their ‘Guidance for a Safer Working Practices’ document.

The Safer Recruitment Consortium is a partnership between four organisations with the safety and wellbeing of children at their heart:

• NSPCC
• Lucy Faithfull Foundation
• NASS
• CAPE

The addendum was written to help schools consider the safeguarding issues around remote online learning, with changes and additions highlighted in yellow. The addendum should be read alongside the full guidance, ‘Guidance for safer working practice for those working with children and young people in education settings – May 2019’.

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How do you manage recruitment processes within your International School? Do you have an integrated safer recruitment program incorporating child protection measures relevant to all staffing levels including teacher, contractor, and volunteer engagement?

Sentry is a safeguarding software tool that can effectively manage your integrated safer recruitment processes whilst acting as your Single Central Record. 

Benefits include:

• Easy recording of all recruitment checks;
• System guides you through the recruitment process;
• Enables progress monitoring of outstanding checks;
• Ensures recruitment processes are robust;
• Critical first line of defence against those presenting as a risk to children and young people;
• Quick reference dashboards;
• Automated workflows; and
• Up-to-date guidance, advice and best practice.

Consider reviewing now!

Dave Niven, Head of the Social World Podcast, recently interviewed Professor Ngoh Tiong Tan Chair of the Global Institute for Social Work about contributions social work can make to communities in the context of the Covid19 pandemic.

Professor Tan discussed facilitating crisis management with vulnerable groups and the importance of social solidarity; neighbourliness; compassion; social wellbeing and heightened levels of awareness at such times. In line with ITFCP recommendations, he stressed the value of building social networks within host countries including with local social work specialists and agencies. Is your school making efforts to identify vulnerable indigenous staff or others in your community linked to this issue?

See Podcast 091 at http://socialworldpodcast.com

We’re officially launching ChildSafeguarding.com’s Online Child Protection Course for support staff in schools on 30 June 2020 – offered in multiple languages. During our launch webinar we will include a tour of the site and a demonstration of the course. There will also be an opportunity to answer any questions people may ask. We would love you to join one of the two webinars we are holding on that day. The details are below:

Webinar 1: 30 June 2020 – 10am Singapore-Beijing / 12pm Sydney / 7 pm Los Angeles (June 29^th)
Register here: https://edtch.co/2zFvXcW

Webinar 2: 30 June 2020 – 6pm Singapore / 2pm Dubai / 11am London
Register here: https://edtch.co/2AF4yZ2

 

“When will they actually go back to school?” This is the cry from many parents, as we write and there is no answer. But that does not stop us thinking about what it will be like for each and every one of our children, at whatever age, stage or ability level on the day they walk through the classroom door.

It would be naive of any Headteacher/Principal to think that the child will pick up the Curriculum at exactly the same point at which they left it on the day their school closed. Too much has happened. Listen to what the children are saying (Full report by Barry Carpenter & Matthew Carpenter).

CPOMS provide safeguarding, pastoral and wellbeing solutions for schools across the world. They have recently been recognised for their innovation by receiving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Given the current international COVID emergency, and the challenge for schools having to track vulnerable students in disparate locations around the world without having access to key information, CPOMS are offering their digital safeguarding recording system FREE until September 2020 to all schools not currently using a digital safeguarding recording system.

Furthermore, MyConcern Safeguarding Software who provide safeguarding services and software to many thousands of schools is being offered FREE to all schools until September 2020 that currently don’t have an electronic record keeping system.

The South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) UK have made their reporting app ‘Whisper’ available for FREE for UK and International Schools  at this time. An anonymous reporting service that will enable anyone in your whole-school community to securely raise safeguarding or other concerns by using a reporting form.

There are numerous inclusive encrypted features including Live Chat via Website, so that you can keep in touch with the individual who is reporting. Users need to know how frequently their messages will be reviewed and what the response times are likely to be.

A safe way for parents, staff and students to report safeguarding concerns 24/7.

IMPROVED VISIBILITY – REPORT WITHOUT FEAR

The global coronavirus pandemic has increased opportunities for online child abusers to target children. We should take measures to ensure that our whole school communities monitor any increased risks – and act to prevent or intervene wherever necessary.

The effect of the pandemic means some IT companies may reduce usual levels of moderation commonly in place to combat sexual abuse online. Many children are not currently at school and are spending considerably more time online at home. They will be using the Internet to stay in touch with family and friends as well as to learn. This could lead to an increased risk of exposure to harmful content and possible sexual exploitation.

The USA as the only country in the world not to have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989) has recently (2019/2020) been focussed on a review of their respective state ‘statute of limitation’ laws pertaining to child sexual abuse.

In International School settings this raises a significant issue for senior leadership within strategic safeguarding and child protection team discussions. What do you know about the statute of limitations specifically related to sexual abuse – historical adult or child related – and legislative equivalents in your host countries? This knowledge has potential relevance when it comes to responding to and supporting staff or students – current and past.