Newcastle upon Tyne

Local Safeguarding Children Board

ContentsPage

1 / Introduction / 3
2 / The Context for Safeguarding Training
National Agenda / 4
3 / National Competencies and Standards / 4
4 / Core standards / 7
5 / Local Context / 7
6 / The role of Local Safeguarding Children
Board. / 7
7 / Core values in training and development / 8
8 / Newcastle Local Safeguarding Children
Board Training Structure. / 8
9 / Anti-Oppressive Practice and Valuing
Diversity / 12
10 / Strategic objectives / 15
11 / Identification of training needs / 16
12 / Core Training for target groups / 18
13 / Performance management / 21
14 / Community awareness / 22
15 / Regional and national links / 24
16 / Engaging with non NLSCB organisations / 24
17 / Training Evaluation / 27
18 / e-learning / 31
19 / Bibliography / 33
20 / Appendix National context
an explanation of terms / 34
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Introduction.

Purpose of the Strategy

The overall purpose of this strategy is to provide the framework for safeguarding training in Newcastle upon Tyne so that those working with children and families are appropriately skilled and competent.

Partners in Newcastle Local Safeguarding Children Board (NLSCB) share the Government’s aspirations for a world-class children’sworkforce that:

  • Is competent and confident.
  • People aspire to be part of, and want to remain in.
  • Where they can develop their skillsand build satisfying and rewarding careers; andparents, carers, children and young people trust and respect”. [1]

Training and development activity brings practitioners together; facilitates discussion and critical reflection; consolidates good practice; engineers change and improvement of practice and helps develop skills and knowledge. At its best, training and development can help equip the workforce to provide continually improved services and better outcomes for those using the services.

‘Working Together’ (2006) states that the purposes of training for inter – agency work is to promote: -

  • A shared understanding of the tasks, processes, principles and roles and responsibilities outlined in national guidance and local arrangements for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.
  • More effective and integrated services at strategic and individual case level.
  • Improved communication between professionals including a common understanding of key terms, definitions and thresholds for action.
  • Effective working relationships, including an ability to work in multi – disciplinary groups or teams.
  • Sound decision making on information sharing, through assessment, critical analysis and professional judgement[2].

It is the purpose of this strategy to provide the framework to meet these goals and support NLSCB Objectives.The Strategy is intended to add value rather than replace workforce strategies in awide range of partner organisations.It focuses particularly on actions to deliver keyexpectations, e.g. an integrated workforce; it recognises that the children’s workforce isdiverse and rarely will one approach fit all, but that there are many things which are bestachieved in partnership.This is a live document, it will respond to changes in national policy and expectations, andbe refined and re-focused as a result of ongoing processes of monitoring and evaluation.

Training and Development activities area key priority in the NLSCB Business Plan which describes the need for a training strategy containing:-

  • Identification of training needs (single and inter – agency).
  • Planning, commissioning and delivery of training.
  • Evaluation and review of training and development activity.

This strategy will incorporate these key NLSCB objectives and priorities.

The Context for Safeguarding Training - National Agenda

Government guidance and legislation has had a profound impact on promoting welfare and safeguarding children. The aim of Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004 is to maintain what works well in our work with children and families and to develop integrated services for children and young people.

Inter – agency training and development has never had a better climate in which to grow. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (H.M. Government 2006) emphasises the need for a skilled and knowledgeable workforce to work with children and families and recognises the importance of single and inter – agency training in achieving that goal.

‘Practitioners and managers must be able to work effectively with others both within their own agency and across organisational boundaries. This will be best achieved by a combination of single and inter – agency training’. [3]

National Competencies and Standards

There have been recent developments of national standards or competencies for the children work force and for workers in various setting in relation to safeguarding children these include,

The Children’s Workforce Development Council Induction Standards for Children's Services.

Children’s Workforce Development Council was established to:

  • strengthen workforce excellence through the creation of new training opportunities, career development and flexible career pathways between sectors
  • ensure the workforce has appropriate skills and qualifications
  • increase recruitment into children’s workforce and improve the retention of high-quality employees
  • help the workforce delivered joined up services and improved communication across the sectors

Purpose of the Induction standards

  • To ensure all entrants to the children’s workforce have an agreed minimum level of skills and knowledge within six months of their becoming part of the workforce

The standards cover:

  • the principles and values essential for working with children and young people
  • the worker’s role
  • health and safety requirements
  • effective communication
  • development of children and young people
  • safeguarding children
  • personal and professional development

Induction standards provide the opportunity for employers:

  • to deliver a consistent approach to introducing people to the work of children’s services
  • to support integration of the workforce across children’s services
  • to support the implementation of the Common Core, Every Child Matters outcomes and use of National Occupational Standards
  • to support employees and home-based workforce in commencing the Continuous Professional Development process
  • to encourage flexibility in movement across children’s services[4]

Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce.

A ‘Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce’ has been developed which will underpin all NLSCB training and development activity.

The Common Core includes skills and knowledge in: -

• Child Development

• Safeguarding and Promoting Welfare

• Effective Communication and Engagement

• Supporting Transitions

• Multi – agency Working

• Information Sharing

Another significant focus for inter – agency training is the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and related processes such as Lead Professional and Information Sharing. The aim of Common Assessment is for all practitioners involved with children and young people to be able to recognise children with additional needs at the earliest opportunity, to ensure those needs are assessed and to respond accordingly. The aim is that all practitioners working with children and families will have knowledge and understanding of the tools, processes and procedures available to help them meet all levels of need in children and young people.[5]

Safeguarding children and young people: roles and competencies for health care staff[6]

The Second Joint Chief Inspector’s Report on arrangements to Safeguard Children published in July 2005 identified the need for NHS organisations to have clear guidance on role definitions and specifications for named and designated health professionals who have specific responsibility for child protection.

Safeguarding children and young people: roles and competencies for health care staff produced by the RoyalColleges and professional organisations will be a valuable tool for NHS organisations and others in clarifying the competencies required by these doctors, nurses and midwives as well as identifying the competency levels required by all health staff to safeguard children. It supplements the information set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2006, and has been developed with advice from Skills for Health.

Core standards

Because of the impact on these various role, knowledge and competency-based standards NSLCB have developed a separate core standards for training activities. The core standards for training activities document is available as a separate document and is available on www.newcastle.gov.uk/lscb

Local Context

The NLSCB was established in December 2005 with aremit and capacity for promoting welfare and safeguarding. This is reflected in NLSCB training and development activity that raises awareness of developments and supports change processes.

This widened responsibility for safeguarding children and young people is reflected in a wider and increased take – up of training and development activity. NLSCB training has a key role to play in promoting local guidance, procedures and processes and in providing feedback from practitioners on what works well and what needs to improve in inter – agency work.

The role of Local Safeguarding Children Board.

NLSCB is the key statutory mechanism for agreeing how organisations will co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and for ensuring the effectiveness of what they do. Its work crosses the boundaries between the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors and builds upon the best practice achieved by the ACPC. It is proactive in driving forward the duty of all partner agencies in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

The work of the NLSCB fits within the wider context of Children’s Trust arrangements that aim to improve the overall well being (i.e. five outcomes) for all children. Whilst the work of the NLSCB contributes to the wider goals of improving the well being of all children, it has a particular focus on aspects of the ‘staying safe’ outcome.

The core objectives of the NLSCB are to co-ordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Newcastle; and to ensure the effectiveness of what the member organisations do individually and together. The NLSCB is accountable to the Executive Director of Children’s Services (EDCS), who is accountable to the Children’s Services Authority in ensuring the effectiveness of what is done by the Board partners to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.

Core Values in Training and development

All training in Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children should create an ethos which:

• Values working collaboratively.

• Respects diversity.

• Promotes equality.

• Is child centred.

• Promotes the participation of children and families in safeguarding processes.

All training in this field should be consistent with the Common Core of Skills and knowledge (Working Together, 2006 p 68)

These core values will be integrated into the planning, delivery and evaluation of NLSCB training and development activity. In addition, there is a more detailed values statement used in NLSCB training materials to indicate the learning environment we aim to provide.

NewcastleLocal Safeguarding Children Board Training Structure.

Within the NLSCB the training function reports to the Children’s Services

Workforce Strategy Group and the full NLSCB described within this flow chart. Within Newcastle the Training sub committee has appointed a trainers groupwhich reports to the Training committeeon a three monthly basis.

Training committee terms of reference

Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB)Training Committee Terms of Reference

Introduction

Inter-agency training is an essential feature of all training in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children including that provided on a single agency basis or in professional settings.

Role of Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board

The Board is responsible for co-ordinating and delivering on the common core skill and inter-agency training and development[7] in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children[8].

The Board will take a strategic overview of inter-agency training to promote and safeguard the welfare of children and will appoint a Board member with lead responsibility for training.

The Board Training Committee and Trainers Group will carry out training responsibilities on its behalf.

Board members will designate a professional with delegated responsibility from their organisation to sit on the Training Committee. They will be expected to act on behalf of their organisation, have organisational responsibility for those who will participate in training, have sufficient authority to make decisions in relation to training and be able to allocate resources.

Where necessary the Board will challenge and hold agencies to account for their training provision.

Role of the lead member for training

The lead member will be responsible for chairing the Committee or ensuring that it has an appointed chairperson. They will support the work of the group, report directly to the Board on plans and progress achieved, and ensure there are suitably skilled staff to take forward the training and development work of the Committee. They will also ensure that effective communication and reporting is maintained between the training group and other relevant training partnerships.

Role of the Training Committee

  • Decide priorities and allocate resources.
  • Ensure training needs are identified and met within the context of local and national policy and practice developments.
  • Ensure that recommendations from inspections, audits and serious case reviews are reflected in the training strategy, training plan and training programmes.
  • Ensure appropriate and consistent membership of the Trainers Group.
  • Ensure member agencies/organisations are providing adequate support to enable staff to fulfil their responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
  • Commission training.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of training.
  • Ensure quality and set minimum standards for training to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
  • Give accreditation to individual organisations own training programmes to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
  • Monitor the LSCB training budget.

Frequency of meetings

The group will meet on a 3 monthly basis.

Related partnerships

The Training Committee will be a member of the Children’s Workforce Development Training Group. It will report progress in relation to the common core skill – safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and contribute generally to children’s workforce development.

Membership

Key Board Members

Other non-statutory and voluntary organisations

Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB) Trainers Group Terms of Reference
Introduction

Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for co-ordinating and delivering on the common core skill and inter-agency training and development[9] in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

The Trainers Group will carry out NSCB responsibilities for the design, delivery and evaluation of training in Newcastle to safeguard and promote the welfare of children on its behalf.

Role of the Trainers Group[10]
  • Ensure training needs are identified and met within the context of local and national research, policy and practice developments, including the common core prospectus.
  • Identify training relevant to the extended role of the Board.
  • Develop and maintaining structures and processes for an organised and co-ordinated approach to inter-agency training.
  • Ensure training reflects current strategies.
  • Ensure single agency and inter-agency training responsibilities are negotiated and agreed upon.
  • Ensure training meets a common standard across member organisations that have single agency training.
  • Ensure that members of the group contribute to interagency training as part of their role.
  • Adapt training plans to take into account lessons learned from serious case reviews and statistics from ‘staying safe’ management information.
  • Deliver training through a variety of different methods and forums, such as distance and ‘e’ learning.
  • Ensure all training and development is inclusive.
  • Submit training plans and programmes to the Training Committee for approval.
Membership and the roles

The Trainers Group will have representatives from Board partner agencies and other non-statutory and voluntary organisations involved in relevant training. Members will have current experience of training delivery that will enable them to make informed decisions regarding the development, implementation, evaluation and quality of training.

Members of the group will:

  • Deliver inter-agency training and development throughout Newcastle in order to promote and safeguard the welfare of children amongst professionals and the community.
  • Identify training needs within their own agencies and be able to relate these needs to the inter-agency training programmes as well as ensuring that professionals in their own agency have access to standardised in-house single agency safeguarding children training.
  • Manage the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of the training.
  • Monitor quality standards.
  • Uphold equal opportunities.
  • Ensure that training is informed by policy and practice developments at both national and local level in order to underpin the strategic overview.
  • Offer advice to statutory and voluntary organisations in relation to standardising training in a single agency setting in order to complement the inter-agency training.
  • Offer advice and training to private and for profit organisations to ensure consistency of training throughout all organisations. The financial implications of this role may need to be discussed at the finance committee.

Accountability

The Trainers Group will:

  • Be accountable to the Board Training Committee.
  • Be chaired by the NSCB Training and Development Officer.
  • Meet not less than quarterly.

Training Principles

The NLSCB trainersgroup seeks to ensure that the training offered, from planning through to delivery and evaluation, is based on sound principles and standards ‘Sustaining Quality: Standards for Inter-agency child protection training and development’,[11]

Specifically, the training will seek to: