Auditing of Child Protection and Confidential Files –
Briefing Paper
This briefing paper provides supporting information for the completion of the ‘Auditing of Child Protection and Confidential Files’ published November 2017
The request for schools to formally audit ‘concern files’ originated from a Nottinghamshire serious case review, published in 2010, which identified issues around poor record keeping within schools. Much progress has been made since this time and on occasions, in more recent reviews, individual schools have been singled out for praise in this area. However, this progress needs to be seen across the board and in some schools there is more work to be done.
The position in Nottinghamshire is not unique and the importance of accurate record keeping in schools in relation to child protection has also been highlighted nationally.
In July 2014, NSPCC published a series of briefings for agencies based on a study of learning from serious case reviews published since 2010. One of the key learning points was identified as “Schools must keep accurate records of all incidents and concerns relating to children and / or members of staff. This allows the relevant professionals to recognise emerging patterns, understand the significance of previous concerns and prevent incidents from being dealt with in isolation”.
In another national publication, the Triennial Analysis of Serious Case Reviews (2011-2014), Sidebotham P and others,the authors note that across their ten years of analysing SCRs, there has been evidence that protection for children can be blocked at the entry point to children’s social care because referrals lack clarity in the way concerns about risks of harm are presented. It is therefore essential when you make a formal referral that you have accurately and fully documented the concerns.
In Nottinghamshire, information about when and how to make a referral can be found on the MASH webpage.
Referrals are much more likely to provide clarity if they are based on accurate records which provide a chronology of events rather than being based on a single event lacking in historical context. The 'Pathway to Provision' handbook has been designed to support practitioners to identify an individual child’s, young person’s and or family’s level of need and to enable the most appropriate referrals to access provision.
The subject of school staff feeling their concerns have either not been heard or given sufficient weight is a key feature of a number of recent Nottinghamshire SCRs and is proving to be a difficult one to resolve.
According to the Interagency Procedures, ‘Problem resolution is an integral part of inter-agency working to safeguard children. It is often a sign of developing thinking within a dynamic process and can indicate a lack of clarity in current procedures or approach. Professional disagreement is only dysfunctional if not resolved in a constructive and timely fashion’(Interagency guidance – Resolving Professional Disagreements (Escalation Procedure).
The procedures go on to state, ‘Effective working together depends on an open approach and honest relationships between agencies and a commitment to genuine partnership working. As part of this there needs to be a system in place to enable disagreements to be resolved to the satisfaction of practitioners and organisations involved. The aim should be to resolve difficulties at practitioner level between organisations, where this is possible, but where not the disagreement should be escalated until a resolution is achieved. Disagreements should not be left unresolved’ (Inter-agency procedures).
School staff need to know who to go to within the school to escalate concerns in relation to child protection.
The Interagency Safeguarding Procedures 'Resolving Professional Disagreements (Escalation Procedure)'contain recently updated guidance on how to resolve professional disagreements. The guidance emphasises the importance of accurate record keeping to ‘provide a written account of your concerns and make a record of conversations’.
The transfer of child protection and confidential files from school to school as children move on has been highlighted as a strength and also an area of weakness in recent reviews. It is essential that files are transferred promptly and that an effective handover of the case from school to school takes place.
Accurate record keeping will allow you to demonstrate effective safeguarding practice and the Child Protection and Confidential File Annual Audit template provides you with an excellent tool to monitor the progress of your school in this area and support you in ‘keeping children safe’.
We advise you as a principle of ‘best practice’ to carry out the Child Protection and Confidential File audit during each spring term to:
- Ensure your child protection and confidential files are up to date and maintained in-line with the guidance provided and ready to support the ‘safeguarding arrangements’ for those children who transfer school at the start of the new academic year.
- The outcomes from the Child Protection and Confidential File audit willthen be available to complete the questions linked to it and within the Safeguarding in Education Annual Autumn Term Audit Checklist,which is a statutory requirementfor schools to evidence ‘safeguarding compliance’.
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Guidance re Auditing of CP and Confidential Files Nov 2017.docx