SFE Conferences
Nov
Safeguarding
Contextual Safeguarding and Trusted Relationships – With who, why and how?
Contextual Safeguarding has become a bit of a hot topic over recent years in the safeguarding world. You will no doubt be familiar with the concept – as professionals we need to recognise that children don’t live in a bubble at home or at school, but they experience life in a variety of contexts, some of which contain strongly protective factors, but others may pose serious risk of harm.
Through contextual safeguarding we work to establish where in society harm might exist, and we empower children with the knowledge to try to keep themselves safe.
We work in a collaborative, inter-agency manner and with families, to look at community safety, considering how harm is linked to certain spaces and we take a children’s rights based approach to ensure they are free from harm when they go about their lives.
You will have had training on the types of contextual safeguarding risks that may occur, and be aware of concerns in your specific locality that may pose harm.
This blog isn’t to rehash that information – instead it’s to consider how the support and change can only happen if there are trusted relationships between all involved.
Sounds easy – but in reality there are many challenges. We work with children, their families and a variety of professionals, some of whom are statutory agencies. This can lead to a perceived power hierarchy – of knowledge of the situation, of knowledge of the child, of knowledge of the legal and social care frameworks.
Children will usually understand the concept of a “Trusted Adult” through work in schools from the early years and having a key worker assigned. This continues through to secondary school and sixth forms where a tutor, head of year or pastoral worker will often fill this role.
Children live in a world where they are encouraged to develop independence but usually within boundaries of care, nuture and support. If a child steps outside of those boundaries, it is often a “Trusted Adult” who they will confide in and disclose to, or who knows the child well enough to skilfully ascertain, through observation and questioning, whether there is a Child Protection concern present.
It is much more difficult to develop that relationship with parents. Some parents might have prior involvement with police or social care and feel it is risky to work collaboratively with schools, if they feel schools have a history of “reporting” families to statutory agencies.
We need to prioritise building our relationships with families susceptible to harm. For example, when considering our behaviour and attendance policies we might consider offering some flexibility for children at risk of exploitation.
If a child arrives late to school regularly, of course there are concerns – learning is being missed. But what if this action is actually a protective safety consideration as the child knows that they have to cross through an area populated by a rival gang and doing so when the area is less crowded with people is safer?
Building a positive relationship with both the child and the parents is going to be more difficult if they see school as a place dealing out punitive responses rather than compassion.
By showing consideration for individual circumstances we can build a trusted relationship with parents and children and that trusted relationship means if a statutory partner needs to be brought in – which could be police or social care, but equally could be a mentor via a contextual safeguarding hub – the entire family is more likely to trust that the school has the family’s safety and interest at heart.
What relationships in your setting need further investment? Sometimes in education, due to the finite capacity of agencies to support with every intervention, it can feel that schools are holding all of a concern by themselves, but this isn’t so.
We can work on relationships with all agencies who focus on chid protection. Do you use the FIB form to pass on intelligence about areas of contextual safeguarding risk? Do you speak to the local Contextual Safeguarding Hub for shared information and rising risk? Do you attend local and national training opportunities – free or paid, online or face-to-face? Do you share information of rising concern with parents via your newsletters and on your website – for example about the changing nature of county lines or the use of children for pickpocketing during the period that the Christmas Markets are running? Do you use your local Early Help offer for support at an initial stage?
If not, our lack of inter-agency working is preventing trusted relationships from fully forming, which can leave children at further risk of significant harm.
**Don’t miss out! Services For Education is excited to present its first Online Safeguarding Conference 27th March 2025**
If you’re reading this, you are probably already familiar with the high-quality and accessible safeguarding training and consultancy that our expert advisers provide in the field of safeguarding.
Our offer is pretty comprehensive and we regularly work with other experts from different fields in the children’s workforce to ensure our offer is wide-ranging and relevant. We wanted to expand this further to support professionals around a topic which affects us all, no matter our setting, and is continually evolving, that of contextual safeguarding.
We are holding a full-day online conference with a host of guest speakers who are experts in this field and we’d love to see you there for some unmissable CPD!
Our line up of speakers have a wealth of experience and their different career paths ensure that you’ll leave with some real take-away knowledge and practical tips to support children in your settings who are susceptible to the harms of criminal and sexual exploitation in your local area or online.
Jo Perrin and Lucie Welch, SFE Safeguarding Advisers, who you might well have met before, will be presenting during the day – and can offer their usual practical and insightful support on how to translate this ever-evolving safeguarding topic into everyday life in schools. We have also invited four nationally renowned speakers to present at the conference.
That’s an awful lot of expertise in one day – and you can find further details of speakers and sessions here Online Safeguarding Conference – Services For Education. All that knowledge with practical take-away tips to support children in your setting and empower adults working with them is available for the price of just £145 per delegate. And best of all, it’s online – so you can gain this knowledge from the comfort of your own home (or work desk – but we can’t have it all!).
Click on the link above for more information and you can book from a link on that page. Couldn’t be easier – and remember all sessions are included with one ticket price.
We really can’t wait to see you there!
About the Author
Jo Perrin - Adviser, Services For Education
Jo Perrin is a seasoned Education Adviser with a strong background in safeguarding. She has held key roles as a Designated Safeguarding Lead and pastoral lead in the education sector. Facilitating training to enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals working directly with children and young people is her passion.
With a wealth of experience in teaching PSHE and expertise in childhood trauma from her time as a foster carer, Jo is dedicated to supporting organisations that work with children and vulnerable adults on safeguarding issues. She is actively involved in professional safeguarding groups in the West Midlands and is currently collaborating on a research project with colleagues from the University of Birmingham and the NHS focusing on FGM awareness within communities. Jo’s has worked as a West Midlands' Adviser for national PSHE resources, presented at the Sex Education Forum National Members' Event and authored an advertorial for PSM magazine and an article for SEND magazine.
Jo's expertise extends to training on topics such as Safer Recruitment and Mental Health at Work. She is also a facilitator for the nationally recognised NPQSL qualification, supporting senior leaders in education. Her contributions to publications and development of resources for RSE provision have been well-received by schools nationally and internationally.
With her extensive experience and dedication to professional development, Jo Perrin is a highly respected figure in the field of education. Her guidance on safeguarding, mental health awareness, personal development, and relationships education is highly valued within the industry.
Lucie Welch – Adviser, Services For Education
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