What is a Child Protection Conference
A child protection conference is a meeting arranged to discuss the concerns that professionals have about your child, and to decide what is to happen next?
This is done by:
- Sharing information from the people who work with your family, and thinking about what that means for the safety of your child
- Making decisions about the risks to your child and how those risks can be reduced
- Deciding whether your child is in need of a Child Protection Plan
- Agreeing a Child Protection Plan in order to keep your child safe
You can download the child protection conference pack below for more information.
Private Fostering
Private fostering is the term used to describe an arrangement made privately (without our involvement) where a child under 16 (if disabled, under 18) is cared for and lives with an adult who is not a close relative.
Under the Children Act 1989, a close relative is defined as a grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle or step-parent.
There is more information on our Private Fostering page but If you need further help and information please visit the Durham County Council Private Fostering webpage.
Support for Parents and Carers
Relationships Matter - Parental Support Programme
Whether you and your partner are together or separated, disagreements in your relationship can affect your child’s behaviour, emotions and feelings, both now and in the future. The ‘Relationships Matter’ programme can give you free support and space to talk about your relationship and how family disagreements can impact on your child.
Relationships Matter – information for parents
If you think you need support with reducing conflict/arguments in your relationship and have at least one child aged 0-18 years (or 25 years if your child has a disability) or are expecting your first child and one parent lives in the North East region, please speak with a professional you may already be working with. This could also be your health visitor, school or nursery, or you can call our First Contact Service on 03000 267 979.
Education for a Connected World
A framework to equip children and young people for digital life is available on the government's website.
The Education for a Connected World framework describes the Digital knowledge and skills that children and young people should have the opportunity to develop at different ages and stages of their lives. It highlights what a child should know in terms of current online technology, its influence on behaviour and development, and what skills they need to be able to navigate it.
The document supports one of the key aims of the government’s Internet Safety Strategy of supporting children to stay safe and make a positive contribution online, as well enabling teachers to develop effective strategies for understanding and handling online risks.
NSPCC Schools Service in Durham - Speak out. Stay safe Programme
The NSPCC Schools Service in Durham offers a range of resources to schools. They primarily offer the Speak Out. Stay Safe safeguarding programme to primary schools, which is also offered at no cost to all UK primary schools. NSPCC have worked extensively with Durham primary schools, visiting over 97% of schools in the Durham area.
What is the Speak out. Stay safe. programme?
The Speak out. Stay safe. programme consists of separate assemblies for KS1 and KS2 followed by an hour-long workshop for years 5 and 6. The sessions give children the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect.
With the help of the mascot Buddy, the programme provides child-friendly, age-appropriate interactive assemblies and workshops to help children:
- understand abuse in all its forms
- know how to protect themselves
- know how to access sources of help, including our Childline service.
The Speak Out. Stay Safeprogramme has been designed to link directly to the PSHE curriculum.
You can download an overview of the programme by clicking this link Speak Out. Stay Safe
You can also take a look at this video at www.bit.ly/SOSSvid to see the Speak Out. Stay Safe programme in action.
NSPCC’s Share Aware Campaign
The NSPCC’s Share Aware Campaign is aimed towards the parents and carers of children aged 8 to 12 – the age at which young people start doing more online, begin to become more independent with technology along with increased independence online and have access to a greater range of devices.
The campaign aims to encourage parents and carers to understand online safety and to have conversations with their children about keeping safe.
Having conversations from a young age can help build trust and openness and get preventative messages across.
However, many parents feel confused by the internet and out of their depth in understanding what their children are doing online and what the risks might be. The Share Aware campaign aims to give parents the tools to feel confident to have these conversations. The campaign directs parents to a range of new resources, including Net Aware, a simple NSPCC guide to the social networks, sites and apps children use – as rated by parents and young people themselves.
There is also a downloadable guide and a hard copy booklet for parents, containing top tips for keeping your child safe online, as well conversation starters to help parents have conversations with their children.
You can find these resources and further detailed information regarding the Share Aware campaign here.
For information on the most popular and highly used social networks and applications used by young people, visit Net Aware.