NSPCC Learning Podcast

Listen to the episode to hear key learning from the research and how it’ll help develop practice; why we’ve adapted our service delivery models; what families, practitioners, facilitators and external partners think about the changes; and how the voice of the child was captured. Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website . 💬 About the speakers Michelle Maybury is a project manager...

Over the last few months, our Speak out Stay safe volunteers and staff have been unable to visit primary schools to help children understand what abuse is and that they have the right to be safe. In order to continue to reach every child during the pandemic, we’ve worked hard to launch an online version of the programme that can be used in the classroom. Hear us discuss: how COVID-19 has affected...

Domestic abuse can both directly and indirectly disrupt the relationship between a parent and their child (Humphreys et al, 20061; Buchanan, 20182). Abuse can happen in any relationship, and both males and females can be abused or be abusers. It’s important to recognise that children are never just witnesses to domestic abuse but they also experience it. For the last ten years, the NSPCC has been...

The tutoring sector is largely unregulated. However, like teachers, tutors are also responsible for ensuring the young people they work with are protected. Students may open up to them about what is going on in their lives. It could be related to abuse, neglect or any other concerns they have. Therefore, it’s vital that all tutors are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and what appropria...

Every young person’s experience of the pandemic and lockdown has been different. Some have been confronted with new challenges during this period and are finding new ways to cope. Others may have limited contact with a trusted adult or someone with a safeguarding responsibility who they can turn to for support. We invited Kirsty Donnelly and Robert Burns who both work for Childline to talk to us a...

Social distancing measures and lockdown has made it difficult for practitioners to provide direct contact to children and families. Other than occasional doorstep visits, check-ins are no longer face-to-face but take place through video and telephone calls. How are practitioners ensuring that children and families’ needs are still being met? You'll hear from a children’s services practitioner abou...

Schools have been at the frontline in supporting the wellbeing of vulnerable children since the lockdown began in March 2020. From remote learning and online platforms to taking on a more active pastoral role, how have schools responded to the challenges? In this episode, we speak to Shirley Dunn, a form tutor and head of department at a secondary school about measures her school has taken to safe...

Some children and young people are starting to go back to school and teachers are preparing to welcome pupils back after a three-month hiatus. But what’s happened in the past few months? How have schools adjusted to the new ‘normal’ and what will change now that these pupils have begun to return? We invited Kay Joel, NSPCC’s Senior Education Consultant to talk about the current situation and provi...

During the perinatal period (during pregnancy and up to a year after birth), parents can be under a lot of pressure. They may also be dealing with feelings of anxiety, stress or depression.  The effects of social distancing due to coronavirus may also increase mental health issues and without the right support, this can make it difficult for parents to care for and connect with their baby.  First...

In this month’s podcast episode we discuss our learning from case reviews briefing on infants with three social workers. Case reviews are conducted when a child has died or been seriously injured due to abuse or neglect. Reviewing the learning from reviews can help us to identify areas of practice to focus on and improve. Infants under two may not be able to verbally express what they see and expe...

What is good practice for preventing harmful sexual behaviour? We explore how you can use preventative and proactive measures to protect young people and manage incidents of sexualised behaviour appropriately. In this episode, you’ll learn about: delivering PSHE education programmes and relationships and sex education (RSE)  providing the right support for young people in educational settings, the...

It can be hard to determine what is healthy, problematic, inappropriate or serious sexual behaviour in schools, particularly where there are limited resources available.  This is where specialist provision and services can help. They can support you in assessing the young person who has displayed sexually harmful behaviour and help you to understand the nature and extent of this behaviour. However...

Around a third of child sexual abuse is by other children or young people (Hackett, 2014). Educational settings play a key role in identifying and preventing harmful sexual behaviour. However, this can be difficult to manage without adversely affecting the education of both the child and young person that has experienced the abuse and the child who has displayed the behaviour. This episode will he...

The NSPCC developed Love Life in partnership with Dr. El Stannage and Connecting Youth Culture for young people with learning difficulties or special educational needs. The films and resources help support adults in starting conversations with young people aged 11 to 25 about topics such as feelings, privacy and boundaries, relationships and online safety. Listen to our episode to find out: why an...

Listen to this week’s episode to learn about: the Steps to Safety programme, including the research behind the service and its development process what the outcomes were from the feasibility study and what we learnt from the service how practitioners assessed parents, delivered sessions and modules and used Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)  the challenges practitioners encountered whilst implement...

Joining us for this episode, Sarah discusses: our report findings including the key issues for parents and carers the need for accessible relationships and sex education for children and young people with disabilities how parents and carers can work with schools to provide children with consistent messages around relationships and sex education involving children, young people and their parents an...

Tune into our episode for more about: the impact PANTS has had since it launched in 2012 having conversations around PANTS and embedding the messages into daily life how local safeguarding boards, parents, schools and local communities are helping to raise awareness of the campaign what children have said about the PANTS campaign and future developments to materials and resources. Read the podcast...

In this episode, we speak to Leila Canay, one of Stoke’s Children Services Practitioners about:  what evaluation activities are currently being run in Stoke  how the initiative has invited change and developed over time working with the community and partners establishing professional and community partnerships, including embracing collaboration and co-creation how young people can be involved in...

In this episode, our contributors discuss: the role and responsibilities of a charity trustee the key to good governance in a charity the importance of complying with legislation and guidance around keeping children safe  top tips to ensure charity trustees and managers are working well and playing an active role in safeguarding. This series was carried out as part a partnership led by NCVO , fund...

We are almost reaching the end of our series on safeguarding children and young people within local communities. Tune into this week’s episode to find out more about: the role faith-based communities and groups have in children and young people’s lives why it’s essential groups and communities understand their safeguarding responsibilities how to address safeguarding challenges and develop a safeg...

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn about: good safeguarding practices for schools the barriers children can face when talking about their experiences of abuse managing relationships with parents  supporting students and staff and promoting positive mental health   how to work with other organisations and statutory services in the community to ensure pupils feel safe and supported. Read the podc...

Our host Chris Cloke and Gawain Griffiths, a Website Supervisor for the NSPCC discuss: how to run online services safely and manage an online presence effectively adopting professional and personal life boundaries online, particularly, with social media and email accounts the impact of bullying and how to prevent it online and respond appropriately  who organisations can go to for resources, guide...

Through this episode, you’ll find out more about: the similarities, differences and challenges in safeguarding adults and children  how organisations working with mixed-age groups can safeguard children and adults in their care the importance of separate policies and procedures for adults and children safer recruitment and changing organisational culture so that safeguarding is a priority the supp...

This summer, we are releasing a compilation of episodes on key topics related to safeguarding children and young people within your community.   Learn more about: building a safer culture in your organisation how to deal with and respond to concerns about a young person or adult making the nominated lead role visible to children, staff and parents so they know who to go to for support training and...

In this episode, we focus on: advice, tips and guidance on safeguarding to get you started common challenges organisations face when addressing safeguarding issues bringing organisations up to speed with current legislation the need for organisations to tailor policies and procedures keeping communication channels open between children and organisations. These podcasts were produced as part of a p...