NSPCC Learning Podcast

Education is a vital part of ensuring children get the best possible start in life, and there can be safeguarding implications for children who are absent from school. If children miss school, the ability that schools have to offer them the support they need is compromised. And missing school may be an indicator of broader child protection concerns. In this podcast episode, experts from the NSPCC and Childline discuss the potential causes for this, and what schools can do to address the problem. You’ll also hear two secondary school students share their thoughts on how the stresses and strains of school life can affect attendance. About the speakers Janet Hinton is the NSPCC's Strategic Service Manager for Schools, working on the delivery of a range of NSPCC programmes for schools, including Speak out, Stay safe. Kelly Burnett joined the NSPCC in May 2021, as a Supervisor as the Childline Liverpool Base. Kelly is responsible for the management of staff and volunteers, training staff, and making safeguarding decisions on shifts. John Anderton joined the NSPCC in 2008 as a Childline Supervisor, after serving two years as a volunteer. John is currently practice champion at Childline's Birmingham base, supporting and guiding Childline counsellors on shifts. The NSPCC Young People's Board for Change is a cohort of young people who steer, advice and influence the NSPCC on issues that affect children and young people in the UK, ensuring that children and young people’s opinions and ideas are considered within the strategic direction of the organisation. Related resources > Learn more about Childline > Find out more about our Building Connections service > Take our Safeguarding training for schools, academies and colleges course > View our other safeguarding resources for schools > Learn more about protecting children from county lines

Pre-birth assessments help social work professionals to identify strengths, needs, risks and protective factors in the lives of expectant families. They play an important role in safeguarding babies; effective pre-birth assessments can ensure that families get the support they need before issues escalate. In this podcast episode, In this podcast episode, Sophie Bell, Associate Head of Development at the NSPCC, talks to Anna Squirrell and Nina Bell, social work practitioners working in children’s social care in Blackburn with Darwen. The two experts discuss the practicalities of conducting effective pre-birth assessments, including what good practice looks like, what challenges might arise, and how tools such as Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal can help with assessments. About the speakers Sophie Bell joined the NSPCC in 2010, moving into the role of Associate Head of Development in 2022. Sophie heads up the portfolio of projects and services in the Prevention of Abuse & Neglect in the Early Years Theme, managing the development and implementation of evidence-based support for families. Anna Squirrell has worked in children’s social care in Blackburn with Darwen for over 25 years. Anna has spent time working in different departments including the fostering team and residential homes with young people team. Passionate about early intervention and getting the right help to the families at the right time, Anna joined the Pre-Birth Team seven years ago as a family support worker, and now manages a team of seven practitioners. Nina Bell is a children’s social care practitioner working in the Pre-Birth Team in Blackburn with Darwen. Related resources > Find out more about the Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal (GCP2A) assessment tool > Read our Learning from case reviews briefing on assessments > Learn more about attachment and child development > Read our Learning from case reviews briefing on the early years sector

The criminal and civil justice systems play an important role in the way the State responds to child sexual abuse. However, many of IICSA’s investigations featured details of inadequate responses from the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts. The final episode of the series looks at how the IICSA recommendations might improve victims and survivors’ experiences of the criminal justice system. Areas covered include policing, the courtroom experience and access to advocacy, and reforms to the Victims’ Code. You’ll also hear about the proposed changes to the available schemes of compensation and redress. About the speakers Ian Critchley is the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Child Protection, Abuse and Investigation, a role he has held for three years. Ian’s role is to enhance and develop the police service in its prevention and response to child abuse working with Chief Constables, the College of Policing and statutory and charitable partners across the country. Ian was also formerly the Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. Simon Bailey is a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Simon was a police officer for 35 years, the last 8 as the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary. Simon was also the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection. Tomi Ogundele is a Child Protection Lawyer at the NSPCC. Further resources > Learn more about children and the law > Read the UK Government's press release on establishing a redress scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse > Read the Victims' Code and supporting public information materials About the series The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change. This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Being online is an integral part of children’s lives, but it can expose them to risks, including sexual abuse. The past five years has seen a proliferation in child sexual abuse material online, and IICSA’s investigations into the problem found that law enforcement is struggling to keep pace. In this episode of Recommendations for Change, we explore the scale of the online abuse problem and how the IICSA recommendations and the new Online Safety Act seek to tackle the issue. The episode covers the importance of implementing online protections for children and what professionals can do to keep children safe online. You’ll also learn how law enforcement responds to online-facilitated CSA. About the speakers Susie Hargreaves is the Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. She is a member of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command Strategic Governance Group and an Executive Board member of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS). Ian Critchley is the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Child Protection, Abuse and Investigation, a role he has held for three years. Ian’s role is to enhance and develop the police service in its prevention and response to child abuse working with Chief Constables, the College of Policing and statutory and charitable partners across the country. Ian was also formerly the Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. Further resources > Read the IICSA investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation facilitated by the internet > Read the latest Internet Watch Foundation annual report > Learn more about online safety with our introductory elearning course > Read our article about what the Online Safety Act means for professionals > Find out more about how young people can use the Report Remove tool to take down nudes shared online About the series The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change. This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Many children enter care because they have been abused or neglected. IICSA found that, rather than being protected, many vulnerable children who entered care were subject to further abuse. This episode of Recommendations for Change looks at the IICSA findings relating to children in care. How did institutions fail to protect looked after children, and what changes – through IICSA or other reform – need to be made to improve the care system for young people and keep them safer in future? This episode also covers the mandatory reporting recommendation made in the final IICSA report. > Read the podcast transcript About the speakers Claire Sands is an Associate Head in the NSPCC’s Research and Evidence team. She manages research projects across all areas of NSPCC work and runs the NSPCC Research and Ethics Committee. Matt Forde is Partnerships and Development Director at the NSPCC. He leads services for children that the NSPCC delivers in partnership with other organisations and communities across the UK and Channel Islands. Chloe Meaney is an HR Safeguarding Consultant with the NSPCC, she works nationally across a diverse range of sectors as well as providing internal advice and support, looking at HR policy, procedure and practice through a safeguarding lens. Patricia Cannon is a Children’s Solicitor and Partner at national firm Simpson Millar Solicitors. She specialises in the representation of children and young people in care proceedings before the Family Court. David Pritchard is the Registrar and Director of Regulation at Social Care Wales, which is responsible for regulation of the social care workforce in Wales. Over 60,000 social care professionals are registered with Social Care Wales, including domiciliary and care home workers, social workers and managers. Before joining Social Care Wales, David was a senior official at the Welsh Government where he led the development of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act. Further resources > Read IICSA's research report into child sexual abuse in children's homes and residential care > View the NSPCC Learning information page on looked after children > Read the latest Working together to safeguarding children statutory guidance > Learn more about safer recruitment > Take our safer recruitment training course > Read our CASPAR briefing on the UK Government plans to reform children's social care in England > Listen to our podcast episode on what's next for children's social care in England About the series The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change. This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Gathering and analysing data plays a key role in understanding the extent of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA and CSE). The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report suggests one of the reasons that the true scale of CSA in the UK is not fully understood is poor data collection. In the second episode of our series looking at the IICSA final report, we explore the topic of data. You’ll learn how data can help professionals to prevent and respond to CSA, and what the existing data and evidence is telling us about the scale of CSA in the UK. We also cover how the introduction of a single core dataset in the UK will improve data collection. > Read the podcast transcript About the speakers Lisa McCrindle is Assistant Director in Policy, Communications and Strategic Influence at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). She’s an experienced public policy and communications leader, researcher and evaluator with over 20 years’ experience working in public policy across the children and young people’s agenda. Kelly Agudelo is Head of Analysis at the National Policing Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP). Further resources > Read the CSA Centre's latest trends in data report > Read the VKPP's National Analysis of Police-Recorded Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Crimes Report 2022 > Read the NSPCC Learning briefing on some of the issues to consider when looking at child abuse statistics About the series The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change. This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

Recommendations for Change is a new five-part podcast series from NSPCC Learning, exploring the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final recommendations. The series breaks down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. This first episode of the series provides the background to the Inquiry. You will learn why IICSA was set up, how the NSPCC contributed to the Inquiry, and why it’s so important for professionals working with children to be aware of the Inquiry and its findings. The episode also covers how the Inquiry engaged with victims and survivors of CSA, including the set-up of the Truth Project. > Read the podcast transcript About the speakers Peter Wanless is Chief Executive of the NSPCC. Peter joined as Chief Executive in 2013, after running the Big Lottery Fund for 5 years. Before this he worked as a Director at the Department of Education. In the 2021 New Year’s Honours, Peter was awarded a knighthood for services to Children, to Young People and to the Charitable Sector. Lisa McCrindle is Assistant Director in Policy, Communications and Strategic Influence at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). She’s an experienced public policy and communications leader, researcher and evaluator with over 20 years’ experience working in public policy across the children and young people’s agenda. Dr Maria Neophytou is the Director of Strategy and Knowledge at the NSPCC, joining in 2020 from Impetus, where she was Acting CEO. Maria has worked on strategy, public policy and research in the children’s sector for over fifteen years, exploring how we can harness evidence in aid of social change. She gained her PhD at Cambridge University, where her research was on gender equality and international relations. Further resources > Read the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report > Read the CASPAR summary of the IICSA final report, and the government responses to the recommendations made > View the CSA Centre's 'Key messages from research' series > Access other practice resources from the CSA Centre > Learn more about child sexual abuse About the series The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report in October 2022. The report was a comprehensive examination of institutional failings to protect children from sexual abuse, demonstrating the need for a wholesale change in how child sexual abuse (CSA) is tackled. The report highlighted 20 key recommendations that would contribute towards this change. This five-part podcast series explores these recommendations in more detail. A range of experts from both inside and outside of the NSPCC will break down why the recommendations are needed, how they’ll work if implemented, and what impact they might have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. The series is a useful introduction to the Inquiry for anyone who is working or volunteering with children and young people.

The first 1001 days of a child’s life are crucial for their development and wellbeing. Having access to caring relationships and support networks can help a child’s brain develop in a healthy way. New parents who experience adversity, such as domestic abuse, may need additional help to build these support networks for their child. This is the second half of a two-part podcast discussion focusing on For Baby’s Sake, a service which provides therapeutic and trauma-informed support to expectant parents who have experienced domestic abuse. If you haven't done so already, you can listen to part one here. This is the You'll hear from Ged Docherty, a Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake Blackpool, and Colin Smy, Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. In this half of the discussion, Colin and Ged will talk about why it's so important to involve fathers in early intervention, and how service practitioners can engage fathers in their services. Related resources > Find out more about For Baby’s Sake > Find out more about Blackpool Better Start > Learn more about how childhood trauma affects child brain development > Take the NSPCC’s elearning course on trauma and child brain development > Take the NSPCC’s safeguarding elearning course for anyone working with under 1s and families in the antenatal or postnatal period

The first 1001 days of a child’s life are crucial for their development and wellbeing. Having access to caring relationships and support networks can help a child’s brain develop in a healthy way. New parents who experience adversity, such as domestic abuse, may need additional help to build these support networks for their child. This is the first part in a two-part podcast discussion focusing on For Baby’s Sake, a service which provides therapeutic and trauma-informed support to expectant parents who have experienced domestic abuse. You'll hear from Ged Docherty, a Team Manager at For Baby’s Sake Blackpool, and Colin Smy, Development Manager at Blackpool Better Start. The discussion explores how early intervention services can support families through adversity and give babies the best start in life. Part two is available here. Related resources > Find out more about For Baby’s Sake > Find out more about Blackpool Better Start > Learn more about how childhood trauma affects child brain development > Take the NSPCC’s elearning course on trauma and child brain development > Take the NSPCC’s safeguarding elearning course for anyone working with under 1s and families in the antenatal or postnatal period

Evidence plays an important role in social work practice. Knowledge gained from research and practical experience should be used to ensure decisions about safety and risk are well-informed and ethical. In this podcast episode, a panel of experts from the NSPCC discuss how social workers can build and maintain an evidence base to support their work. Resources mentioned in this episode > Find out more about the NSPCC Library and Information Service > Search the national case review repository > Browse the collection of learning from case reviews briefings > Browse the collection of CASPAR briefings on important safeguarding topics > Take the NSPCC's learning from case reviews training course > Subscribe to CASPAR, our safeguarding child protection email newsletter > View the social work Professional Capabilities Framework on the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) website > Listen to the Let's Talk Social Work podcast from BASW The websites for Research in Practice and Foundations (a merger of the Early Intervention Foundation and What Works for Children's Social Care) also have a range of resources relating to social work evidence.

This is the second in a two-part series looking at the future of children’s social care in England. Listen to the first episode, an interview with Josh MacAlister, here. Earlier this year, the UK government published its vision for the reform of children's social care in England: Stable homes built on love. The strategy sets out a number of proposals to family support and early help services, including the rollout of new multi-disciplinary family help teams to provide earlier support to families so they don't reach crisis point. In this podcast episode three experts from the NSPCC consider what the government’s proposals might look like in practice. The discussion covered: - the planned reforms to family support and early help services - what new multi-disciplinary family help teams might look like - the benefits and challenges of taking a family-first approach to social care - the importance of developing meaningful relationships with families and considering lived experience - changes to social care workforce roles, including the introduction of a new lead child protection practitioner role - barriers to implementing reform, and how they might affect the day-to-day work of social care professionals. Related resources > NSPCC Learning: Early help and early intervention > Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation > News: The government’s plans to reform children’s social care in England > Government plans to reform children's social care in England: CASPAR briefing > The independent review of children’s social care final report: CASPAR briefing

This is the first in a two-part series looking at the future of children’s social care in England. Earlier this year, the UK government published its vision for the reform of children's social care in England: 'Stable homes, built on love'. The Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England, which published its final report in May 2022, provided a cornerstone for this strategy. The review was chaired by Josh MacAlister and aimed to produce recommendations for a social care system that puts lifelong loving relationships at the heart of the care system and acts decisively in response to abuse. In this podcast episode, Abigail Gill, the NSPCC’s Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs, sat down with Josh to talk about the review and what still needs to be done to meet its aims. The discussion covered: Related resources > Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation > News: The government’s plans to reform children’s social care in England > Government plans to reform children's social care in England: CASPAR briefing > The independent review of children’s social care final report: CASPAR briefing

The discussion covers topics including how to create a workplace domestic abuse policy, the indicators of domestic abuse and what managers can do to support colleagues experiencing domestic abuse or other safeguarding concerns. Useful resources > Learn more about domestic abuse > Read our learning from case reviews briefing on domestic abuse > Listen to our podcast episode about why domestic abuse is a child protection issue > Listen to our podcast episode about the NSPCC Helpline's Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors

Report Remove is an online tool that under-18s can use to report nude images or videos of themselves that have been shared online, to see if they can be removed from the internet. Developed by experts from Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation, the tool provides a child-centred and non-judgemental approach to image removal. Listen to this podcast episode to learn more about why a tool like Report Remove is needed, how the tool works, and how you can signpost young people to the tool as part of your response to incidents of sharing nudes. You can view the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website. Resources mentioned in this episode > Find out more about the Report Remove tool and download accompanying print-outs > Watch an introductory video for professionals on how Report Remove works > Access the Report Remove tool on the Childline website > Take the Managing incidents of sharing nudes elearning course to learn more about the topic

Mental health problems can impact on all aspects of a child’s life, and in some cases can lead to safeguarding and child protection concerns. Education professionals are in a good position to look out for children’s mental health, promote their wellbeing and help prevent any mental health problems from escalating into more serious concerns. This episode examines what education professionals can do to build a positive mental health culture in schools, recognise when young people are struggling with their mental heath and respond appropriately if those struggles escalate into safeguarding concerns. > Learn more about children's mental health > Learn more about Place2Be > Access the Childline resources on mental health, to be used by children and young people > Take the NSPCC Learning mental health safeguarding in education elearning course View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

Together for Childhood (TfC), the NSPCC's place-based approach to prevent child abuse and neglect, was launched almost five years ago. Listen to Pat Branigan, Assistant Director for Together for Childhood, talk to the panel of development managers from all four TfC sites about the benefits of a place-based and community-focused approach to preventing child abuse and neglect. > Find out more about the Together for Childhood programme > Learn more about child abuse and neglect > View our other resources for voluntary and community groups View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

In this episode, we hear from Dr Helen Beckett and Dr Debbie Allnock, two researchers from the Safer Young Lives Research Centre (SYLRC), who worked on a study looking at adolescents’ experiences of sexual abuse and how this has affected their mental health and wellbeing. The discussion covers the purpose of the study, the importance of listening to and learning from young people, and the ‘six pillars’ of an effective response to adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse.

Listen to Katy Tomkinson and Rowan Wolfe who work on our harmful sexual behaviour service talk about the effects of sibling sexual abuse on children and families; how to provide whole-family support; the impact of family dynamics and contributing factors to harmful sexual behaviour being displayed. This episode touches on our practitioners’ experiences of working directly with children and families. Although all experiences are generalised, they could be upsetting for some, and may cause distress. View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

Katy Tomkinson and Rowan Wolfe, who work on our HSB service, talk about: what denial might look like; using therapeutic and trauma-informed approaches in your practice; exploring children’s lived experiences and feelings; how to get children and young people to open up and build trust. View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.

The NSPCC recently secured funding from the COVID-19 Support Fund to launch a three-year domestic abuse project and extend the capacity of the NSPCC Helpline to support contacts who have experienced domestic abuse. In this episode, the NSPCC’s two new Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors, Lisa Begley and Naomi Hawthorne, speak about the risk factors and indicators of domestic abuse, and their work in ensuring all NSPCC Helpline staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to support domestic abuse survivors. The discussion covers: View the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.