On this page: Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History Month | e-Safety Lead Officer Training | e-Safety Awareness Conference for Parents - 27th March 2010 | e-Safety Strategy | WSCB Annual Report 2008/09 & Action Plan 2009/10 | Feedback from Children and Young People's Participation at the Anti-bullying Events | Annual Report & Business Plan 2008/09 | Safeguarding poster campaigns and leaflets | Archived articles and information
News and eventsCelebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History MonthWandsworth's Challenging Homophobia in Schools Group invites you to attend a celebration of LGBT History Month. There will be a marketplace (for all) and 2 workshops, which are aimed specifically at all workers who work directly with children and young people. The event will be held on:
1.00pm – 5.45pm Professional Centre Franciscan Road London, SW17 8HE This event includes a marketplace with stalls run by the Terence Higgins Trust, Stonewall, Wandsworth LGBT Forum, Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB), Metropolitan Police, NHS Wandsworth, Connexions & Southfields Community College. You can also sign up to attend 'taster' workshops, which support diversity work and the PSHE curriculum. Please book your place by completing the attached form and emailing it to Mark Holliday. Celebrating LGBT History Month PROGRAMME Celebrating LGBT History Month FLYER Celebrating LGBT History Month BOOKING FORM Celebrating LGBT History Month LETTER e-Safety Lead Officer Traininge-Safety issues are every evolving. All e-Safety Lead Officers (ESLOs) are encouraged to attend training that will update you on many of the current issues around online safety. You will also receive access to resources that can be used with young people. The next round for training for ESLOs will take place at
333 Merton Rd, Wandsworth Training will be for half a day (afternoon) and will last approximately three hours. The remaining session is scheduled for:
Please note that places are free but limited. Bookings can be made by e-mail to John Wheeler. Please include the name of the school or agency and the session date preferred. Please note parking is very limited and restricted for permit holders or pay and display. We would encourage you to use public transport, if possible. e-Safety Awareness Conference for Parents - 27th March 2010 - 9.30am-12.30pm, Battersea Arts CentreAre you a parent/carer/uncle or aunt? Do you know a child or young person that has a mobile phone, uses the Internet or gaming console that can connect to the Internet? Do you know how to help them use these devices safely and what information they put online and can be accessed about them by others through the Internet? Find out about the latest technology and how to help children and young people use the internet and other digital technology like mobile phones safely. Please click here to download the flyer and booking form. Remember it is free at attend. Complete the booking form to secure a place - as spaces are limited. Return the form as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this great opporutnity to learn more about how to ensure children and young peopel are safe whilst using the internet and mobile phones. Return to completed booking form by email to WPPA or by post to WPPA, Professional Centre, Franciscan Road, Londn, SW17 8HE. Alternatively call WPPA on 020 8767 3888 to secure your place.e-Safety StrategyToday's children are citizens of a digital world. In their daily lives the use of the internet and digital technologies, including mobile phones, represent a seamless extension of the physical world. Their emotional lives and their development are bound up in the use of these technologies. In contrast to many adults for whom these technologies are additional tools to be used for specific tasks, many of today's children do not even notice they are using these technologies. As online content, social networks and instant messaging converge with mobile technology to produce lives which are always 'on', any line which may have existed between being online and offline is disintegrating. Local Safeguarding Children Boards have a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their locality. If we accept the challenge of the digital world then the responsibilities which come with this duty must now include the development of strategies for safeguarding children in the online environment. To ignore e-safety issues when implementing statutory guidance could ultimately lead to significant gaps in child protection policies, leaving children and young people vulnerable. Non-statutory practice guidance issued in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006) includes a section on child abuse and ICT (paragraphs 11.58-11.62). Paragraph 11.62 states: 'As part of their role in preventing abuse and neglect, LSCBs should consider activities to raise awareness about the safe use of the internet. Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB) accepted this role and responsibility and developed an e-Safety Strategy, Action Plan and e-Safety Policy, which was ratified by the WSCB and launched on 3rd June 2009. All WSCB partners are committed to fulfilling their safeguarding responsibilities and have agreed to implement the e-Safety Strategy and Action Plan. The e-Safety Policy was also developed to assist agencies in developing their own policy. The Strategy sets out WSCB's response to the challenge of the digital world and our strategic direction for 2008-2011, in line with the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP). e-Safety Action Plan with timescales included (Word document) If you wish to receive hard a copy of the e-Safety Strategy and/or e-Safety Policy, please email us at wscb@wscb.org.uk or contact WSCB on 020 8871 8610 to request a copy. WSCB Annual Report 2008/09 & Action Plan 2009/10Every now and again the impact of a single incident leads to a major review of arrangements for keeping children safe. The death of Victoria Climbié was the driver for the "Every Child Matters" agenda and the more recent death of Baby Peter in Haringey lead to Lord Laming's review and the recent government response. The review confirmed that robust legislative, structural and policy foundations are in place and that the ECM reforms set the right direction. Lord Laming was equally clear that more needed to be done to ensure best practice is universally applied and that more support needed to be provided for the front line workforce. Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board is still relatively new. This annual report gives a flavour of the enormity of the agenda and the balance that must be struck between focusing on those most at risk and requiring protection and the broader safeguarding responsibilities which must also be addressed. It is difficult for the report to do justice to the twin requirements of establishing strong multi-agency working underpinned by practical procedures and policies and the professional challenge which must exist across agencies to secure the safety of children and young people. Nonetheless this is what the WSCB has achieved. Good professional dialogue and practice is being supported by excellent multi-agency working. This is a good foundation from which to progress but much still needs to be done and 2009/10 is likely to be a busy one. Paul Robinson
Feedback from Children and Young People's Participation at the Anti-bullying Events held in Noveber 2008In 2008, Wandsworth's Anti-bullying Strategy was published and a copy of this can be found in your school, youth club, college and online. The strategy aims to reduce the chances of bullying happening to children and young people in Wandsworth and is made up of five strands, the first of which focuses on children and young people's participation. So, to encourage the children and young people of Wandsworth to get involved, we asked you for your thoughts and feelings about bullying. The theme of Anti-bullying Week 2008 was "Celebrating diversity: being different, belonging together". To celebrate diversity, Wandsworth's Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB) held events where children and young people from primary, secondary and special schools came together to express their views about bullying. Annual Report 2007/08 & Business Plan 2008/09Please click here to access the WSCB's Annual Report & Business Plan 2008/09. Appendix 2a & 2b - WSCB Executive & Main Board Membership Flowchart of WSCB StructureSafeguarding poster campaigns and leafletsWandsworth Safeguarding Children Board has been proactive in raising awareness about safeguarding issues through a number of poster campaigns. We have produced a 'Safer Parenting Handbook', a 'Youths - handbook for young people', leaflets aimed at the general public and information cards for all staff (paid or unpaid) who work wtih children and young people. Through participation and engagement from children and young people we produced the above mentioned 'Youths' - handbook for young people, as well as using designs created by children and young people for our e-Safety poster campaign, Anti-bullying poster campaign and most recently, producing mousemats with messages/tips on how to keep safe whilst using the Internet. We have also had articles printed in local press, etc. Below are examples of the publicity and awareness raising work we have done so far. 2009200820072006Database for Activities and EventsWandsworth Borough Council have just launched a new database of activities, events and educational opportunities for young people and children taking place in and around Wandsworth on their website. You can search the database by category or even find activities on the dates which you're interested in. Go to www.wandsworth.gov.uk/activities for more information Archived articles and informatione-Safety Strategy - safeguarding children and young people in the digital world & Mousemat competitionThe WSCB is pleased to confirm that an e-Safety Strategy for borough-wide use has been developed and approved by the WSCB on 5th February 2009. Local guidelines has also being developed to assist all settings in safeguarding children and young people effectively in the digital world. Hard copies of the e-Safety Strategy will be produced and distributed borough-wide in the near future. A 'Keeping safe online' mousemat competition took place, inviting all children and young people aged 5-18 years old, to submit a design for a mousemat that tells their friends how to keep and be safe whilst using the Internet, digital and mobile technology. There were two categories: one for the age group 5-11 and the other for age group 12-18. We received an overwhelming response, which we were delighted with. All the entries were very creative and it was hard to choose a winner for each category. After much consideration and keeping the key focus on the 'keeping safe online' message, we choose one winner for each of the categories, which we felt gave a very clear message of things to consider when a child or young person is online and therefore how to keep themselves safe whilst using the Internet. Two runners-up were also selected for each category. The winners and runners-up for the two categories were:
The prizegiving was held at Wandsworth Town Hall on 11th December 2008. All the prize winners and their families were invited to attend. The prizes were handed out to the winners and runners up by Councillor Tracey, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People's Services and Paul Robinson, Chair of WSCB. Many photos were taken, which can be viewed below. Both winning designs have now been produced and are being distributed to all schools, youth clubs, libraries, ICT suites, etc. across the borough. The prizegiving event was combined with a presentation to say thank you to another group of young people and their families who participated and contributed to Wandsworth's Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) and Parenting Strategy. Again, a big thank you and congratulations to all 6 prize winners for their participation in the competition and sharing their views through their designs with other children and young people on how to keep themselves safe online. Anti-Bullying Week 2008 - Children and Young People Consultation Events - 19th & 21st November 2008There were two events for children and young people held during Anti-Bullying week. One event for secondary aged pupils held on 19th November and one for primary aged pupils held on the 21st November. The events included a specially commissioned piece of drama performed by young people from a local drama group, High Star Production Company, on the theme of bullying. The rest of the half day session was a carousel of workshops designed to encourage discussion around various aspects of the strategy and to gather children and young people's views about anything that was missing and how to implement most effectively the key areas of the strategy. Themes of the workshops were:
It was a very successful event, with positive feedback from both children and young people who attended, as well as their teachers. The children and young people engaged positively in all the various workshops (see photos of events below). One of the Primary Schools that attended, Hotham Primary, delivered a similar style event within their school following this event, which was largely facilitated by the young people who attended the event on the 19th November. To view some of the photos were taken at both events, please click on the links below. 19th November 2008 - Event for Secondary Schools 21st November 2008 - Event for Primary Schools 'Youths' - a handbook for young people'Youths' is a handbook to help you make the right decision for yourself. It doesn't have all the answers and doesn't tell you what to do, but it's got straightforward advice to help you through many situations young people have to deal with every day. This handbook will guide you through dealing with tough situations and tricky decisions, but remember some of it's new territory for the adults too! In each section and at the end of the handbook there is a list of local organisations that can offer advice and support to you. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation, development and creation of this handbook. In particular we'd like to thank all the young people gave their views and comments and helped in creating 'the look' and design of the front page. Without all your input, the creation of this handbook would not have been possible. Many thanks! 'Youths' - a handbook for young people Top of page Safer Parenting HandbookThis handbook has been produced by the WSCB, in consultation with parents and carers living in the borough. It contains a range of useful advice and information for parents and carers. We hope that this handbook will give you some information and ideas to help you find ways through what can seem like a maze of issues and advice. We hope you find this helpful and worth keeping for future reference. Anti-bullying StrategyWandsworth Safeguarding Children Board is pleased to announce that we launched our multi-agency approved Anti-bullying Strategy for the borough of Wandsworth at the Anit-Bullying Event on Friday 1st February 2008. Please click here to view our Anti-bullying Strategy. If you wish to receive a copy of the Strategy, please email us at wscb@wscb.org.uk or contact WSCB by post to c/o Welbeck House, 43-51 Wandsworth High Street, London, SW18 2PU or call us on 020 8871 8610 to request a copy.
Annual Review Report - September 2007The Chair of the Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board, who is also the Chief Executive and Director of Administration of the Council, completed his annual review report on the progress on safeguarding children and young people in Wandsworth and the work of the Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board. |
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