9th November 2020 

NEW MEMBER RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE 

For our School Members you will be pleased to see we have updated lots of new 'train-the-trainer' resources for you to use in school. For those who have not yet accessed them you can find them in the 'specific safeguarding' folder. Each safeguarding topic contains a Poster, Quiz, Case Study, Topic Information, Further Links and a PowerPoint Presentation. This is a great way to evidence during an inspection continued safeguarding development and contextual practice.   

A few of our new safeguarding topic resources include: 

• County Lines; 
• Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII); 
• Prevent; 
• Adverse Childhood Experience's (ACE's);
• Coercive Control; 
• Signs and Symptoms of Abuse and Neglect including during COVID-19; 
• Eating Disorders; 
• Mental Wellbeing. 

If you are not currently a member and would like further information about our membership please Click Here

SAFEGUARDING ADVANCED DSL LEVEL 3 TRAINING  - 24th NOVEMBER  

Our Level 2 safeguarding training is taking place the day before on 23rd November 2020 for staff wishing to update their general safeguarding knowledge in context to COVID-19 changes to practice. BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE 

TWITTER WELLBEING FOR EDUCATORS AROUND THE WORLD

As we welcome school staff around the world back from half term we wanted to highlight the importance of staff wellbeing and the role it plays in professional resilience. We recognise for many educators Twitter is becoming an increasingly used platform so we wanted to speak with some of the experts. 

Twitter can sometimes be a toxic environment, but we have found two platforms that consistently promote positivity and are a source of support for so many. 

The Safeguarding Alliance were pleased to speak with Toria Bono, founder of #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites and Paul Garvey, founder of #teacher5oclockclub to find our more about these ever growing platforms and support networks. 

So there’s me, writing ‘Talk for Teaching’ about  three/four years ago. I like to write early morning and I just wondered if there was anyone else in education out there. Sometimes, the start of things can be as simple as that! And guess what, there were so many!! It was reassuring, in so many ways, to know I kind of wasn’t alone and that’s a cornerstone of well-being for me. People are awake for all sorts of reasons; children/dogs/running/walking/can’t sleep and also, sometimes, because they are worried  about the day ahead – working in schools can be very difficult and stressful. As well as the virtual victuals, people find real support.

I created a hashtag, the #teacher5oclockclub for people to gather around a virtual urn – just like in staff rooms – and we provide virtual tea/coffee and if you are lucky, the occasional biscuit! What we also provide and what keeps people coming back, is that there is also TLC from a host of brilliant people!

It snowballed and we often have a couple of hundred people tuning in every morning and occasionally, at the start of term, over 500 likes! We often trend in the UK, early morning, on Twitter and sometimes at number one! I know the #teacher5oclockclub has provided the germ of an idea to several other successful school support and connection networks in the UK. Wonderful to see!

If you are in education in any capacity (I couldn’t find a memorable hashtag with all the various roles!) and up, early morning (or some time, or on the other side of the world by the beach club – I’ll find our punctuality policy one day!) pop in, say ‘hello’. Or give us a like, as many do, to show you’ve been around. In addition, if you are not feeling great about the day ahead, you’ll find support and the DMs of lots of people are open at that time. I’ve truly found some totally amazingly helpful people in our little club!

Enjoy from Paul and thank you to @thesafeguarding for giving me space to say hello, myself! 

I would follow people back (as the instructions said) but other people clearly weren’t abiding by the same set of rules and I found myself wondering what was wrong with me. Why wasn’t I good enough to follow? Was I simply a number for them? Why didn’t they want to connect with me?

At this point, I should say who I am. My name is Toria and I am a primary teacher (of twenty years) and a primary Evidence Lead Educator. I have a wealth of experience from class-teacher to school leader and am always interested in learning more about my passion - education. I want to know how best to equip the children I teach, so that they can be wonderful global citizens - actively and positively contributing to the world that they live in. That, in essence is why I joined Twitter - to connect with others who could help me to learn more. It is difficult to connect though when it is one-sided! 

My father always told me that if you see a problem, then you should fix it. So, I did - I created my own hash-tag #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites. I wanted to create somewhere where people could connect with others, ask questions and feel supported. Somewhere where every voice is heard (no matter how small) and everyone is acknowledged. I wanted to create a virtual community centre for educators! In truth, I wasn’t sure what would happen - I wasn’t even sure if people would regularly turn up, but they did. Every week I put out the tweet just after midnight (GMT) and all over the world people tweet back and join in the conversations. What I love, is that people pop back in throughout the day to say hi to others on the thread and to just connect. 

In the dark days that we have had this year, where we have been isolated, in lock-down and living in a way we never have before, these connections have never been more important. I don’t know about you, but for me connecting with others helps my mental wellbeing. It makes me feel great to be part of something that is so much bigger than myself.  What I especially love about #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites is that unlike other spaces on social media it is a positive space focused on supporting each other - criticism and judgement play no part in this platform and for that I am eternally grateful.

If you haven’t discovered #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites yet, then find my pinned tweet each Tuesday and follow the instructions - I am @toriaclaire. If you are too nervous to write anything, then tweet a picture or a gif for people to connect with. Find your voice in whatever way you can so that we can connect with you. 

Where to next for #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites? I don’t know. Recently, it has grown further and authors, illustrators and publishers are joining so that they are able to connect with educators. I suppose I hope, that anyone who has anything to do with educating children will consider #TinyVoiceTuesdayUnites as a place to connect with like-minded individuals. It is most definitely the place to come to if you, like me, are passionate about transforming lives and making a difference. Together we are so much stronger and together we truly can transform the future of the world that we live in. So, let’s connect!

LAST CHANCE TO BOOK OUR ONLINE SAFETY CPD COURSE TOMORROW - £30 ONLY

This is the most up to date, relevant and available course that international and UK national teaching staff can access. 

Please use the code CYBERSMART to apply your 75% discount. 

HEADTEACHERS' STANDARDS 2020

SCOTLAND - LEGISLATIVE CHANGE

AN ARTICLE FROM ONE OUR AFFILIATE MEMBERS

THANK YOU MARCUS RASHFORD MBE

Footballer Marcus Rashford MBE has been campaigning in the United Kingdom during COVID-19 to end food poverty. This weekend Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that The government have pledged to spend more than £400m to support poor children and their families in England.

A winter grant scheme, run by councils, will provide support with food and bills, and a holiday food and activities programme aiming to improve the lives of almost 1.7 million children.

Marcus continues to inspire businesses, charities and children across the United Kingdom to support the campaign, including little 7 year old Stanley, shown in the video below.  

THE SAFEGUARDING INITIATIVE AWARD 

The Safeguarding Initiative Award has been designed to publicly recognise and highlight schools who have demonstrated exceptional safeguarding initiative during COVID-19 to keep children and young people safe. If you would like to nominate your school please click here. 

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO SEE A FULL LIST OF TRAINING 

Our face-to-face training courses include face-to-face online. Our e-learning course are self taught courses. 

This training can be contextualised to in-house practice. For a group booking Click Here.