Learning Together to Safeguard the City fortnight which is a new way of talking about how we all work together to keep people safe and well. It is delivered in partnership between the Safeguarding Adults Board, the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the Safe in the City Partnership Board, as well as Brighton & Hove City Council, other statutory partners including Sussex Police and Health, and a range of charities and community groups.
Today’s events
Children & Young People who Display Harmful Sexual Behaviours, 10am, The Bridge Community Education Centre – Fully Booked
There are a range of learning events taking place this fortnight and you can View the full programme of events or visit Eventbrite to register for a free place. This runs alongside the 16 Days of Action for the Elimination of Violence against Women campaign and you can find out more about the events for this here.
Through out this fortnight we will be posting a series of Everybody’s Repsonsibility Blogs where key figures in the city will talk about what Safeguarding means to them. Today we speak to Sam Beal, Partnership Adviser: Health and Wellbeing for Brighton & Hove City Council about the role PSHE education plays in Safeguarding.
What part does safeguarding play within your role?
My role involves supporting and challenging educational settings to improve teaching and learning in PSHE education. In and through PSHE education we aim to teach the skills children and young people need to keep safe including how to to assess and manage risk and to get help. This means that good PSHE helps to keep children safe in the here and now, encourages them to safely seek help if they need it and finally and most importantly helps to prevent safeguarding issues in the future by ensuring that children and young people know what makes a healthy relationship, know what consent is and how to give and receive consent and the importance of standing up for others. Within PSHE education we tackle, in age appropriate ways issues such as safe touch, safety in the community, female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse. We are particularly proud of a recent resource developed with our partners Safety Net called Feeling Good, Feeling Safe that takes a protective behaviours approach to teaching and learning about safety.
There is some great work going on in Brighton & Hove schools and other settings, but we know there is more we need to do to ensure teachers are effectively supported and well-trained to deliver this sensitive area of the curriculum.
My role also contributes to safeguarding children and young people from bullying and prejudice and supporting the creation of safe learning environments.
What does safeguarding mean to you?
Supporting children and young people to be safe and happy and therefore able to learn and thrive is the most important thing we can do. Safeguarding needs to be a partnership and we need to be prepared to have difficult and sensitive conversations to ensure that the child’s wellbeing is put at the centre.
What will you be taking away from Safeguarding the City fortnight?
Improved knowledge and understanding from the sessions I am attending.
Help us spread the message that Safeguarding is Everyone’s Responsibility on Social Media during the Learning Together fortnight from 26 November – 10 December by downloading our Safeguarding is… or Everyones Responsibility signs and post a selfie under #EveryonesResponsibility or support us by sharing this tweet:
Has needs met within universal provision. May need limited intervention within the setting to avoid needs arising.
Has additional needs identified within the setting that can be met within identified resources through a single agency response and partnership working.
Has multiple needs requiring a multi-agency coordinated response.
Has a high level of unmet & complex needs, or is in need of protection.