Receive Listen to what is being said, without displaying shock or disbelief Accept what is said and take it seriously Make a note of what has been said as soon as practicable Reassure Reassure the pupil, but only so far as is honest and reliable make promises you may not be able to keep e.g. Don’t ‘I’ll stay with or will be or keep this you’ ‘everything alright now’ ‘I’ll confidential’ Do reassure e.g. you could am glad you came to am sorry this say: ‘I believe you’, ‘I me’, ‘I has are going to do something together to happened’, ‘We get help’ Respond Respond to the pupil only as far as is necessary for you to establish whether or not you need to refer this matter, but do not interrogate for full details Do not your or ask ‘leading’ questions i.e. ‘did he touch private parts?’ ‘did she hurt you?’ Such questions may invalidate your evidence (and the in any later prosecution in child’s) court Do not criticise the alleged perpetrator; the pupil may care about him/her, and reconciliation may be possible Do not ask the pupil to repeat it all for another member of staff. Explain what you have to do next and whom you have to talk to. Reassure the pupil that it will be a senior member of staff Report Share concerns with the designated safeguarding lead as soon as possible If you are not able to contact your designated safeguarding lead, and the child is at risk of immediate harm, contact the services department directly children’s If you are dissatisfied with the level of response you receive following your concerns, you should press for re-consideration. Record If possible make some very brief notes at the time, and write them up as soon as possible Keep your original notes on file Record the date, time, and noticeable nonverbal behaviour, and the place, person’s present words used by the child. If the child uses sexual record the actual words used, ‘pet’ words, rather than translating them into words ‘proper’ Complete a body map to indicate the position of any noticeable bruising Record facts and observable things, rather than your or ‘interpretations’ ‘assumptions’ Remember Support the child: listen, reassure, and be available
Receive Listen to what is being said, without displaying shock or disbelief Accept what is said and take it seriously Make a note of what has been said as soon as practicable Reassure Reassure the pupil, but only so far as is honest and reliable Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep e.g. ‘I’ll stay with you’ or ‘everything will be alright now’ or ‘I’ll keep this confidential’ Do reassure e.g. you could say: ‘I believe you’, ‘I am glad you came to me’, ‘I am sorry this has happened’, ‘We are going to do something together to get help’ Respond Respond to the pupil only as far as is necessary for you to establish whether or not you need to refer this matter, but do not interrogate for full details Do not ask ‘leading’ questions i.e. ‘did he touch your private parts?’ or ‘did she hurt you?’ Such questions may invalidate your evidence (and the child’s) in any later prosecution in court Do not criticise the alleged perpetrator; the pupil may care about him/her, and reconciliation may be possible Do not ask the pupil to repeat it all for another member of staff. Explain what you have to do next and whom you have to talk to. Reassure the pupil that it will be a senior member of staff Report Share concerns with the designated safeguarding lead as soon as possible If you are not able to contact your designated safeguarding lead, and the child is at risk of immediate harm, contact the children’s services department directly If you are dissatisfied with the level of response you receive following your concerns, you should press for re-consideration. Record If possible make some very brief notes at the time, and write them up as soon as possible Keep your original notes on file Record the date, time, place, person’s present and noticeable nonverbal behaviour, and the words used by the child. If the child uses sexual ‘pet’ words, record the actual words used, rather than translating them into ‘proper’ words Complete a body map to indicate the position of any noticeable bruising Record facts and observable things, rather than your ‘interpretations’ or ‘assumptions’ Remember Support the child: listen, reassure, and be available
example_child_protection_policy_procedures_and_guidance_apfinal_version_.docx