Child Protection - Natasha Winnard Consultancy

We all need to commit to playing our part to keep our internationally mobile children safe. This page provides ways to support and guide parents to achieve this.

Educational services are being offered by people who often have very good intentions to support and guide young people but lack professional qualifications, experience and or child protection training.

Our globally mobile children may also miss valuable school-based safeguarding learning because they have transitioned between schools at a crucial time in this learning.

Many of our children will also transition between cultures that may have very different cultural norms in terms of ways to behave, which is an added challenge for our children, and us as parents, to navigate.

Finally, it is often the case that our extended family and friend networks help us, as parents, to identify if our children are at risk. However, many of us, especially if we are moving frequently, do not have these support networks in place.

ACCESS SAFE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
When accessing educational services keep in mind the following:

1) What professional training and or experience does this person have?

2) Can this person provide me with a referee with whom I can talk to get a verbal reference?

3) Is this person accredited by a professional organisation, if applicable to their area of expertise?

4) Does this person have current safeguarding training to work safely with young people?

EDUCATE YOURSELF
Learn ways to keep your children safe. Start with the Useful Resources section below.

KEEP A RECORD
Keep a record of your child/children’s safeguarding learning, as you would their medical records.

REGULAR CHECK INS
Regularly check in with your child/children to reinforce their safeguarding learning.

ACCESS SAFE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
When accessing educational services keep in mind the following:

1) What professional training and or experience does this person have?

2) Can this person provide me with a referee with whom I can talk to get a verbal reference?

3) Is this person accredited by a professional organisation, if applicable to their area of expertise?

4) Does this person have current safeguarding training to work safely with young people?

EDUCATE YOURSELF
Learn ways to keep your children safe. Start with the Useful Resources section below.

KEEP A RECORD
Keep a record of your child/children’s safeguarding learning, as you would their medical records.

REGULAR CHECK INS
Regularly check in with your child/children to reinforce their safeguarding learning.

I am committed to supporting young people grow up to be safe, confident and informed with the skills to deal with unsafe situations.

All my online sessions with young people abide by, and model, safeguarding measures. I commit to new safeguarding learning every six months.

All online services that I recommend to mobile families are either known professionally by myself or are offered by individuals and or organisations who have professional qualifications and experience, are accredited by professional organisations and or have safeguarding measures in place and have current safeguarding training.

I am committed to raising awareness of safeguarding resources to internationally mobile families.

I offer a safeguarding unit as part of the bespoke transition to college/university course service offered to students.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the rights that must be realized for children to develop their full potential. The Convention firmly sets the focus on the whole child. The Convention recognized the fundamental human dignity of all children and the urgency of ensuring their well-being and development.

According to the World Health Organization, child abuse constitutes “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.”

Physical abuse may involve hitting, punching, shaking, throwing, poisoning, biting, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing intentional physical harm to a child.

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child so as to cause severe and adverse effects on a child’s emotional development. It may involve: conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved; that they are inadequate or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person; age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children; causing children frequently to feel frightened; or the exploitation or corruption of children. This may occur face-to-face or in the case of online cyber bullying. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it may also occur alone.

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (i.e. rape) or non-penetrative actives. This may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in the production or viewing of pornographic material or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical, physiological and medical needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development, such as, failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing; neglect of, or failure to respond to, a child’s basic emotional and medical needs.

The National Society on the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) states that “Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.” The NSPCC is the UK’s leading children’s charity, preventing abuse and helping those affected to recover.

A list of some resources to help parents/carers to keep their children safe. If you would like to access more parent resources please contact me. I will be happy to help!

UN Child Rights Convention

International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

Online Learning Educare

Online Learning Child Safeguarding

Committee for Children Resources

The Underwear Rule

Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept

— Natasha Winnard