BSCP Learning Repository

As a continuing theme for BSCP focussing on safeguarding Children Out of Sight , this webinar seeks to support contemporary knowledge and understanding of Elective Home Education, Children Missing Education and how this sits under forthcoming new legislation. Slides can be found here or a summary below:

View the Barnet Education and Services video here: Elective Home Education and Children Missing Education video

View the PowerPoint here: Elective Home Education Children Out of Sight PowerPoint

Meeting notes:

• Introduction to Children Missing Education: Tony introduced the topic of children missing education and handed over to Lauren, who is the manager of the elective Home education team for Barnet. Lauren explained the difference between home tuition and home education and the responsibilities of parents who choose to home educate their children.
  • Introduction: Tony introduced the topic of children missing education, emphasizing the importance of addressing this issue due to the significant public discourse surrounding it. He then handed over to Lauren, the manager of the elective Home education team for Barnet, to provide detailed insights.
  • Home Education: Lauren explained that elective home education (EHE) is a parental choice to opt out of the formal education system and take full responsibility for their child's education. She clarified that home tuition is different from home education, as the latter involves no alternative provision from the borough.
  • Parental Responsibilities: Lauren highlighted that parents who choose to home educate must accept complete responsibility for their child's education, including any associated costs. This decision can be made from birth or due to other reasons such as bullying, disaffection from school, or not getting the school of choice.

• Elective Home Education (EHE): Lauren discussed the reasons parents might choose to home educate their children, the lack of legal obligation to notify authorities, and the importance of building effective relationships with EHE families. She highlighted the development of a family-friendly website and communal spaces to support EHE families.
  • Reasons for EHE: Lauren outlined various reasons parents might choose to home educate, including lifestyle choices, bullying, disaffection from school, or not getting the preferred school. She emphasized that parents are not legally obliged to notify authorities if they decide to home educate from birth.
  • Building Relationships: Lauren stressed the importance of building effective relationships with EHE families to ensure children receive a suitable education. She mentioned the development of a family-friendly website designed to be inviting and supportive, encouraging parents to engage with the local authority.
  • Support Initiatives: Lauren described initiatives such as communal spaces and coffee mornings that do not require registration, which have been successful in building trust with EHE families. These initiatives aim to provide the same opportunities to EHE children as those in mainstream schools.

• Safeguarding EHE Children: Lauren explained the measures taken to safeguard EHE children, including a 10-day grace period for schools to keep children on roll, background checks, and building relationships with EHE families. She emphasized the importance of collaboration with schools and other professionals.
  • 10-Day Grace Period: Lauren explained that schools in Barnet have agreed to keep children on roll for up to 10 days after parents decide to home educate. This grace period allows the local authority to assess whether home education is suitable and to check for any safeguarding concerns.
  • Background Checks: Lauren mentioned that background checks are conducted at the point of registration and monthly thereafter to identify any significant changes in the child's circumstances. This helps ensure the child's education and well-being are continuously monitored.
  • Professional Collaboration: Lauren emphasized the importance of collaboration with schools and other professionals to safeguard EHE children. Effective communication and information sharing are crucial in identifying and addressing any potential risks to the child's education and safety.

• Current EHE Statistics: Lauren provided current statistics on EHE children in Barnet, including the number of registered EHE children, those with EHCPs, and those known to early help. She also mentioned the number of young carers among EHE children.
  • Statistics Overview: Lauren provided an overview of the current statistics for EHE children in Barnet, noting that there are 447 registered EHE children. She highlighted that this number is likely lower than the actual number of EHE children in the borough.
  • EHCPs and Early Help: Lauren mentioned that 27 EHE children have Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs), and 70 children are known to early help services. These figures include both primary and secondary school-aged children.
  • Young Carers: Lauren noted that there are currently two young carers among the EHE children in Barnet. This information helps in understanding the diverse needs and circumstances of the EHE community.

• Children Missing in Education (CME): Lauren explained the difference between CME and CMS, the reasons children might be missing in education, and the measures taken to safeguard CME children. She highlighted the reliance on other professionals to identify and track CME children.
  • CME vs. CMS: Lauren clarified the difference between Children Missing in Education (CME) and Children Missing from School (CMS). CME refers to children not registered at any school or educational establishment, while CMS refers to children who are on a school roll but not attending.
  • Reasons for CME: Lauren outlined several reasons why children might be missing in education, including families moving between boroughs without registering their children, children coming from abroad, and cases where home education is deemed unsuitable.
  • Safeguarding Measures: Lauren described the measures taken to safeguard CME children, such as relying on other professionals to notify the local authority about unregistered children and tracking children who move between boroughs. The goal is to ensure every child has access to education.

• Children's Well-being and Schools Bill: Lauren discussed the upcoming Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill, which will require all local authorities to maintain a register of children not in school. She explained the implications for EHE families, including mandatory registration and the need for written consent for children on child protection plans or with EHCPs.
  • Bill Overview: Lauren discussed the Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill, which mandates that all local authorities maintain a register of children not in school. This bill aims to ensure that all children, including those being home educated, are accounted for and receiving a suitable education.
  • Mandatory Registration: Lauren explained that under the new bill, parents will be required to register their children if they are being home educated. This mandatory registration will help local authorities keep track of the number of home-educated children and ensure their education is monitored.
  • Written Consent: Lauren highlighted that the bill will require parents of children on child protection plans or with EHCPs to obtain written consent from the local authority to home educate. This measure aims to safeguard vulnerable children and ensure their educational needs are met.
• Challenges and Concerns: Tony and Lauren addressed questions and concerns from participants, including the lack of mandatory notification for EHE, the role of GPs in providing sick notes for children, and the enforcement of the upcoming bill. They emphasized the importance of collaboration and communication among professionals.
  • Mandatory Notification: Lauren addressed concerns about the lack of mandatory notification for EHE, explaining that the choice to home educate has always favoured parental rights. She noted that efforts to make registration mandatory have been consistently opposed in the House of Lords.
  • GP Sick Notes: Lauren and Prashant discussed the role of GPs in providing sick notes for children. They emphasized that sick notes should not be used to avoid school and that there should be a clear plan for the child's education during any period of absence.
  • Bill Enforcement: Lauren explained that the enforcement of the upcoming Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill is still being discussed. She mentioned that the local authority is working on developing processes to ensure compliance and safeguard children effectively.

• Conclusion and Future Plans: Tony concluded the meeting by highlighting the importance of addressing children missing education as part of the safeguarding children’s partnership. He thanked Lauren for her comprehensive presentation and encouraged participants to reach out with any further questions.
  • Conclusion: Tony concluded the meeting by emphasizing the importance of addressing the issue of children missing education within the safeguarding children’s partnership. He highlighted the need for continued focus and collaboration among professionals to support vulnerable children.
  • Future Plans: Tony mentioned that the partnership will continue to work on this issue from April onwards, with a focus on children missing education and the implications of the upcoming legislation. He encouraged participants to stay informed and engaged with the ongoing efforts.

As part of our season of learning on Children Out of Sight of services the Partnership came together on 6^th November 24 to hear from colleagues from Private Fostering and Special Guardianship teams, in order to hear more about how we can support these children

A child who is cared for by someone who is not a close relative for more than 28 days is living in a private fostering arrangement. All local authorities have a responsibility to raise awareness of private fostering in their area.

This webinar also supports the wider aims of the safeguarding partnership to raise awareness of Children Out of Sight – more which can be found within our Business Plan for 24/25 here.

The slides from the webinar can be found here, which also holds relevant contact information.

BSCP has recently delivered webinars in September 2024 to over 200 multi agency professionals upon raising a better understanding of how to support young people who are neurodivergent and questioning their gender identity. These sessions were not designed as ‘training’, but were produced in response to demand from the multi agency workforce to develop confidence in working with young people who may be experiencing these issues. Our focus is, and always will be, on securing good outcomes for children and young people and to hold their welfare and wellbeing in mind.

The slides can be found here Gender Identity Webinar

A wider toolkit can be found here

In July 2024 BSCP welcomed Jennie Fisher , the DfE Regional Prevent Co-Ordinator for London , Counter-Extremism Division, to deliver a greatly appreciated webinar exploring contemporary knowledge and insights upon harm posed to children online through gaming and chat forums.

Following the webinars,  Jennie supplied a number approved online tools, resources, research and information to upskill multi agency practitioners’ knowledge upon what these potential harms are and how to keep children safe and respond appropriately to these harms.

These have been broken down below into the areas of: Incels / ‘The Chans’ / Misc Platforms / Conspiracy Theories / Gaming  for review. 

Going Too Far? (lgfl.org.uk)

Incels:

Incels: A Guide to Symbols and Terminology - Moonshot CVE

Man accused in Toronto van attack admits frustration with society, discusses Incel community - YouTube

Predicting harm among incels (involuntary celibates) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Hiding in Plain Sight: How the ‘Newgen’ Misogynistic Incel Content Creators Escape Moderation on TikTok – GNET (gnet-research.org)

‘The Chans’

Chan Culture and Violent Extremism

‘Shut the Site Down,’ Says the Creator of 8chan, a Megaphone for Gunmen - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Mining the Chans – Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (crestresearch.ac.uk)

/K/ And The Visual Culture Of Weapons Boards – Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (radicalrightanalysis.com)

Memetic Irony and the Promotion of Violence within Chan Cultures (crestresearch.ac.uk)

Endchan: narratives of the Chanosphere – Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (radicalrightanalysis.com)

‘RedPilled AI’: A New Weapon for Online Radicalisation on 4chan – GNET (gnet-research.org)

Misc platforms

The Hate Matrix of Online Gaming

Hate on TikTok

Extremist Experimentation with Text Based Messaging – the follow up report is Extremist Migration to text based messaging

Bitchute – Platforming Hate and Terror

Terrorgram (Telegram) Report

White Supremacist Activity on Telegram

Radicalisation in the digital era: The use of the internet in 15 cases of terrorism and extremism (rand.org)

The Influence of Memes on Far-Right Radicalisation – Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (radicalrightanalysis.com)

Conspiracy Theories:

Conspiracy Narratives

QAnon in the UK

The Making of QAnon: A Crowdsourced Conspiracy - bellingcat

From ShamiWitness to QMap: The Movement of ‘One’ in Online Radicalisation – GNET (gnet-research.org)

Conspiracy Theories, Radicalisation and Digital Media – GNET (gnet-research.org)

Gaming

Gamers Who Hate: An Introduction to ISD’s Gaming and Extremism Series - ISD (isdglobal.org)

Gaming the System: The Use of Gaming-Adjacent Communication, Game and Mod Platforms by Extremist Actors – GNET (gnet-research.org)

Grooming for Violence: Similarities Between Radicalisation and Grooming Processes in Gaming Spaces – GNET (gnet-research.org)

Extremist Action in Digital Gaming Spaces: The Role of Identity Fusion – GNET (gnet-research.org)

• A local CSPR report entitled ‘Child Marcus’ and is an independent review into harm experienced by ‘Marcus’, a child who resided in Barnet. Marcus is now safe and well in the care of the local authority. Marcus was not ‘seen’ by multi agency professionals as being at risk over the course of sporadic engagements with postnatal health services.
• The review also highlights examples of strong and committed multi-agency safeguarding practice. The recommendations detailed in the review have been accepted in full by BSCP and action will continually be taken, both locally and nationally, to drive these recommendations forward through our action plan.
• Thanks is given to Marcus’s mother and multi-agency professionals for their involvement in the development of this report. A summary review of learning can be found here.
• We are pleased to report that over 100 multi agency professional attended a series of learning webinars featuring key aspects of practice learning found in this review. A video of the webinar can be found here https://vimeo.com/975116622?share=copy

The Partnership came together over a series of webinars to explore key themes emanating from the national panel's safeguarding report. Over 100 multi-agency partners joined us to review them. Please find the slides below

/assets/1/np_24.pptx

Over Summer 2023 BSCP delivered webinars designed to raise awareness of the updated Continuum of Help & Support . A webinar can be found below which will help develop your understanding of the levels of need children and families experience and the help & support they can expect to receive: 

https://vimeo.com/861148723?share=copy

https://youtu.be/HUlxdaomxp4

There were several drivers for these protocols: National review Star & Arthur , CSPR panel publication on bruising in non -mobile infants following publication of a CSPR Child L

Child L local CSPR featured a small child presenting to hospital with 36 bruises. These were deemed non-accidental. He was known to multi agency services. Core recommendations featured on the need to review multi agency bruising protocols.

The aim of these protocols therefore is to provide frontline health and other professionals with a knowledge base and action strategy for the assessment, management and referral of mobile and non-mobile children and young people under the age 18, who present with bruising or unexplained injury.  

https://youtu.be/pQV1-BUc-_I

https://youtu.be/G675qCqlVKY

https://youtu.be/aU7DFc1A7GQ

The webinar shares learning in relation to, two separate Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews known as CSPR Family H and CSPR Family J . Both reviews include important safeguarding issues learnt related to Elective Home Education, sexual abuse, bereavement, neglect, domestic violence, coercive control, neglect and physical chastisement. 

• Sharing learning from Rapid Reviews (which are prior to a more wide ranging CSPR) where we will explore themes such physical abuse, multi-agency working, information sharing and fixed thinking within practice.

The webinar slides from this session are available below: 

Click below the to access the CAFCASS Slides - If you would more information relating to understanding the role of Cafcass - please contact us via email Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership - BSCP <BSCP@Barnet.gov.uk> and we will support you to access this information.

The role of Cafcass in private law proceedings

BSCP has recently conducted a multi-agency audit upon referrals to the MASH following a period of concerted increase in safeguarding referrals as we came out of the winter 2020/21 lockdown. We wished to ascertain the thresholds of the referrals, the quality of them and key causal factors underlying them . A large sample of cases were audited and findings and areas for further improvement are outlined with the 5 minute briefing document . The Learning and Thematic Review Group will further afford challenge and scrutiny as to the embedding of learning in practice. Click the image below for more information - see more.