The CHSCP understands the fundamental importance of schools and colleges being central to safeguarding arrangements that are both strong and effective.  Whilst not a ‘fourth safeguarding partner’, the relevance of the sector is fully recognised.  To ensure that safeguarding partners routinely take account of the role and influence of schools and colleges , the Director of Education at Hackney Council is a member of the CHSCP’s Strategic Leadership Team.

The City of London Education and Learning service spans two teams within the Department for Community and Children’s Services (DCCS). All matters concerning children of school age, primary and secondary, are managed by the Education and Early Years Service. The Adult Skills and Education Service administers the Apprenticeship Programme as well as the adult learning courses.

Dedicated Ward Officers from the City of London Police provide a range of support services to schools within their local area.  They undertake site visits to manage local policing expectations, gain feedback/intelligence, discuss priorities with students and staff, and seek to address any issues as they arise.  Two officers have also been assigned on a long-term basis to improve engagement with schools and young people.  Work is ongoing to develop a package that enhances the PHSE curriculum in schools and there is routine training & support provided to the City of London Police Cadets.  The PPU continues to work closely on an operational level.  This has included providing inputs to school staff specifically around managing disclosures from children in respect of sexual abuse.

Working with other organisations, the City of London Police can help schools and colleges protect vulnerable people from being exploited by extremists through Prevent.  The role of the City’s Prevent Officers is to help people vulnerable to radicalisation move away from extremism.

Hackney Education provides a range of statutory and traded services to support the education of children, young people and their families in the borough. It is part of the Children and Education directorate within the Council and works closely with all types of schools and settings.  A dedicated Wellbeing and Education Safeguarding Team offers a broad package of support covering training, policy development and improvement activity.

Safer Schools’ Officers deployed within the Central East Basic Command Unit currently support 17 priority secondary schools, 10 alternative provisions, two colleges and two ‘special/SEN’ schools in Hackney.  Seven other secondary school settings are also supported as and when needed.  Out of the 64 Primary Schools and two independent primary schools, there is active engagement by the police with 55 of these.  There is a team of one Sergeant and 13 Constables focussed solely on schools in Hackney.

Hackney’s Prevent Team has a high profile responsibility for supporting schools and colleges across all key stages.  This helps teachers and school staff meet the Prevent Duty and deliver activity to increase the resilience of young people to radicalisation.  A dedicated Prevent Education Officer (PEO) supports educational settings to build resilience to messages of violent extremism through training and guidance. The PEO  develops, facilitates and evaluates central and school-based training for teachers and other school staff, parents, and governors, in particular through WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent) and bespoke projects. Schools and colleges are further supported in developing and managing local Prevent action plans, compliance with statutory duties and keeping up to date with changes to any guidance. 

To help schools and colleges provide timely and effective support to their pupils, the CHSCP has endorsed the roll our of Operation Encompass.  This initiative ensures that there is a simple telephone call or notification to a trained Designated Safeguarding Lead prior to the start of the next school / college day after an incident of police attended domestic abuse where there are children related to either of the adult parties involved.   Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.

Supported by a dedicated CHSCP Strategy, sub-groups in both the City of London and Hackney drive a range of activity aimed at making adolescents safer.  The engagement of schools and colleges in this work is key and links to topics such as exploitation, children missing education and how the safeguarding system can better protect young people at risk of extra-familial harm.

Commissioned by the both the City of London and Hackney, the School Nursing Service provides school-based health services to children and young people attending state-maintained schools from reception to leaving school in the area.  The service provides a prioritised, safeguarding school health offer to Children in Need, children on Child Protection Plans, and any children identified as ‘vulnerable’ who are of school age and living in City and Hackney. They work closely with other professions, including schools and colleges, to ensure that children are kept safe.

The Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools (WAMHS) project is an initiative led by the CAMHS Alliance with the support of the Children and Young People’s Integrated Commissioning work stream in the City & Hackney.  This innovative service aims to improve mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people in schools, colleges, specialist and alternative provision education settings in City & Hackney.

Available to schools and colleges in the City of London and Hackney, Young Hackney provide a range of specialist support services.  As an integrated Early Help and Prevention Service for children and young people aged 6-19 (up to 25 with SEND), Young Hackney offers universal youth, play, sports and participation opportunities, individual and family support, drop-ins, targeted group work/ whole class/ year group/ assemblies and drop down days, specialist crime prevention, substance misuse, young carers and detached outreach services.  All mainstream secondary schools and New Regents College have a linked Young Hackney Unit to facilitate ease of contact and support.  Primary schools can receive a bespoke offer of support upon request. PSHE & RSE sessions are also delivered to school and college pupils by YH’s Health and Wellbeing Team

Multi-agency training provided by the CHSCP is available for all school and college staff working in the City of London and Hackney.  These learning opportunities are designed to meet the diverse needs of staff at different levels – within the wide range of organisations that work with children or adult family members. They address generic skills around the recognition and response to risk and need, focussing on areas of practice prioritised by the CHSCP at any given time. Learning from local and national case reviews is always fully integrated in course material.  Attendance at our courses will help you to network with people from different agencies, which can only help the effectiveness of our partnership working.

A new app which offers vital safeguarding information for teachers, school staff and other safeguarding professionals is available in the City of London and Hackney.  The Safer Schools App provides support on topics including online bullying, mental health, sexting, media literacy, gaming and sexual exploitation online.  It costs nothing to download and provides access to advice, guidance and CPD accredited training, with a specific focus on making children and young people safer in the online world.  Specific versions are available for the City of London and Hackney.

A CHSCP App on Private Fostering is available to help school and college staff better understand this important safeguarding issue.  Easy to access & simple to understand, the Private Fostering App is the go-to guide that fits right in your pocket.