This is the mantra over student safeguarding that a former Principal colleague of mine used to intone with monotonous regularity to the staff of his college. These seven words emphasise a brutal reality that so many professionals duck until it is way too late, and some child or student has been abused or worse. In my experience of over 60 years of working with children and young people abuse doesn’t always come over the hill in one big avalanche. It rather appears in little snippets where colleagues, public servants feel uneasy about some of the things they see, hear or come up in casual conversation. It is these little snippets, and of course the big picture issues, which those charged with child and young people safety must listen to and act upon.
The Robert Owen Society has, through our website, been trying to contribute positively to the ongoing child and young people safety issue. We want to make sure that our young people are safe and can trust our services to look after them. Below we attach a link to a BBC report on the recent resignation of Sam Pratley, the Diocesan Secretary and Chief Executive of the Hereford Diocese, from Herefordshire Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee. We leave others to form a view but suffice it to say that we, in the Society, found this culture of denial when we ran the Robert Owen Academy. Interestingly although we raised issues with Ministers, Department of Education officials, local officers and politicians we were never aware of any follow up.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2nw8z0zx3o
The Robert Owen Society
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