Schools play a vital role in safeguarding children and young people, yet there has been little research into how schools identify and respond to child protection concerns, and their engagement with local authority children’s services.
This book highlights the findings of a major ESRC-funded study on the child protection role played by schools, their decision-making processes and involvement in inter-agency working. Crucial reading for academics, practitioners and managers in children’s social care and education, it evaluates the impact of recent policy developments, including the Academies and Free Schools programme, as well as the restructuring of local authority children’s services.
Table of Content
Introduction
1. Making sense of schools’ engagement in multi-agency working in the changed educational landscape
Part 1: The national picture
2. A historical perspective: the evolving role of schools in child protection and safeguarding
Reflections from Susannah Wright, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies, School of Education, Oxford Brookes University
3. Contemporary challenges: views from local authorities and ‘the field’
Reflections from Anne Edwards, Professor Emerita, Department of Education, University of Oxford
Part 2: Schools’ perspectives
4. How schools are responding to safeguarding and the challenges they face
5. Meeting the threshold: referral to children’s social care services
6. Beneath the threshold: ‘early help’ and schools’ support for children and families
Reflections from Alun Rees, Alun Rees Learning Limited and Consultant to the Rees Centre for the Study of Fostering and Education, University of Oxford
Part 3: Concluding thoughts
7. Schools and safeguarding: aligning expectations with reality
About the author
Carl Purcell is a Research Associate in the Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit within the Policy Institute at King’s College London.