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Safeguarding and support for pupils

 
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NAHT members are at the forefront of safeguarding children. School leaders are committed to keeping children safe, so they can learn well. NAHT believes that all pupils should receive the support they need to maintain their well-being and achieve their potential, both within school and from wider services including health and social care.

NAHT is campaigning to:

Enable schools to play their part in supporting pupils' well-being

  • Lobby for pupils and schools to get the support they need from wider services including health, social care, police and youth services
  • Influence the implementation of the proposals from the mental health green paper, including the senior lead for mental health and mental health support teams
  • Support schools to access relevant, high-quality training and resources to enable pupils to exercise their right to support for their mental well-being.

 

Support schools to safeguard and protect pupils

  • Engage with the DfE over proposed changes to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Influence changes to Keeping Children Safe In Education, Working Together and Sexual Violence and harassment guidance
  • Campaign to improve online safety for children and young people
  • Press the government to ensure home educated children are adequately safeguarded
  • Promote guidance and resources to support schools to protect children at risk of harm including involvement with violence and other crime.

 

Enable schools to support vulnerable groups of pupils

  • Campaign to ensure pupils with SEND can receive the support they need from schools and wider services
  • Press for improved alternative provision and collaborative approaches across communities to support pupils excluded from school
  • Provide information to schools to help them to support disadvantaged children
  • Enable schools to make informed decisions regarding parental requests to home educate
  • Ensure reforms to behaviour guidance and networks is evidence-based and appropriate for all schools and a diverse pupil population. 
 

UK Trauma Council: supporting children and young people who have experienced trauma

The UK Trauma Council (UKTC) is a new and independent expert body able to speak with authority and experience on the impact of traumatic events on children and how best to help them. The UKTC is hosted and supported by the Anna Freud Centre.

The UKTC brings together 22 leading experts in research, policy and practice from all four nations of the UK, making it a unique multidisciplinary group that will drive positive change in the care and support provided to children and young people who have been exposed to different forms of traumatic event – including single incidents, as well as abuse and neglect.

By developing accessible and evidence-based resources and guidance, the UKTC will build the capacity of communities to better support children and young people who have experienced trauma.

The UK Trauma Council launches with:

  • ‘Childhood Trauma and the Brain’ – an accessible and evidence-based portfolio of resources translating the latest neuroscience research, including an animation and additional resources.
  • ‘Beyond the Pandemic: Strategic priorities for responding to childhood trauma’ – a policy briefing on coronavirus and its implications for children and young people.
  • Coronavirus resources – including why childhood trauma in the past can influence a child’s response to the pandemic, as well as signs and symptoms of trauma in young people.
  • Research Practice Focus – a video on why some bereavements are more difficult for children and young people, and what can help.

Visit the UK Trauma Council website, www.uktraumacouncil.org, to view resources and find out more. 

First published 18 September 2020

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