No. 36: Structured conversations

Structured, or difficult conversations

Many in the Deputy Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Deputy DSL role will be highly skilled in having difficult conversations. Those times when as a result of our concerns, we need to ask parents difficult questions about our safeguarding concerns. These are often framed through well-established relationships where over months and years we have developed the ability to work with parents and carers to fulfil our role in keeping children safe.

In these unprecedented times, some in the DSL or Deputy role may find themselves needing to have such conversations or for some, the first time and therefore this one minute guide is taken from the excellent practice of most to support the few. The guidance below is to offer some structure in contacting families should concerns be known and to use as a means by which to ‘frame’ some of our need to contact families, many of which are themselves are likely to be under significant pressure, stress and anxiety at this time.

Do your homework

Ensure that before getting in touch, you have as much knowledge as possible to make sure you have the fullest possible picture of the child(ren) involved and their family context. This often requires speaking with others who will often know the child or the family in a different context than you.
Consider the following:

• What are the concerns and the risks to the child at this point in time
• What do you know about the family in terms of possible risks and protective factors
• What information do school records offer? How does this add  to your current concern
• Are there siblings, if so, are there similar concerns? Where siblings attend a different school, have you considered contacting the DSL at this child’s school to see if there is a similar concern at this time and discuss what actions have been taken

It may well be that there are other areas that you might wish to explore with colleagues. The key issue is to have clarity before making contact with parents/carers so that you can ensure that you are able to work with families with the best possible picture.

Making contact

At this time, it is most likely that any contact will be by phone, Skype or similar. For some parents, this can make contact more difficult as it removes the ability to sense someone’s body language.

Therefore you should:

• Ensure that you are speaking to the right person – and they are somewhere they can talk at this time
• Make sure that you are making this call from an area where you have access to the information you need and from a school phone or device
• Enquire as to the child you want to discuss, allowing the parent the opportunity to share any concerns they have
• Where undertaking welfare check type calls, use open questions to offer parents the chance to further share concerns. Questions such as, ‘I’m just phoning to check that…’, or ‘We’re a little worried that we’ve not heard from X today’.

Where concerns are more specific, while never easy, it’s important to be clear with parents/carers as to what your concerns are. Should the concerns have reached a level where you are looking to make an enquiry to MASH, it is likely that you will require parental consent. Where concerns do not warrant a MASH enquiry remember that DSLs can contact the consultation line 0345 155 1071 for support.

Record keeping

Recording such conversations remains crucial. For many, this is through a secure electronic system such as CPOMs, for some through paper records. At this time, electronic systems need to ensure that those in a deputy DSL role can access records and have awareness of any actions taken.

For those using paper systems, it’s crucial that those in the Deputy DSL role can access these files so making sure that locked stores can be accessed should the DSL be away from school for any period of time. Often this is through making sure the key to such storage is available to the required staff.

It’s crucial at any time, but more so at this time that a summary of conversations undertaken are recorded. This should also include what actions were taken and who else was informed of either the conversation, or the required outcomes from it.

As ever, the focus is on staff in schools knowing their children and their families.