Welcome to our newsletter for practitioners that work with children and families in Leeds. This newsletter provides you with helpful information to support and improve your practice.
Have you recently updated your Organisational Safeguarding Assessment (OSA)?
An Organisational Safeguarding Assessment is an online self evaluation tool created by the Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership. It guides organisations through a series of questions to check whether they have the right safeguarding arrangements in place, covering policies, safer recruitment, training, reporting concerns, record keeping, and more.
Once submitted, it also helps the LSCP understand the level of safeguarding across the city and offer targeted support where needed.
The assessment can be completed at your own pace, saved as you go, and downloaded into an action plan that highlights where improvements are needed. It’s easier to keep it updated as you go, whenever you make any changes to your internal policies and procedures.
Log into your Organisational Safeguarding Assessment today to make sure your organisation is doing everything it can to keep children safe.
Safer Sleep Week
Safer Sleep Week 2026 runs from 9 - 15 March. It’s a national awareness campaign targeting anyone looking after a young baby to raise awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the simple advice that reduces the risk of it occurring.
This Safer Sleep Week, the Lullaby Trust is sharing with parents “baby necessities’ – the essential items that a baby needs and how to check that they’re as safe as possible. The tag line is to “keep it simple to keep it safe".
The safest cot is a clear cot. To lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), keep the cot clear of any items that could cover your baby's face and head, such as bumpers, toys and loose bedding.
Please promote the messages during the week by sharing on social media; @LullabyTrust on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok. You can also download and display the safer sleep posters to raise awareness.
There are also a number of resources for practitioners that have been developed by the Lullaby Trust, as well as free staff training and information.
New guidance on AI from the Internet Watch Foundation
Practitioners can now access guidance on recognising and responding to AI generated child sexual abuse material. The free UK wide resources explain the law, outline safe reporting steps, and offer advice on supporting victims affected by AI driven exploitation.
AI can now be used to manipulate real photos or generate entirely new abusive images involving children, making it harder for practitioners to recognise harm and act swiftly.
The guidance provides clarity on the law, emphasising that AI generated child sexual abuse material is illegal in all forms. This ensures that professionals know their responsibilities and understand how to handle incidents safely and appropriately.
Look at the resources available including:
- practical steps for responding, including safe reporting processes and essential “dos and don’ts” to prevent further harm or accidental offences
- guidance on how to offer support to children affected by this type of exploitation, acknowledging the emotional and psychological impact it can have even if the imagery is artificially created.
Shaping the future of contextual safeguarding in Leeds
Contextual Safeguarding has been used to develop responses to extra-familial harm for over a decade; and since 2022 Leeds has been working with Professor Carlene Firmin and her team at Durham University to use the approach in various ways including: introducing a Risk Outside of the Home Child Protection Pathway, testing ways to embed Contextual Safeguarding in McDonald’s, and reimagining safeguarding approaches to extra-familial harm in collaboration with families who have been impacted.
On 11th February, Carlene will visit Leeds to provide an update on the latest national developments in Contextual Safeguarding and reflect on what this means for Leeds, with reference to the projects run here in the last three years. This will provide a rare opportunity to celebrate where progress has been made as well as identify what needs to be prioritised next. Event attendees with have an opportunity to participate in online focus groups with Carlene’s team in the four weeks after the event, to share their views on what they heard, what they think Leeds is doing well, where they think we need to focus next, and what they think might be a challenge.
The findings from this exercise, along with the other projects running in Leeds will be converted into a written briefing and online presentation for strategic leaders in Leeds with recommendations for where to go next.
LSCP Training - New dates for 2026
New dates have been added to our training offer. Book your place today!
Introduction to safeguarding children and young people
Online introductory training for people who are in regular contact with children and young people either directly, through work with their families / carers or through the setting in which they work.
This is seen as a minimum requirement for all people working within settings which work with or have regular contact with children and young people.
- Tuesday 14 April 2026, 9am to 3.15pm
- Tuesday 21 April 2026, 9am to 3.15pm
- Wednesday 29 April 2026, 9am to 3.15pm
Working Together to safeguard children and young people
This online multi-agency course is for any member of staff who is considered to be a lead professional for safeguarding or may be involved in multi-agency approaches to safeguarding children and young people in their organisation. This may include undertaking s47 (child abuse) enquiries, working with complex cases, or those who would regularly attend Initial Child Protection Conferences.
- Thursday 5 March 2026, 9.00am to 3.30pm
- Tuesday 24 March 2026, 9.00am to 3.30pm
- Tuesday 5 May 2026, 9.00am to 3.30pm
Safeguarding children and young people refresher training
This course provides an update of safeguarding practice, legislation and messages over the last three years. It considers these from both local and national perspectives and covers information such as definitions, raising concerns with Children’s Social Work Services, legislation and key messages from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
Book your place
Training for trainers
A multi-agency training day to enable organisations to deliver the LSCP Introduction to Safeguarding Children and Young People session in-house.
- Tuesday 12 May 2026, 9.15am to 4.15pm
Making sense of information sharing guidance
Using the LSCP's Information Sharing Toolbox as a discussion framework, the session will explore how practitioners can make appropriate and secure decisions when sharing information to keep children and young people safe.
- Thursday 19 February 2026, 1pm to 2pm
Book your place
CSE hasn't gone away
This webinar provides an up-to-date picture of CSE today, exploring current trends, risk indicators, and emerging threats. The session will emphasise the continued need for strong partnership working, effective information sharing, and professional curiosity to identify and disrupt exploitation at the earliest opportunity.
- Thursday 12 March 2026, 9.30am - 10.30am
Introduction to family help
This session will focus on Family Help and how Leeds have adopted a ‘test and learn’ approach to ensure that babies, children, young people and families receive the most effective service when they need help.
The participants will come away with an understanding of the reforms and what Leeds are doing to shape services.
- Tuesday 24 February 2026, 10.00am to 11.30am
Learning Access Service - Supporting children into education
As a child friendly city, Leeds is keen to ensure that all children, whatever their circumstances, have the very best opportunity to access the very best education. The Leeds Learning Access Service has that vision at the very core of its work, not least for those children whose parents elect to educate them at home.
This session will provide an overview on the Learning Access Service, with a focus on understanding the local authority's responsibilities and structure of the team.
- Thursday 26 March 2026 at 10:00 to 11:00am
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Concerns resolution Team Briefing - Work through this briefing in your next team meeting for a structured session to discuss the concerns resolution process with your colleagues using a live or recent case.
Child Protection Medicals; Pathway - Guidance to ensure all agencies and professionals involved in safeguarding are working in alignment.
Safeguarding children with complex medical needs/Autism who travel outside of the local authority or abroad - multi-agency procedure for responding to situations where parents or carers wish to take a child with complex medical needs out of the local authority area, whether to another UK local authority or abroad, and whether on a temporary or permanent basis.
Dates for your diary
9 - 15 March, Safer Sleep Week
18 March, CSE Awareness Day
2 - 7 April, World Autism Week