FM Refresher Trainers Notes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Creating Safer Space Foundation Module Refresher 2016 Edition Before the start of the training You should be well prepared to deliver this Refresher course and be familiar with its contents, some of which differ markedly from the original Foundation Module (FM). The FM course preparation instructions also apply and you should remind yourself of these. Indicative timings are included, so with a 10-minute coffee break the whole session lasts 2.5 hours. If you are working with a large group then you are likely to need longer. You may wish to send participants the course aims and learning agreement in advance. The course does not specifically focus on themes relating to diversity – language, culture, ethnicity, disability etc. Trainers will be expected to use practice or case examples to illustrate issues of diversity in safeguarding practice. There is a revised and updated Foundation Module and Foundation Module Refresher Handbook, 2016 Edition which should be given to participants. We have aimed to make it more local church focused with examples and case studies, so please encourage participants to read it. Course title and training personnel introduction Slide 1 Slide 2 2 Section 1: Welcome and devotions Slides 3–8 (15 minutes) Welcome participants who completed the FM at some point in the last five years and trust that they will be able to reflect on that learning and their experiences during this course. Some attending may have thought that the earlier FM training was a required ‘one off’, so may need encouragement to be open to new ideas and thinking. Describe how recent events have pushed safeguarding higher up the national agenda, and that the Church remains strongly committed to ensuring that all our churches are safe spaces for all. For devotions you could use the PCR prayer card or the ‘Do not fear’ prayer card. www.methodist.org.uk/media/793466/2078%20Past%20case%20review%20and%20 prayer%20card%20(3).pdf www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/you_survivorsofabuse_0408.pdf Slide 3 Slides 4–6 are imported from the FM course and participants will recognise them as timely and appropriate reminders about housekeeping, and looking after each other and ourselves. Slide 4 Slide 5 3 Slide 6 It is suggested that although course members may know each other, there is still value in ensuring some early conversation for participants to share their expectations for the day. Trainers may wish to consider asking people to talk to each other about their journeys to the training, or the last film or concert they saw. Ask people to identify what they hope to gain from this Refresher course, given that they will have completed the FM earlier. Record responses on a flip chart and refer to them while presenting the aims (slide 7). Slide 7 reprises some of the aims of the FM, but puts them into a context of refreshing and reminding. Two important additions are references to the PCR learning and a stronger emphasis on survivors. Explain that this refresher course has benefitted from the learning generated by the PCR and this will be referenced throughout the course today. Slide 8 is a reminder about the learning agreement. Slide 7 Slide 8 4 Section 2: Timelines Slides 9–13 (10 minutes) Slide 9 These slides aim to contextualise this refresher course and why it is important that people working with children, young people and vulnerable adults in churches remain properly equipped to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns. Since the FM was launched in 2011 there have been significant national and Church developments in the safeguarding field. It is important to enable participants to understand that the world has moved on in many ways, and safeguarding issues have a much higher profile than when training began. This summary aims to show why it’s important to be up to date and should act as a counterweight to those for whom the FM was seen as one-off. Slide 10 is about the Methodist Church taking action and slide 11 describes how the Savile case brought many other issues to the fore at a national level. Slide 10 Slide 11 5 Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 12 is concerned with identifying how, at a national level and in the Church, some important milestones were achieved as a result of these concerns and actions, such as the PCR publication – although stress that there is much more work to be done as a consequence. All trainers will have attended an orientation session to be briefed about the PCR and prepare them for summarising the key findings of the report and the learning from it. Remind participants that the Children Acts of 1989 and 2004 remain the key building blocks for good safeguarding practice that aims to protect children and young people. These apply to churches as much as to statutory bodies. Slide 13 provides some basic information from the PCR report. Try not to get caught up in detailed discussions about the PCR. Use this as a reminder that the Church hasn’t been as safe as it should have. If it is suggested that all the problems are dealt with, it is worth reminding the group that the Connexional Safeguarding Team still receives regular referrals about current concerns. 6 Some recent background information to feed in as appropriate: April 2014 – Max Clifford convicted of indecent assaults against girls aged 14-19 May 2014 – Care Act establishes a legal framework for the protection of vulnerable adults June 2014 – Rolf Harris convicted of indecent assaults against girls aged 8-19 July 2014 – Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse established by Home Secretary, becoming a statutory enquiry in February 2015; Operation Hydrant set up by police to coordinate inquiries into high profile individuals accused of sexual abuse August 2014 – publication of reports about Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham March 2015 – new Government safeguarding children guidance Working Together published May 2015 – Courage Cost and Hope, the PCR report, published 29 June 2015 – Courage Cost and Hope approved by Methodist Conference A very detailed timeline of national events in relation to child sexual abuse can be found on www.nota.co.uk/resource/savile-historic-child-abuse-resource/ A further purpose of the timeline (slides 10–12) is to demonstrate that the Church recognised for itself the need to address issues of concern before the significantly raised national profile of the sexual abuse of children and young people from 2012. Much has happened since then that we can learn from to improve our thinking and practice. 7 Section 3: Pause for reflection Slides 14–16 (15 minutes) Slide 14 Slide 15 Slide 16 The timeline suggests an acceleration and proliferation of concern about abuse, especially that affecting children. There are other items we could have included, but slides 14–16 provide a basis for some reflection on what it all means and how it makes us feel. 8 Invite the group to divide into threes and consider one or more of the following questions (Slide 15): How does the evidence from the PCR about abuse in the Church, and how allegations were handled in the past, make you feel? When you read in the press or see on the TV details of another celebrity or person in authority being arrested, charged, convicted or sometimes cleared of a sexual abuse case, how do you react? Do adults who may be vulnerable receive appropriate attention? As a result of these events, how have you been challenged to do things differently? Take some feedback to gather themes or headline messages about what people make of the current situation, and what governs their thinking in respect of safeguarding as they go about their work in the Church. Slide 16 offers possible responses which can be discussed briefly in the whole group. There are more positives than negatives on this slide but care should be taken to ensure the group sees challenges and opportunities even where negative feelings are expressed. 9 Section 4: Building on our previous learning Slides 17–20 (15 minutes) Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 The purpose of this activity is to get participants to think back over the last 4–5 years to a time, or times, when something came about because of what they had learnt on their original CSS course. This may be something they did or learnt, or it may be something they saw or heard that has stayed with them. To guide participants’ thinking, refer back to key slides from the original course which summarise the Church’s 3 Ps and 4 Rs approach. 10 CREATING SAFER SPACE Foundation Module Refresher 2016 Edition Since attending the Foundation Module: a personal record Something I have done, learnt, seen or heard PREMISES (eg make the building safer) PEOPLE (eg the right people doing the work) POLICIES (eg being clear about what we need to do) PRACTICE (eg doing things differently) RECOGNISE (eg being more aware) RESPOND (eg doing the right thing) RECORD (eg knowing/writing down what’s happened) REFER (eg telling someone else) Suggest that people work in twos or threes to reflect on what they personally have done. Then try to identify something they have done, seen, learnt or heard that represents a change in their understanding of, and approach to, safeguarding. A ‘personal record’ template for copying is provided as a separate download from the Methodist Church safeguarding webpages. Some participants may feel they have nothing to contribute, and that’s OK, but it would be hoped that all can think of at least one thing they did differently, or thought about, as a result of attending the original course.