Safety and Identity - hearing from children and young people

Our conference this year took on a different shape as we involved children and young people in a meaningful way, providing an opportunity for them to be heard and to engage directly with safeguarding decision makers across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, particularly in relation to issues of safety and identity.

We had a wealth of input from YAY!, WILD, Carefree, YZUP, Active8, Camborne Youth Council, Young People Cornwall, Members of the Youth Parliament via Action for Children, year six pupils from Trewirgie Junior School, Health & Social Care Students from Truro College, Cornwall Accessible Activities Program and the Mind the Gap Project from Devon and Cornwall Police.

These groups did some prework in their existing settings - their safe spaces, where they have trusted, established relationships.  Their responses focussed on the following questions:

1)            What feels unsafe to me

2)            What helps me to feel safe to be me

This slideshow demonstrates the wealth of valuable input we had to work with from a wide variety of groups of children and young people (double click to view full screen).

On the night we all participated in a series of facilitated workshops based on the prework ‘presentations’ between delegates and the representative children and young people who felt confident enough to be there.  We reflected together and this is a summary of the priorities that have been taken back to OSCP board for a response…

• Thinking about safety and security in different settings.  A shared perception of safety.  The importance of love, trust / trusted adults, safety, routine, choice, opinion, having a voice. 
• The need for children & young people to have a valid voice.  To be heard, at all levels and to feel supported & empowered.  The right to have a voice.  Work towards C&YP consistently having a voice at all levels e.g., across OSCP, to the OSCP Board, all town councils & Cornwall Youth Council
• Changing attitudes re: disability – awareness / education for all, promoting enabling attitudes from early on (child to adulthood).  Raising awareness of barriers (physical and attitudinal).  More training for those working with C&YP with disabilities.
• Ensuring that OSCP is an inclusive organisation.  Inclusivity awareness across OSCP – having a voice, hearing, listening, getting feedback from C&YP from minority groups [practice theme national panel - giving central consideration to racial, ethnic and cultural identity and the impact of this on the lived experience of children and families - develop practice frameworks that take account of intersectional thinking to explore how ethnicity, age, gender, sexuality and other social factors including age, sexuality, poverty shape the identities and experiences of children and families. Be more inquiring about how cultural assumptions and biases shape how we ‘see’ and safeguard different groups of children.]
• This was a really good start of an ongoing conversation, maintain the momentum & keep this going.

Feelings from children and young people taking part on the night…

• Relief
• Joy
• Enthusiastic
• Curious
• Adventurous

We are planning a follow up event to give responses back to contributors from OSCP Board, feeding back to all children and young people groups about the extent of their influence and the impact they have had.  We will meet back up virtually in approximately three months, date tbc.

A note on the venue

Our approach to this year’s conference was completely different, and we wanted the setting to be different too.  The working group chose the Royal Cornwall Museum as a venue, to tune people into ‘childhood’ and encourage a ‘night at the museum’ type exploration, most people who grew up in Cornwall will have done at least one school trip here.

For a conference exploring identity, it was felt to be a place of Cornish culture and heritage and somewhere that ‘belongs to us all’.

The museum is free for all under 18s to visit at any time.

They have been working hard to ensure accessibility for all, in a safe, welcoming and inclusive space

• There are wheelchair accessible toilets and nappy changing facilities, ramps and a lift.
• They have created a sensory map and a social story to empower people visiting with information they need about what to expect e.g., exhibits that could be potentially triggering or over stimulating in sensory terms.
• It is a place that is keen to ensure that narratives from Black and Ethnically Diverse communities are included in conversations and continue to reflect on topics such as “Cornish history and Collections, Colonialism, and the Ugly Truths of our Past” and we were lucky enough to still have the flags on display celebrating ‘A history of Pride’ and LGBTQ+ Histories in Cornwall.

“The pandemic has had a profound impact on all of us. However, the repercussions for children have extended into every single aspect of their lives, from their education, to their homes, their mental health, and much more. Every child matters; we want to see all our children thrive, develop and reach their potential; every child has rights, even during a pandemic.” CEO, Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2020

The virtual 2021 Annual Conference focused on Children's Rights and provided the opportunity to reflect on our own practice and that of our organisations.

We were delighted to welcome Professor Laura Lundy, Co-Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights and a Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast and co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Children’s Rights, as our keynote speaker. We were also joined by colleagues from a range of organisations working in Cornwall sharing examples of promotion of the rights of children in their work with children and families locally.

The powerpoint presentation is available through this link OSCP Annual Conference- The Key Principles of Children's Rights

Videos of the presentations can be viewed here:

What Children's Rights are and are not:

Tackling Health Inequalities:

The Role of Housing Associations in Championing Children's Rights:

This conference was aimed primarily for GP safeguarding leads. It provided a mix of topics including practice administration issues, child protection referrals, domestic abuse and some adult safeguarding training relevant to GPs. 

Further GP Practice Safeguarding Lead resources can be found by following this link.

For GP Useful links 

For GP Safeguarding advice, please contact the Named GP for Safeguarding Children:

     Dr Mark McCartney, General Practitioner

     Tel : 07557 641423

     email: mark.mccartney@nhs.net

On 24 September 2018 Our Safeguarding Children Partnership launched the Child Sexual Abuse Strategy at this multi agency conference for consultation and feedback.

A wide range of organisations attended for an interesting day with inspiring speakers:  Dr Debbie Allnock, Senior Research Fellow, University of Bedfordshire and co-author of No-One Noticed, No-one Heard (NSPCC, 2013) as our keynote speaker;  David Poole from the Truth Project; Josette Lawrance on recognising perpetrator behaviour and Suzzan Blac, artist and survivor of childhood abuse.

View or download the conference pack

Keynote speaker: Dr Debra Allnock ‘Understanding the complex ways in which children communicate CSA: Why we should not rely on verbal, direct disclosures’