Why context is key, Dawn Jotham

Fulfilling potential Why context is key Dawn Jotham explains the basics of contextual safeguarding and how educators can successfully adopt this approach to support their students and school communities

The importance of effective safeguarding policies and practices has been high on the national agenda of late – think of the spike in serious youth violence or the rise in mental health related risks. As education professionals, safeguarding is also something that is, or should be, at the forefront for headteachers, senior leadership teams and teachers. They are, after all, tasked with caring for our young people for approximately six hours a day, five days a week, and operate in an environment that is highly influential for children and teens.

However, despite policy guidance, in many instances the effectiveness of any safeguarding or duty-of-care is greatly dependent on the context in which it occurs. This has prompted the new wave of safeguarding best-practice, known as contextual safeguarding, which adopts a more holistic view of assessment and interventions.

Contextual safeguarding is an approach that informs policy and practical frameworks that has been developed by Dr Carlene Firmin and fellow researchers at the University of Bedfordshire over the past six years. It is, as defined by Dr Firmin, principal research fellow at the university, ‘an approach to understanding, and responding to, young people’s experiences of significant harm beyond their families’. It is based on three key tenets that recognise that the relationships formed between young people and their neighbourhoods, schools and online interactions, carry a varied weight of influence; that

parents and carers often have diminished influence in these contexts; and that experiences in both familial and extrafamilial contexts are mutually influential. This is primarily due to the substantial amounts of time young people spend outside familial environments. Consequently, those working with young people need to be mindful of the different spheres of influence, and make a concerted effort to engage the people and organisations that exercise influence in these environments.

As Dr Firmin outlines, at its core, contextual safeguarding is about recognising that ‘assessment of, and intervention with, these spaces [extra-familial settings] are a critical part of safeguarding practices’. As a result, context-driven safeguarding also expands the scope of inquiry to include a range of social contexts, thus broadening the risk factors considered when preempting or reactively intervening in the safety and wellbeing of young people.

Contextual safeguarding becomes increasingly important as children progress from early childhood to their teens, as their spheres of influence expand and they spend more time in social environments and less isolated time with their families, and it is often these new experiences that determine their exposure to violence and risk of exploitation. For example, young people can be at high risk of online bullying, peer-on-peer abuse, robbery or serious violence as a result of their extra-familial settings and the social norms that are established with their peers.

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Traditionally, intervening in safeguarding issues often involves assessing individuals in their own right, but also in the context of their families – parents or carers. While effective in some instances, many of these attempts are compromised by the aforementioned weight of influence. Whilst their family may not be the most influential relationship, there is an interplay that is present in different contexts and relationships. For example, the experiences of young people in school, in their community, with their peers, and at home, all impact each other. Given that context is key, it should also be recognised that the degree of influence of each of these relationships will vary in every case.

For safeguarding leads, teachers and support staff who interact with students on a regular basis, at a broader level, contextual safeguarding helps strategize the ways in which support is provided. Pastoral care should be delivered in a manner that considers the nature and number of ways in which harm has, or can, occur, both in terms of locality and other individuals that may be involved. Taking this more holistic view of the issue at hand prompts early and appropriate interventions at a wider and more sustainable level by not only addressing the harm that has resulted, but the actions and environment that caused it in the first place.

While this is a substantive shift in the way safeguarding is approached, it has not been designed to replace current methods of assessment and intervention, such as 1:1 interventions or discussions at the familial level, but to complement and bolster safeguarding activity that is already in place. Additionally, while driven by well-evidenced theories, there are some key practices that can be put in place to implement a more contextual framework. For instance, staff can make an effort to be extra vigilant and take an interest in what students say and do. This will help to form an understanding of the circles they move in, as well as their vernacular. Safeguarding leads can also conduct risk assessments that establish the risks pupils may experience in the community, or on their journey to and from school. Additionally, regularly working, or engaging, with the community will help contextualise these influential extra-familial environments and will be invaluable in knowing and adopting more mindful practice regarding what is going on and who are the key actors. Taking steps to connect young people with organisations is also a key step in implementing a contextual safeguarding framework as it proactively strives to rebalance spheres of influence while simultaneously expanding support networks.

The environment in which our young people are growing up is becoming increasingly layered and complex, with influences stemming from online platforms, peers, families, local leaders (both positive and negative), and the broader community. Moving away from a culture of blame or acceptance that simply removes the young person from harm, it is important that a more sustainable approach is adopted. Considering the context of these interwoven spheres of influence not only extends the capacity of those engaging with young people to provide effective safeguarding measures, but also lays the groundwork for greater preventative action to be taken. Dawn Jotham is pastoral care specialist at Educare

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Sir Ian at 80 Bolton School Boys’ Division was delighted to welcome Sir Ian McKellen, a former pupil and Captain of the School, on his 80th birthday weekend. Taking time out of his national tour, he began his busy day with a lunchtime reunion with thirty former classmates, coming from as far afield as Scotland and France.

In the afternoon he gave an abridged version of his national tour show to an audience of Y7-10 pupils, former pupils and staff in the Great Hall. Walking down the centre aisle and ending up on stage, Sir Ian opened with a reading from Lord of the Rings. He told of his love of pantomime and he reprised his Widow Twankey role, throwing sweets, oranges and bananas into the audience. He revisited early memories - seeing Peter Pan at the Palace Theatre in Manchester when he was three, the three Bolton theatres, now all gone, and going backstage at one of them and realising he wanted to act.

He reminisced over his Cambridge days, where he met actors such as Miriam Margolyes and Sir Derek Jacobi and talked about how he began working professionally at a repertoire theatre. The audience was given a tantalising glimpse of a scene from the musical Cats, which he will perform in later this year, and he spoke about realising he was gay and how Section 28 inspired him to become an activist; telling how he eventually came out on radio while arguing against Section 28.

Finally, the School Arts Centre provided the venue for Sir Ian’s surprise 80th birthday party. The stellar list of guests genuinely surprised him and included actors Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Richard Wilson, Timothy West and Luke Evans, as well as journalist Janet Street-Porter, pop star Neil Tennant and writer Armistead Maupin.