Contextual Safeguarding

If you are concerned about any wider influences impacting your child, or a child you know, please contact a member of the Safeguarding Team.

What is Contextual Safeguarding?

Traditionally, our understanding of safeguarding children has been in relation to risk within the family, but as young people grow they spend increased amounts of time away from their family and with others.

Therefore, contextual safeguarding is an approach to understanding, and responding to children’s experiences of significant harm beyond their family and home.

We would look at the different areas and contexts (see above) and consider how and why children and young people might be at risk of harm outside the home; think about risk in the context of schools, neighbourhoods and friendship groups and understand the nature of those risks and having an appropriate safeguarding response.

This approach recognises the different relationships children have in their schools, peer groups, online and in their community.

Parents and carers may have little influence over these contexts and children’s exposure to extra-familial abuse.

Support

If you believe your child is being negatively impacted by influences in the wider context, we would encourage you to speak with a member of the safeguarding team as soon as possible.

Further support organisations include:

PACE (Parents Against Child Exploitation)
Pace is a national charity working to keep children safe from exploitation by supporting their parents, disrupting the offenders and working in partnership with police and family services

Telephone: 0113 240 3040
Website: https://paceuk.info/