‘You said, we did’ (93 Responses).
Schools (Up to 17th March 2025)
69 responses – 100% either very satisfied (58/69) or satisfied (11/69) with the service.
Partners (Up to 17th March 2025)
24 responses – 100% either very satisfied (23/24) or satisfied (1/24) with the service.
This is the second year that we have sent out a separate EVC survey which had 38 responses (up to 17th March 2025). A separate ‘you said, we did’ document will be sent out by Mick Bradshaw and will be available to view on the ‘Educational Visits’ page on the Cognus website.
You said – comments taken from the survey
We did – our response
Themes:
Training
We need specialists offering support to school regarding attendance – the consequences of long-term academic neglect etc.
This is already in place. For more information please visit: Attendance Support Team – Cognus
I would like a weekly question or discussion topic that I could share with staff at weekly meetings.
This is available in Andrew Hall’s weekly briefing: Sign up for weekly safeguarding briefings from Andrew Hall – Cognus
We would benefit from updated online safety bitesize materials – including online filtering and monitoring from a safeguarding perspective.
We will look to update our online safety bitesize materials.
For more information on filtering and monitoring, please visit: LGfL Home | LGFL.
The CEOP website contains free training resources and other useful materials about online safety.
It would be helpful to have a toolkit to help identify educational neglect. We are aware that this is being finalised so please share once ready.
The LSCP are in the process of finalising the Neglect Toolkit which partners have been working on over the last 12 months. This now includes more clarity on identifying educational neglect.
Sutton Local Safeguarding Children Partnership – LSCP Policy & Practice
I would like more training on self-harm. Also, if the young people have complex mental health concerns which impacts attendance.
Please refer to the Sutton LSCP Self-Harm Protocol: Sutton Local Safeguarding Children Partnership – LSCP Protocols
In terms of training, please contact: Lucy.Vento@swlstg.nhs.uk
Lucy leads on the Mental Health Clusters across Sutton Schools.
We would like more training around managing parents’ chronic mental health when this is not recognised by the individual but is having a detrimental impact on the child.
Please contact: Lucy.Vento@swlstg.nhs.uk
Lucy leads on the Mental Health Clusters across Sutton Schools.
It would help to better understand the CME register for pupils moving back from dual registration to single registration from STARS. I would like to better understand the purpose of the CME register.
This question relates to the CME notification spreadsheet managed by the Admissions Team. They have since met with STARS and resolved this.
It would be useful to have some further training around bereavement especially when the death is by suicide.
We recently had an excellent speaker along to the DSL Networks who shared the training offer that is available in Sutton. For more information please contact: ADjurdjevic@BWWMIND.org.uk.
I would like more support, training and resources around harmful sexualised behaviour.
We are pleased to share the Sutton LSCP Child Sexual Abuse Toolkit with you.
The toolkit was developed as an action from the Child Sexual Abuse Leadership Event held in person on 26th September 2024.
Link to the microsite toolkit: https://sites.google.com/sutton.gov.uk/child-sexual-abuse-toolkit/homepage
It would be helpful to have access to training around supporting students who have been involved in a serious criminal act e.g. sexual abuse.
We are pleased to share the Sutton LSCP Child Sexual Abuse Toolkit with you.
The toolkit was developed as an action from the Child Sexual Abuse Leadership Event held in person on 26th September 2024.
Link to the microsite toolkit: https://sites.google.com/sutton.gov.uk/child-sexual-abuse-toolkit/homepage
There are some things in the Prevent audit e.g. the need to have WRAP training but not sure we have to do and how to access. We do complete the government Prevent training regularly, but more clarity would be appreciated.
WRAP training – workshop to raise awareness of Prevent. Therefore, you are covered by completing the .gov Prevent training regularly.
It would be useful to have access to CME/EHE case studies for a range of different scenarios.
We will share this request with the CME/EHE team.
We would like more training on meeting the Early Help threshold.
The Early Help Service provide training for schools and run regular surgeries. For more information please contact: earlyhelpservice@sutton.gov.uk.
We would like more guidance on how to parent for parents – but this requires them to engage and often the ones that we are trying to reach won’t engage.
For more information please contact:
Current-Parenting Programme Promotion Presentation_v2.pptx (12).pdf
We would be keen to explore how we can develop greater links with Safeguarding Leads with Trusts and Local Partnerships.
There is a Regional DSL Network for Education Safeguarding Leads. If you would like the contact details, please contact: hayley.cameron@cognus.org.uk.
We would like more explicit updates on crime/prevent issues in the local area as this helps to shape our curriculum and staff training.
The ‘risks in the local area newsletter’ is a good source of information. The police now lead on this. For more information please contact: Christopher.J.Hamilton@met.police.uk.
Sian Bowers from The Met Police provides annual updates at our DSL Network Meetings in line with the updates Counter Terrorism Local Profile. This information is also shared in the monthly safeguarding briefing. Sian will be attending our meetings in the summer term.
General Communication
I think it would be useful to have guidance for using the DSL WhatsApp Group, so we are clear on expectations e.g. whistleblowing.
The team will develop a document and share via the safeguarding briefing.
I feel some of the participants of the WhatsApp Group could make more of an effort to respond. It may be that they need to designate a specific person responsible for representing their school in the group.
School sign up is not mandatory and this is a peer led group. DSLs opt in if they wish to join the group. However, the team will reference this is in the guidance for usage document which is currently being developed.
The DSL Whatsapp Group is my lifeline – you always get an almost immediate response.
We are pleased that you find the group useful. It has grown a lot over the last few months and hopefully the above will lead to more people contributing to those ‘almost immediate responses’.
The podcasts and bitesize materials are easily accessible, great content and used regularly in staff training.
We are pleased you find the podcasts and bitesize materials useful. We are always adding new content. Please get in touch if there are any themes that you would like us to cover.
Please keep the DSL meetings virtual – this allows me, and I suspect a lot of other colleagues to attend and engage more fully. We still get the chance to meet face-to-face at the end of year drop in afternoon and I really appreciate that.
We will be keeping the DSL Network Meetings virtual as attendance is the best it has ever been. We will also be keeping the face-to-face DSL End of Year Drop-In session at Cantium House which you can register for here: https://suttontraining.event-booking.org/
For training delivered by the Education Safeguarding Team – Please go to: https://suttontraining.event-booking.org/ and select Cognus Safeguarding in the category section.
As long as staff remain available and approachable then there isn’t much that needs improving.
Staff will remain available. The team have had a period of unforeseen long-term sickness this year, but the service has still been maintained. This is why our online resources and bitesize content is invaluable, along with the information on our working document: Commonly asked questions – Cognus.
Staff will remain approachable. This is something we pride ourselves on. Please refer to our impact statements further down.
The service is exceptional – it would be helpful to have one central place, a library type area, where information is centrally stored. For example, if Jigsaw have a new service, replacing the old, this could be the main area to see the updated information. I find the information sharing with schools so valuable, however, keeping up to date is sometimes tricky.
The Sutton Information Hub holds all updated information for services along with the LSCP website:
Sutton Local Safeguarding Children Partnership
All safeguarding briefings from the Education Safeguarding Team can be found here:
Safeguarding Briefings from the Education Safeguarding Team – Cognus
The speed of response to concerns raised with social care but we understand other challenges in doing so.
This has been fed back to social care. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns.
Sometimes we are asked to do things that take a long time and provide no benefit to us e.g. S175 audit.
The S175 audit is a statutory process, and we appreciate all that goes into completing them. Each year we take all feedback into consideration and do our best to ensure the process improves year on year. The S175 process provides assurance and oversight from the LSCP and enables schools to develop action plans which are working documents and can be used to inform training and wider school development plans. The S175 audits have been used by schools in recent inspections and some DSLs have described it as invaluable, along with the face-to-face reviews which take place as part of a 3-year cycle.
When we try to book on to training, we often get the message that the booking has closed. We would like more spaces to be made available.
Please be assured this was a system error and has now been rectified.
Re. closed course bookings – the Phew website only allows delegates to book onto courses with multiple sessions up to 3 days prior to the 1st session commencing. After this time, the bookings will appear as closed on the website, where anyone wishing to book is then required to email cpdadmin@cognus.org.uk to have their booking processed.
Going forward, I can place a note on the website advising delegates to email cpdadmin@cognus.org.uk if requesting to book after the 1st course session? Hopefully, this will eliminate all queries prior to next academic years CPD programme for 2025-26.
To note if you ever have a problem with booking onto a course, please email our CPD admin and they will be able to help.
Keep presentations at Secondary DSL Network Meetings succinct.
This has been a focus for us due to the meetings only being an hour long. We will continue to work on this and ensure more detailed presentations are sent out following the sessions.
The bitesize videos could be shorter but are still useful.
We aim to keep our bitesize materials to 20-30 minutes long except for the safeguarding awareness updates in the autumn term. We will continue to work on this.
At times we are given the direction to refer a case when it is clear the situation did not require this, and the outcome was no further action.
Not all cases being referred meet threshold and often are NFAd but the reason for a referral can be wide and varied including Mash checks required or simply a call to parents and note made on file of the concern as part of a building picture. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns, and this has been fed back to social care.
Sometimes there is inconsistency across social care teams in terms of advice given.
This has been fed back to social care. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns.
In order to get completely honest feedback, this form should be anonymous.
We value our interactions with DSLs and appreciate all feedback. If an issue is raised, we like to be able to follow up with the DSL to see if we can improve the situation or provide clarity. However, you do not have to include your name to submit the survey.
It would be helpful to have clarity about the roles/remit of the Education Safeguarding Team, as I think we could utilise their guidance more.
Gill Bush – queries around individual cases/referrals, referrals to the CME inbox.
Steve Welding – queries around safeguarding training, online safety and prevent.
Mick Bradshaw – queries around educational visits.
Hayley Cameron – supervision, general support and advice, safeguarding reviews, and training.
On the Commonly Asked Questions form, when I click on a question it opens the information for the question below e.g. I wanted to open Early Help and it opens EHE. It may just be my PC though!
I have checked this and all the links work. Try opening on another browser.
In an ideal world there would be a main number that is always manned as sometimes I have left messages on an answerphone.
We do not have an answerphone service – you may be calling very old numbers for us. Sometimes we are out on visits, in training or on other calls but we will always call you back. You could always email us if you are worried we will miss the ‘missed call’. If your query is an urgent safeguarding concern, you should always call into CFCS in the first instance.
Our numbers are on the Sutton Contact Sheet: Commonly asked questions – Cognus. They are also on our email signatures.
Occasionally, I am not informed if a referral has resulted in closure.
This has been fed back to social care. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns.
I believe more effort is needed to ensure schools are heard, particularly in cases where there are no underlying SEND needs, and a child’s SEMH needs arise from their lived experiences – that parents may not recognise or minimise. Recently my team has felt that social care often takes an overly sympathetic stance towards parents, and this can feel uncomfortable for schools who are attempting to maintain working relationships with the parent but remain child centred. However, schools have daily interactions with the child and family, providing a close and frequent perspective that should be acknowledged and supported.
This has been fed back to social care. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns.
If you are unhappy with a decision made, please follow the Sutton LSCP Escalation Policy: Sutton Local Safeguarding Children Partnership – LSCP Policy & Practice.
Communication with the Education Safeguarding Team is great. Our biggest challenge is in the change of social worker or having to chase minutes from meetings, case updates etc. But the safeguarding team often help us with this too.
This has been fed back to social care. The Termly Locality and Education Meetings are also a good platform to raise these concerns.
Keep doing what you are doing. Keep the Sutton Schools Police team – they work well with us.
We will continue to work in partnership with the police, although you will be aware that a letter was recently shared with schools to inform them of upcoming changes. We will continue to update you as information is shared.
Youth based Neigbourhood Letter.docx
You can also contact sarah.tynan@met.police.uk.
In summary:
Please see the impact statements below. We are committed to maintaining the following:
- ‘I think what I appreciate most is the approachability of colleagues in the team. It helps me to get the information and guidance I need in a timely way’.
- ‘Every time I reach out to any of the experienced team, I have always received a prompt reply and an answer to my enquiry, delivered in a supportive, professional manner’.
- ‘There is always someone available to talk to – a fantastic service of support for Sutton staff’.
- ‘Thank you for helping us so much. What you do saves lives and keeps us DSLs sane!’
- ‘Your advice allows us to problem solve and look at cases we are close to from a different perspective – a wider lens’.
- ‘You helped us to find a new direction with a child/family – giving 1:1 support surrounding managing difficult cases’.
- ‘You help us to feel part of a wider team’.
- ‘Thank goodness for the safeguarding team. We would be lost without you all’.
- ‘The main impact is feeling fully supported and knowing that specialist advice and training is available when we need it. It is also reassuring that we can reflect on and learn from difficult situations in our supervision meetings’.
- ‘We really believe this to be an outstanding service. No judgment, no blame, everyone working together. We are very grateful for the support and guidance we receive’.
- ‘Your advice helps to keep children safe and allows the safeguarding teams in school to do their job effectively’.
- ‘The DSL supervision meetings are really helpful and supportive. As a small school it can be challenging to keep all the plates spinning and to ensure I have up to date knowledge of all the areas needed’.
- ‘Clear advice and guidance support what we are doing but also helps make a final decision on next stops. The monthly DSL meetings are fantastic’.
- ‘Amazing team who are always there for us. I could not do my DSL role without them’.
- ‘Your support in completing the audit was invaluable which enabled us to complete the document and provide assurance of our safeguarding practices’.
- ‘You are all fantastic! I have worked across other boroughs and your service far exceeds others. Thank you for your hard work’.
- ‘Supporting and working collaboratively strengthens safeguarding – thank you’.
- ‘Your advice has empowered us to have confidence in knowing how to respond to various circumstances. It helps to alleviate the anxiety of managing very complex cases in isolation’.
- ‘Thank you for all you do all day – we are a great team together’.
- ‘A superb service – no question is seen as a silly question – consolidates my thoughts and process to any safeguarding concern’.
- ‘The team are always proactive and enthusiastic to support us with what we need. As with all teams, additional members would benefit them, but I cannot fault the service the team provides’.
- ‘The team are professional, informative, and easy to build relationships and collaborate with’.
- ‘You are perfect, clone each of you!’
- ‘Thanks to the team for always being so helpful and working in such a child-centred way. As a team you are so knowledgeable, supportive and helpful. The Education Safeguarding provision you give to schools and partners is outstanding. It makes such a difference to us and provides assurance’.
We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you and to maintain effective safeguarding policies, practices, and procedures across Sutton. Thank you for everything you do!