Early Years Hub

14/10/2026

Designated Safeguarding Leads.

We often use the jigsaw analogy to explain safeguarding and child protection practice, particularly for DSLs.

Each person holds a piece of knowledge or information that, when combined with others, creates a clearer, more complete picture.

In our training, we describe the three Cs that are essential to an effective DSL:
1️⃣Compliant
2️⃣Competent
3️⃣Confident

All three are essential and interdependent, with compliance providing the foundation for competence and confidence.

We're looking forward to sharing more DSL training this evening online with Rochdale early years providers who are existing DSL's and need a refresher course. 🥰

13/10/2026

Safer Recruitment Training. NEW COURSE. 📣 😄

We are delighted to offer face to face Safer Recruitment training to our early years community in the new year.

Our first course will take place on January the 20th, 2027 9.30am -4.30pm at our Bury training venue. 🏫

Our trainer: Mark Gay is a safer recruitment consortium trainer having delivered courses across the children and young people’s workforce for over 15 years. Mark served as a police officer for 30 years, including 10 as a child protection detective specialising in allegations involving people in positions of trust, and has worked as a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for 17 years. Mark is also a CEOP Ambassador, delivering training on online abuse issues. He has developed training for staff who work with children on the risks associated with staff behaviour on social media, as well as awareness training on the use of reasonable force, to help reduce the number of handling-related issues referred to the LADO, police or courts.

Course content:
📌How safer recruitment fits into the wider context of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
📌The scale of abuse, common characteristics of abusers, and how child sexual abusers typically operate within organisations, with a focus on the implications for recruitment.
📌The background and wider context including details and recommendations from the Bichard report (2004) that highlighted shortcomings in the recruitment of school caretaker Ian Huntley.
📌What is abuse?
📌Statistics and data.
📌The Finkelhor model.
📌Creating a culture of vigilance.
📌A safer recruitment process.
📌Making the right decisions – the cost of getting it wrong.

💙The course reflects the safer recruitment requirements in Part Three of Keeping Children Safe in Education (2026), which states: ‘governing bodies and proprietors should ensure that those involved with the recruitment and employment of staff to work with children have received appropriate safer recruitment training.’

💜Course content also meets the expectations set out in Annex C of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2026), which requires Designated Safeguarding Lead training to include ‘how to ensure safe recruitment’.

Course materials:
Each delegate will receive a comprehensive course workbook and supporting materials before attending the training to use on the day. 📖

Certificates will be issued on completion of the course. 🗞️

Cost: £100.00 per person.

Venue: Europa Lodge Conference Room, Bury Business Lodge. Barcroft Street, Bury. BL9 5BT.

Book your place by using the link on our website: 👇

https://health-safetysolutions.net/safer-recruitment-training

13/10/2026

13/10/2026

How do we recognise and respond to sexual abuse in the early years?

* Warning this content may trigger some readers.

The following graphics are the headline content from an article that Rachel wrote for Famly earlier this year. With the current emphasis upon recognising predatory sexual behaviour and the need to develop safe cultures in our early years settings, we decided to share this again.

The blog can be found in the link here: 👇👇

https://www.famly.co/blog/how-do-we-recognise-and-respond-to-sexual-abuse-in-the-early-years

Support for those personally affected by child sexual abuse can be found through the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), an organisation that supports adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Link here: 👇👇

https://napac.org.uk/

12/10/2026

Concerning developments emerge as details of how Vincent Chan was able to abuse for so long are explained.

The independent review will be published early next year.

Former nursery worker Vincent Chan, who was found guilty of child abuse this year, was cleared by an earlier safeguarding investigation carried out by Bright...

12/10/2026

We're back in Rochdale this evening for the second part of our 'Introduction to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead' training that we are delivering on behalf of their Local Authority.

The diagram below is from Rochdale Safeguarding Partnership's Multi-agency Response to Need document - otherwise known as their threshold.

There are 4 levels of need on Rochdales threshold:
💜Universal and Early Help
🩵Targeted Early Help
💚Child in Need of integrated Help
💙Requires Safeguarding and Protection

Tonight we will be revisiting the document and considering how we use and apply this local guidance when making referrals to Children's Services Social Care. In Rochdale this is known as the Early Help and Safeguarding Hub - EHASH.

If you are a Rochdale provider you can find the document in full on the RBSCP's website here: 👇👇

https://rochdalesafeguarding.com/rbsp/p/resources-and-tools/assessment-tools-forms-templates-other-resources

09/10/2026

Happy weekend everyone!

Does anyone else love the opportunity to take a moment of calm and appreciate the beautiful Autumn colours?

Time to slow down, be in the moment and breathe.

A huge well done to you all for your hard work and achievements over this past week. 🙌

🥰🍂🍁

Imagine: Asia Spettel.

08/10/2026

Low-level concerns.

Next week we are delivering training to the senior leadership team of a chain of nurseries with whom we regularly work. The organisational safeguarding aspects of the training is broad and considerable but along with a wide range of topics we will be emphasising the importance of acknowledging and responding to low level concerns.

The Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance for schools and colleges has a number of important things to say about low level concerns. If helpful you can replace the wording schools and colleges to state settings.

As part of their whole school or college (setting) approach to safeguarding, schools and colleges (settings) should ensure that they promote an open and transparent culture in which all concerns about all adults working in or on behalf of the school or college (setting) are dealt with promptly and appropriately.

Creating a culture in which all concerns about adults are shared responsibly and with the right person, recorded and dealt with appropriately, is critical. If implemented correctly, this should:
🔸enable schools and colleges (settings) to identify inappropriate, problematic or concerning behaviour early,
🔹minimise the risk of abuse, and
🔸ensure that adults working in or on behalf of the school or college (setting) are clear about professional boundaries and act within these boundaries, and in accordance with the ethos and values of the institution. (setting)

What a low-level concern is.

The term ‘low-level’ concern does not mean that it is insignificant. A low-level concern is any concern – no matter how small, and even if no more than causing a sense of unease or a ‘nagging doubt’ - that an adult working in or on behalf of the school or college (setting) may have acted in a way that:
🔹is inconsistent with the staff code of conduct, including inappropriate conduct outside of work, and
🔸does not meet the harm threshold or is otherwise not serious enough to consider a referral to the LADO.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (2026)

Link to the full document: 👇👇

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2

This short snippet is from a 30 minute interview between LADO Mark Gay and Rachel discussing the role of the LADO. It is part of our DSL Masterclass online blended course and a CPD bundle resource inside our Safeguarding Hub.

07/10/2026

Safer Recruitment Training. NEW COURSE. 📣 😄

We are delighted to offer face to face Safer Recruitment training to our early years community in the new year.

Our first course will take place on January the 20th, 2027 9.30am -4.30pm at our Bury training venue. 🏫

Our trainer: Mark Gay is a safer recruitment consortium trainer having delivered courses across the children and young people’s workforce for over 15 years. Mark served as a police officer for 30 years, including 10 as a child protection detective specialising in allegations involving people in positions of trust, and has worked as a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for 17 years. Mark is also a CEOP Ambassador, delivering training on online abuse issues. He has developed training for staff who work with children on the risks associated with staff behaviour on social media, as well as awareness training on the use of reasonable force, to help reduce the number of handling-related issues referred to the LADO, police or courts.

Course content:
📌How safer recruitment fits into the wider context of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
📌The scale of abuse, common characteristics of abusers, and how child sexual abusers typically operate within organisations, with a focus on the implications for recruitment.
📌The background and wider context including details and recommendations from the Bichard report (2004) that highlighted shortcomings in the recruitment of school caretaker Ian Huntley.
📌What is abuse?
📌Statistics and data.
📌The Finkelhor model.
📌Creating a culture of vigilance.
📌A safer recruitment process.
📌Making the right decisions – the cost of getting it wrong.

💙The course reflects the safer recruitment requirements in Part Three of Keeping Children Safe in Education (2026), which states: ‘governing bodies and proprietors should ensure that those involved with the recruitment and employment of staff to work with children have received appropriate safer recruitment training.’

💜Course content also meets the expectations set out in Annex C of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2026), which requires Designated Safeguarding Lead training to include ‘how to ensure safe recruitment’.

Course materials:
Each delegate will receive a comprehensive course workbook and supporting materials before attending the training to use on the day. 📖

Certificates will be issued on completion of the course. 🗞️

Cost: £100.00 per person.

Venue: Europa Lodge Conference Room, Bury Business Lodge. Barcroft Street, Bury. BL9 5BT.

To book and secure your place email [email protected]

05/10/2026

Introduction to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Back in Rochdale this evening for part one of this bespoke training delivered on behalf of Rochdale’s Early Years team.

Thank you everyone. 🙂 We had brilliant discussions and lots of opportunities to reflect on practice aligning it with the EYFS statutory framework and Government guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026.

Contextualising local thresholds, procedures and LSP priorities makes the training relevant to DSL’s working with children and families in Rochdale.

See you all next week for part two. 😌