Module SOCI40320: SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AND MANAGING RISK

Department: Applied Social Sciences

SOCI40320: SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AND MANAGING RISK

Prerequisites

• Consolidation Module.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To enable students to develop effective and competent post-qualification (specialist level) practice, in depth, in safeguarding children and young people, and the management of risk. It is the fourth and final module in the first year of the programme, following the Multi-agency Working module, and is set at level 4.

Content

• Lectures & Small group work/plenary sessions:
• 1. The legal, policy and procedural frameworks for safeguarding children and young people and the management of risk, including information sharing with other agencies and networks;
• 2. The identification, evaluation and management of risks to children and young people, their families and carers, including issues of care and control and interventions to safeguard children and young people;
• 3. The well-being and quality of life of children and young people, at individual, family, group, community, and society levels;
• 4. The rights of service users and carers and how to embed service user-focused values in safeguarding work;
• 5. The relevance of professional codes of conduct for safeguarding work.
• Work-based practice:
• 1. Discussion and analysis (with the line manager/practice mentor) of case examples from the student’s safeguarding work, including the management of risk and multi-agency/multi-disciplinary working;
• 2. The development of critical understanding in relation to the application of knowledge, skills and values in safeguarding work and the management of risk, including multi-agency working, and how to extend and integrate these to deliver best outcomes for children and young people; and
• 3. Observation of the student’s safeguarding work.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module students will be expected to be able to demonstrate:
• 1. The ability to work effectively within legal, policy and procedural frameworks, and in situations involving risk, uncertainty, conflict and contradiction, sharing information appropriately with other agencies/networks and overcoming any barriers to communication (SSS2 & KS4);
• 2. Professional practice which aims to ensure that children and young people are free from harm (identifying, evaluating and managing risks to children and young people, their families and carers, balancing issues of care and control and intervening to reduce any risks identified), and promotes their well-being and quality of life (SSS6);
• 3. Professional practice that promotes the rights of service users and carers, and embeds service user-focused values in safeguarding policy and practice (SSS14);
• 4. Acceptance of personal responsibility in relation to professional codes of conduct, including the ability to address any ethical issues arising in relation to professional practice and research (KS5).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures & Small group work/plenary sessions:
• Extended lectures, including small group work and plenary sessions, which run throughout the module, provide students with key information and opportunities for discussion/skills enhancement in relation to the knowledge, skills and values involved in the safeguarding of children and young people and the management of risks.
• Directed reading & Independent study tasks:
• Directed reading (as well as time to undertake wider, self-directed reading) provides students with opportunities to extend and deepen their knowledge in relation to specific aspects of safeguarding practice and the management of risks. Independent study tasks support this learning by requiring students to research particular questions and issues, or apply their knowledge to practice examples.
• Work-based practice:
• All students on the programme will be engaged in the safeguarding of children and young people and the management of risk within their employment settings during this module. Through the supervision and support provided by their line manager and practice mentor, respectively, this will enable them to extend and deepen their critical understanding of the application of knowledge, skills and values in post-qualifying (specialist level) safeguarding practice within children’s services.
• Reflexive Commentary:
• This form of assessment, which incorporates a report on one piece of the student’s safeguarding work, by their practice mentor, requires students to write critically and reflectively about the way that they have used knowledge, skills and values in their practice, with a particular focus on the perspective of service users and carers and multi-agency/inter-disciplinary work, thereby assessing the student’s achievement of all of the module’s learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Feedback on independent study tasks and other exercises in small group work within extended lectures, and from practice mentors following direct observation of practice.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University