General Research & Information

Factsheets

The NSPCC have a varied range of topics outlined in factsheets that give key information covering a range of themes such as child maltreatment, law, legislation, barriers to reporting, serious case reviews and learning from reviews, safe recruitment, neglect, emotional and physical abuse, working with children and families, current research etc. These are regularly updated and can be used to support practice.

• Visit the NSPCC Library Online

Ofsted messages from research: The Voice of the child / Listening to Children in Serious Case reviews

Key findings:

• Child not seen frequently enough (assessment skills)
• Agencies did not listen to adults who knew the child well (listening and responding – all the way through)
• Parents and carers prevented professionals from seeing and listening to child (hostile and evasive families)
• Practitioners focused on needs of parents particularly vulnerable parents (Maintaining child focus – all through training)
• Agencies did not interpret findings well enough (assessment and analysis)

Read the full report at Ofsted's website

Ofsted – ages of concern lessons from SCR: October 2011 - focused on two age groups (babies under one and Young People over 14 years)

Key findings – Babies:

• Shortcomings in timeliness and quality of pre-birth assessments
• Risks resulting from parents own needs underestimated
• Insufficient support for young parents
• Role of fathers marginalised
• Need for improved assessment of and support for parenting capacity
• Particular lessons for both commissioning and provider health agencies, whose practitioners are often the main or only agencies involved with the family in the early months
• Practitioners under estimated the fragility of the baby

Key findings - 14 years and above:

• Agencies focussed on YP challenging behaviour, seeing them as hard to reach or rebellious, rather than trying to understand the causes of the behaviour and the need for sustained support.
• YP treated as adults rather than being considered as children, because of confusion about the young person's age and legal status or a lack of age appropriate facilities
• A co-ordinated approach to young people's needs was lacking and practitioners had not always recognised the important contribution of their agency in making this happen.

Read the full report at Ofsted's website

Assessment

Ofsted learning lessons from SCR 2009-10 – published October 2010

Ofsted – What about the children? (March 2013)

Neglect