NSPCC Learning Podcast

79: An introduction to contextual safeguarding

In 2015, Professor Carlene Firmin coined the term ‘contextual safeguarding’ to describe an approach to safeguarding young people that looks at additional ‘contexts’ for harm outside of the family home and beyond the control of a child’s parents and carers.In this podcast episode, we speak to Carlene about the concept of contextual safeguarding and how practitioners can incorporate contextual safeguarding practices into their work with children and families.💬 About the speakersProfessor Carlene Firmin MBE is a Professor of Social Work and Director of the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding at Durham University. She is also Co-Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Social Work, co-convener of a special interest group on Social Work and Adolescents for the European Social Work Research Association, a Global Ashoka Fellow, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Churchill Fellowship Advisory Council, and an Associate of Strathclyde University’s Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice. Her book, Contextual Safeguarding and Child Protection: Rewriting the Rules, won the Routledge Prize for a Sociology Monograph in 2020.Shirley Maginley is a Senior Consultant in the NSPCC’s Professional Learning Services, with over 20 years’ experience supporting professionals and organisations across sectors to strengthen their knowledge, policy and practice in keeping children safe. She draws on her experience in youth and community development to help organisations improve their safeguarding arrangements and create safer environments for children and young people across diverse settings.📚 Resources mentioned in this episode> Visit the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding website > Access further contextual safeguarding resources, including resources on context weighting, safety mapping and safety summits

78: Male experiences of domestic abuse

Men can be both survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse, and both experiences present distinct safeguarding challenges.Drawing on practice experience from the NSPCC Helpline and Childline, this podcast episode centres on male experiences of domestic abuse. You’ll learn about the challenges of working with male perpetrators of domestic abuse, the barriers that male survivors of abuse face when coming forward, and the effects of domestic abuse on parent-child relationships.You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.💬 About the speakersEmily Harrison is a Domestic Practice Advisor on the NSPCC Helpline, with extensive experience in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector. Her roles include service management, Specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA), Chair of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), and member of the Domestic Abuse Scrutiny Committee. She has also provided training for first responders, equipping them with the skills to support those affected by domestic abuse effectively.Adrian Somerville has been Helpline Practice Manager with the NSPCC for six years. Before this, he was a NSPCC Helpline Practitioner for over five years. Adrian is a qualified and accredited Counsellor, currently providing support to children and young adults in relation to anxiety and self-esteem issues. He has also previously worked with male survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse.Cormac Nolan is a Service Head with Childline. He holds responsibility for certain Childline bases delivering the live service as well as for the Childline website and social media.Stephen Pilling is a Helpline Practitioner at the NSPCC. Before joining the NSPCC, worked as a Group Leader in residential settings, supporting both adults and children with additional needs and disabilities.📚 Resources mentioned in this episode> Learn more about protecting children from domestic abuse> Learn how the NSPCC Helpline’s Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors support children and families experiencing domestic abuse Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros 

77: Safeguarding in a multi-academy trust

This podcast episode is hosted by the NSPCC’s Local Services Director Karen Squillino, who is also chair of the wellbeing and safeguarding committee for Lift Schools.  She spoke to Jill Fuller, Head of Safeguarding for Lift Schools and Habib Hussain, who is Lift Schools’ regional DSL for London and the south. The conversation covered: the safeguarding roles and responsibilities of a multi-academy trust the importance of DSLs sharing their experiences to support each other how to ensure DSLs are continuously learning and adapting to new safeguarding challenges the benefits and challenges of Lift Schools’ regional approach. You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website. 💬 About the speakers Karen Squillino has over 30 years safeguarding and child protection experience. She has been with the NSPCC since 2011 and currently serves as the Director of Local Services. In addition to her role at the NSPCC, Karen is a trustee at Lift Schools, where she chairs the Wellbeing & Safeguarding Committee. Jill Fuller is the Head of Safeguarding for Lift Schools with responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive safeguarding strategy across a network of 57 schools, monitoring and supporting safeguarding practices and contributing to the overall educational vision. Her experience spans education, children's social care and multi-agency partners, leading workforce transformation projects and driving rapid performance improvements in children's services. Habib Hussain has been in education for 21 years and spent 20 years in Lift Aylward. He is currently Deputy Head at Lift New Rickstones and Regional DSL for London and the South, working alongside 11 primary, secondary and special schools. Habib offers support and guidance to all the schools in his region and ensures they are compliant in all aspects of safeguarding and driving rapid performance. 📚 Resources mentioned in this episode > Find out more about Lift Schools > Take our designated safeguarding lead training   Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

76: Protecting boys from financially motivated sexual extortion

Online sexual extortion can be financially motivated sexual extortion and blackmail using both real and AI generated images of boys and young males. Although this is not a new issue the National Crime Agency and the NSPCC has seen an increase in the last two years of boys experiencing online sexual extortion.In this podcast episode, the NSPCC's Danielle Harris, Childline manager, discusses online sexual extortion with Marie Smith, who oversees the CEOP education programme based within the National Crime Agency.The discussion covered: what online sexual extortion is how to spot the signs how to support boys who are experiencing online sexual extortion how to report real and AI generated images. You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.💬 About the speakersDanielle Harris is the NSPCC's Childline Team Manager. Danielle has been part of the Childline family since 2018, starting out on the night service and moving up to Senior Supervisor before taking on their current role as Childline Team Manager.Marie Smith is a Senior Manager who oversees the CEOP education programme that's based within the National Crime Agency.📚 Resources mentioned in this episode> View the CEOP alert for education settings on financially motivated sexual extortion> Find out more about the Childline Behind the Screen campaign, raising awareness of the sexual coerced extortion of boys> Read the CEOP financially motivated sexual extortion guidance for parents and carers> Share Childline’s page for young people about trusting others online> Find out more about Report Remove> Read the UK government guidance on responding to incidents of sharing nudesIntro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros

75: Child criminal exploitation and the importance of early intervention

Child criminal exploitation (CCE) is a form of child abuse where a child or young person is forced or coerced to engage in criminal activity or commit any type of crime.In this episode, the NSPCC Helpline’s Service Head, Denise Ellis spoke to Tara Mellowes who is a Detective Constable in the exploitation team with Leicestershire Police. The discussion covered: what CCE is and the different forms it can take why children can be targets for CCE signs of CCE that professionals working with children should look out for why early intervention is so important and what that may look like how the police can respond to CCE. The episode was recorded in January 2025. Since then, the Crime and Policing Bill has been introduced into Parliament, which would introduce a new specific criminal offence of child criminal exploitation. This would target the adult as the primary offender in causing harm to the child by exploiting them to commit criminal activity.You can read this episode’s transcript on the NSPCC Learning website. 💬 About the speakersDenise Ellis is the service head for the NSPCC Helpline and has almost 43 years’ experience of working with children and families. She previously worked for Manchester Safeguarding Unit and currently delivers training to professionals on identifying the signs of child criminal exploitation.DC Tara Mellowes joined Leicestershire Police in 2020 and works in the field of child criminal exploitation helping vulnerable young people caught up in county lines. She is passionate about helping shape how we respond to and tackle child criminal exploitation and is proud to have been part of Leicestershire Police’s first prosecutions against CCE offenders.📚 Resources mentioned in this episode> Learn more about Childline> Find out more about the NSPCC Helpline> Take our elearning course on county lines > Learn more about county lines> Find out more about child criminal exploitation Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros