Teachers must be ready to support abused and vulnerable children in school return, NSPCC warns

Children’s minister Vicky Ford said although schools had remained open for the most vulnerable of children throughout lockdown, ensuring those at risk of abuse at the hands of those they lived with were safe was a major factor in getting children back to school in September.

It comes as the NSPCC reported that during the coronavirus lockdown, reports of physical abuse to the charity rose by 53 per cent.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post Ms Ford said: “That is precisely why we kept schools open for vulnerable children. It’s also why we did a massive project with NSPCC, we put £1.6m into their helpline and a huge awareness campaign so that people knew who to contact if they saw a child at risk of harm.”

But she said that the risks posed to some children when forced to be at home with potential perpetrators had been of concern as teachers were often the ones to make safeguarding referrals if they spotted the signs of abuse.

And said: “We’ve been very aware [of the risk], it’s one of the reasons we need to get children back.”

In a report released today the NSPCC said its helpline received 1,066 contacts about physical abuse on average each month between April and July, compared with a monthly average of 696 before lockdown.

The NSPCC also found a rise in the number of people getting in touch and the number of counselling sessions held about child sexual abuse within the family during lockdown.

And it also said there were indications that child suicide deaths may have increased during lockdown, but it was too early to call this a trend.

There were 26 probable child suicides during the 82 days before lockdown, and a further 25 in the first 56 days of lockdown in England, the charity said, citing research from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) Programme.

In 12 of the 25 post-lockdown deaths, factors related to coronavirus or lockdown were thought to have played some part.

These included restrictions on education and other activities, disruption to care and support services, tensions at home and isolation.

Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “As pupils return to education, we need to be prepared to make sure schools and teachers, children’s social care and other safeguarding partners are ready to support every young person who has suffered during lockdown.”

It comes after a BBC Panorama investigation with charity Women’s Aid found two-thirds of women in abusive relationships suffered more violence from their partners during the pandemic.

Three-quarters of victims also said lockdown made it harder for them to escape their abusers.

In Scotland teachers have been given training to help them spot signs of domestic abuse as children return to classrooms.

Ms Ford also said that while the Government was confident it was safe for schools to return next month, local leaders in areas where restrictions had been imposed would have some flexibility based on the risk.

She said: “We know that the risks are incredibly low, and indeed as the chief medical officer said over the weekend and indeed the chief medical officers from all four countries – not just England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – have said, the risk to children of being back at school versus Covid is far lower than the risk to children of being away from school.”

But she added: “If we have areas where there has been an outbreak, that’s when it becomes the local decisions, to understand what is the best decision in the area, that is where they will be looking really closely.”

Yesterday Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said that closing schools again in areas of any imposed local lockdowns would be “the absolute last resort”.

Mr Williamson said: “We’d expect to see schools closed as a very last resort.

“We know that children have missed out on so much by not being in school, we know that children have missed being with their friends and being with their teachers, and having the opportunity to learn in wonderful classrooms such as this.

“So, we would see schools closing as the absolute last resort.”

But a No 10 spokesman said: “Obviously we would need to look at the local area and it would be done on a case by case basis.

“We’ve been clear about any suspected cases and how we would deal with them and if there was a case where… children weren’t able to go to school, we’ve been clear.

“We expect the school to provide remote education and Nick Gibb (minister for school standards), set out during his interviews the process we would go through if we were to find an outbreak in a school, so isolating students, testing those in the locale – who they’ve been sitting close to, testing their teachers and so on.”

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James Mitchinson