SaFest 2025 weeklong programme

09:00   Welcome to SaFest 2025 - Nick, Tina, Jackie and Anna (The SaFest Team)

09:15   Welcome from Becky Hopkins, Deputy Director, Head of Children's Social Care

09:30   Beyond the Screen: Autistic Youth, Online Lived Experience, a hidden world - Alistair Barfield, CEO and founder, Deflect and Protect CiC

In this session I will guide you through the unique lived experiences of autistic young people, looking at the myriad of factors that lead to disenfranchisement.

I will look at young peoples online interactions through social media and gaming. Then we will look at  number of modern online hate movements through the perspective of autistic lived experience, exploring why these movements might appeal to those who are disenfranchised.

Finally we will discuss best practise responding as well as how to talk about the internet with vulnerable young people.

10:30   Speaker to be confirmed

11:30   Break

11:45   Hannah Ashford, NDADA

12:30   Lunch break 

13:00    Speaker to be confirmed 

13:30   Using Socia Pedagogy In Children’s Homes In The UK- inspired by Western European Practices - Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust

Presentation overview:

• • • Where the idea came from to set up children’s homes in the UK, and our first exposure to social pedagogy 

• • • Visits to European children’s homes that used social pedagogy and what we learnt 

• • • High level similarities and differences between social pedagogy practice in the UK and Western Europe 
    • How social pedagogy can help tackle the challenges we see across the UK care sector

Potential discussion points:

• • • How we are using social pedagogy in our homes e.g. focus on education, recruitment principles, training, autonomy of practice, etc.
    • What lessons we have learnt about setting up our first home

14:30    SaFest on the sofa | Mavis' story

15:30   Break 

15:45   Amber Canham, NHS Trauma Informed Project Lead Practitioner

More information coming soon

16:45   SaFest on the sofa (North) | Wrap up the day

17:00   Close of day

09:00   Welcome to SaFest 2025 - Nick, Tina, Jackie and Anna (The SaFest Team)

09:30  Responding to technology assisted child sexual abuse - Lawrence Jordan, Marie Collins Foundation

Responding to online sexual abuse can be challenging when information is limited and there may be uncertainty around the tech or apps being used. This presentation will highlight current best practice when working with victims of online sexual abuse and provide practitioners with information that will support the assessment of online risk post sexual abuse.  

10:30  Speaker to be confirmed

11:15   Break

11:30   Alex Burgess, Plymouth University

12:30   Together For Childhoods Place - A Childhood-Based Approach To                      Sexual Abuse | Dr Claire White, NSPCC 

13:30   Lunch break 

14:00   SaFest on the Sofa 

14:30   The new exploitation disruption toolkit - Lin Sands, NWG

A large proportion of Lin’s time has been to modernise and update the NWG Exploitation Toolkit that was one of the first to be developed in this country.

Lin has worked with the NWG team/members to make the toolkit more accessible for all partners/individuals working in this field; Lin will provide you with a demonstration of the resource and she will be explaining how the toolkit can help/support you in your work to safeguard children, young people and their families from Exploitation.

Lin will be sharing some real-life case examples of how creative, effective and collaborative thinking has enabled successful disruption to occur.

15:30   Break

15:45  Equality, diversity and inclusions in exploitation - Sukhdev Rathore, NWG

Using Data to Drive Equality: This is a conversation starter about using data to explore disproportionality in responses to child exploitation.

Aims: We will explore how data can help us understand:

• • Who is over- or under-represented in services for child exploitation.
  • The influence of gender, ethnicity, and disability on these issues.

17:30   Wrap up of the day and what's to come!

09:00   Welcome to SaFest 2025 - Nick, Tina, Jackie and Anna (The SaFest Team)

09:15   Opening address - speaker to be confirmed

09:30   Amit Kalley, For working parents

10:30   Speaker to be confirmed

11:30   Break

11:45   Speaker to be confirmed

12:45   SaFest on the Sofa 

13:00   Lunch break

13:30   Early intervention and parental engagement through education - Lewis Webb, Devon Education Services Safeguarding team - more information coming soon

14:30    SaFest on the Sofa | A conversation with Penny Goldsby-West and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) students from the Virtual School

At SaFest, Penny will be joined by some of the UASC and young people, who will be sharing their experiences of arriving in the UK and reflecting on how we, as a community, can make them feel safe, welcomed, and valued.

15:30   Break

15:45   Speaker to be confirmed

16:45   Wrap up of the day and what's to come!

09:00   Welcome to SaFest 2025 - Nick, Tina, Jackie and Anna (The SaFest Team)

09:15   Opening address - speaker to be confirmed

09:30  Supervision Superpowers: Embracing Solution Focused Supervision - Alice Ayres, social worker within the Therapeutic Fostering Team and Paul Wiggins, Practice supervisor, DBIT, Essex Solution Focused Centre

In this dynamic and interactive workshop, we invite you to explore the art of Solution-Focused Supervision. Our goal is to equip you with practical tools, empower your supervisory skills, and enhance your ability to guide and support supervisees effectively.

Key Workshop Components:

• • • Dive into foundational concepts of Solution-Focused Supervision.
    • Understand the unique power of solution-focused approaches in the supervisory context.
    • Engage in interactive practice exercises that reinforce learning.
    • Practice solution-focused techniques to enhance your supervisory toolkit.
    • Q&A Session, ask questions, share insights, and learn from fellow participants.

Remember, this workshop is not just about theory—it’s about practical application and empowerment. We look forward to sharing this transformative experience with you! 🌟

11:00   Break

11:15 Increasing Safety Through Our Questions - Greg Oberbeck, Practice Supervisor, Essex Solution Focused Centre

Whenever we are faced with a risky situation, we often ask a lot of questions to understand what happened, how it happened and the impact this has had on those involved. This is an essential part of our work. What we are often left with is a very clear description of things that we want to have less of or even remove completely in an effort to keep people safe. 

In this workshop, we will be looking at some questions from a Solution Focused perspective that will help us balance our curiosity and help us to work with people to find ways to increase safety in situations of risk.  You will leave this workshop with a framework to apply in your work as well as some questions that you will be able to start using the next time you find yourself managing a risky situation.

12:30   Safeguarding on transport - Joe Clay, Railway Children 

More information coming soon

13:30   Lunch break

14:00   Safeguarding Without Boarders...Contextual Safeguarding Across TheSouth-West Peninsula - Nick Meller (Devon CC), Katie Buckley (Torbay CC)  and Natasha James (Cornwall CC)

15:00   SaFest on the Sofa 

15:30   Break

15:45   Speaker to be confirmed

16:45   Wrap up of the day and what's to come!

09:00   Welcome to SaFest 2025 - Nick, Tina, Jackie and Anna (The SaFest Team)

09:15   Places to go and things to do - Claire Richardson, Devon Participation team and Devon Youth Council 

More information coming soon

09:45   Safe isn't simple - talking about safety to young people with SLCN - Emma Black and Elinor Pepperell, Bridges

Talking about safety with young people who have Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) isn't easy. This session explores the complexity of the language and concepts that crop up in conversations about safety.  We'll share some practical strategies for making these tricky conversations more accessible and meaningful.

11:00   Break

11:15   Speaker to be confirmed

12:15   Speaker to be confirmed

13:00   SaFest on the Sofa

13:00   Lunch break

14:00   Speaker to be confirmed

15:00   Wrap up of the day and week