In the second week of November, asphaleia's HR & Safeguarding departments joined together to deliver our first HR & Safeguarding conference week for staff.
The conference comprised of daily bulletins with resources and learning on different areas of safeguarding within our organisation. Throughout the week, staff were also invited to attend and participate in capsule of knowledge sessions - these were impactive and interactive sessions where staff could discuss the learning and walk through some example scenarios relating to policy and practice.
why HR & safeguarding?
Safeguarding is a fundamental aspect of our organisation, and our staff, volunteers and foster carers are actively involved in maintaining our safeguarding standards – you can’t have one without the other. Through our combined Safeguarding and HR functions, we ensure that training, resources, information and guidance is provided and accessible to staff so safeguarding responsibilities can be effectively carried out. This collaborative approach helps create a safe and supportive environment for everyone.
There are four main areas to a safe organisation:
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Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults – recognising and responding to risks, policy, roles, responsibilities
Safe people – safer recruitment of staff, volunteers, contractors
Safe premises and places – risk assessments, property checks, fire drills
Safe children and vulnerable adults – Awareness raising and education
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This year, we focused on:
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Policy, supervision, mentoring, observations
Promoting a safeguarding culture
Supporting and monitoring internal and external reporting processes
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It was a successful week and staff gave positive feedback, such as:
"It was interesting and a good idea giving staff the opportunity to learn more."
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"The 1 interactive session I was able to join was really good."
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"Some great resources shared that will be utilised! Thank you."
We are looking forward to more learning in this area during HR & Safeguarding week in November 2025.