PCPW Safeguarding Awareness Training Day.

The day was all about deepening knowledge on a topic that many find so repulsive they cannot engage in it. How to better protect children from institutional Child Sex Abuse.  This was no party, no corporate jolly, this was work.  Some of those attending were already professionals in a relevant field who were perhaps looking for pointers to safeguard children more effectively, whilst others were relative newcomers to the subject and were there to better enable themselves to protect their own family members. No-one was present out of any obligation to an employer, but simply because they were curious enough to grasp an opportunity to widen their knowledge on the subject. Many had come from far away and had put their hands quite deep into their pockets to be there, not to mention spending long hours in travel. The very fact that they attended showed a level of genuine commitment and concern.   

By the time I arrived, there were plenty of people seated, talking among themselves. The atmosphere was a friendly, animated one and many embraces were exchanged when people recognised each other from previous events and conversations which was lovely to witness, and  made me realise just how much of a strong community we have become over the past few  years .That in itself was worth my  trip down from N Wales .If that was all I got from the day, it would have been enough. But the day was about far more than this. I knew, from conversations we’d had over recent months, how much this training session meant to Kim Isherwood, who had devised and laboured over it. The material encompassed so much of her own academic research which I’d often heard her speak about, and I recognised that it came from a profound place of dedication and passion within her. That much, I did know, but the delivery of it and more importantly, its reception by the audience would remain to be seen. Kim was looking to provide a fresh critical lens for us to try and comprehend the mindset of a perpetrator and the circumstances that allow them to flourish and appear to be successful in their chosen workplace or environment. But most of all, she wanted to highlight the trail of missed opportunities to safeguard that preceded the offences.

As an ex-teacher who has worked both in schools and private homes educating children, I was very invested in the subject. Over the years, I had some first-hand experience of the topic that Kim was to cover. I had even worked with the odd notable offender, one of whom was a headmaster. I understand the feeling of horror and bewilderment felt by teachers and parents alike when they realise that there has been a powerful  predator in their midst, prowling the corridors, scheming behind closed doors, plotting the next opportunistic encounter. Especially when, as in one case, suspicions had been voiced to the  LEA and the headmaster in question was still allowed to offend for another 2 years, as happened in my county recently. As a home tutor, I had experienced at least two disclosures by pupils and had seen the devastating effects of abuse.  I will never forget the 14 year old  girl who disclosed to me and the way she presented. Her beautiful long blonde hair looked fine from the front, but the back of her head comprised one huge ugly tangle. She had lost self-respect and interest in her appearance. She felt the urgent need for her abuser to be punished and wanted justice for what she had undergone.  After her court case collapsed, she became a recluse, and would not even let me into her home. She felt let down by the world.  This crime is so prevalent that there was no doubt that many others in the room would have had their own sorry  tales to tell, some of them  personal in the extreme.

But what haunted me most was that during my years as a home tutor, I was offered zero training. I had no first aid skills, no counselling skills and most importantly, no safeguarding training. And, despite the regulation that the child should never be alone in the house with a tutor—I frequently was, for various reasons. I still shudder when I think back to how vulnerable both myself and my pupils were. The system did not deem the work important enough to invest in financially. And yet, I was in a prime position to be an abuser. Support and monitoring weren’t apparent, and my credibility hinged on a current DBS certificate and the forms I filled, reports I wrote and meetings with service-providers that I attended. Predators are excellent at doing those things. They have to be   in order to stay in the game.

Despite having this experience and knowledge, I was of the mindset that we can never know it all when dealing with children. I was hungry for all the information that Kim Isherwood was about to share with us, and I was not disappointed. Everything that she set out to do, she achieved. The audience were lively and engaged, their contributions were thoughtful and at times brought fresh light to the subject. Kim developed her theme in a clear, explanatory fashion. She provided a workbook which outlined all the key points and contained academic references for the more curious. She gave those attending the chance to put their new skills to the test by plotting points on the Predator’s Timeline that she had devised, an activity that was really well-received. Her 16 year old son was sitting beside me at that point and he became passionately involved in it, and even said that his mother should have been a teacher, she was so good at it. Sharing that activity with him felt like the beginning of a breakthrough. If this young man had seized the heart of his mother’s arguments and concepts, and been eager to apply them, then there was hope for the world. I felt it was party time and that there should have been helium balloons, fireworks, party poppers and  and a big spread of food. This was one special moment and one that every teacher strives to achieve— their pupils’ total absorption in a topic. So kudos to his mum who produced that reaction.

The party materialised in more ways than one. The ballons and the fireworks were nowhere to be seen, but the heaving tables of tasty food were. The caterers had done us proud, and they weren’t the only ones. Everything had gone like a dream: lifts had been given, furniture put out and spirited away, trays of food carried without mishap, sound and lighting made optimal.   For any job that needed doing, there were plenty of volunteers ready to roll their sleeves up. And all that happened through commitment and a spirit of co-operation. It was a beautiful example of the wonderful things that people can achieve when they stand shoulder to shoulder. It had been a long day for us all, and the topic had been a dark, wretched one.  However,  if my experience was anything to go by, I would guess that most people would have come away from it energised by the new insights they had  acquired and the prospect of being in a better position to prevent ,rather than to address the aftermath of,  institutional Child Sex Abuse. That in itself was a mighty feeling and not easy to come by in a world that seems to be progressively negative on so many fronts.

When we eventually checked the gifts of money that we had been given, we were genuinely amazed by the generosity of the crowd. I think that everyone who supports and works for PCPW ,and those  who strive for a more just future for our children in whatever capacity,  will agree that it is days such as this that keep our engine running. We never came for a celebration, but somehow all the dynamics of the day turned it into one.   That day , we were all invited to think like a thief, not of cars or property, but  of childhood innocence. The most precious commodity of all and the most fragile. I for one cannot wait to see this training being rolled out to a wider public and such was its effect, I have no doubt that will happen before long .

Joan Ginsberg.