Adults who work with children and young people
The training is in place. The procedures are clear. What’s harder is the conversation itself, with colleagues, with parents, with the child sitting in front of you. This session is built around that.
What this session is
A half-day session built around my own story, explored in stages, designed to help the adults closest to children understand what abuse can really look like, why it so often goes unseen, and what creates the conditions for a child to feel safe enough to speak.
This isn’t policy or procedure. It’s a safe space to look at the uncomfortable truths underneath this subject, the ones that rarely get talked about openly, and to have the conversations that often get avoided, between colleagues, with the parents you work with, and with the children themselves. What we’ve noticed is that most people don’t avoid those conversations because they don’t care, they avoid them because they don’t feel confident having them, and the session is built to change that.
This session is relevant to anyone whose role puts them close to a young person’s life, including teachers, pastoral and support staff, social workers, police officers, foster carers, and safeguarding leads.
The job titles are different. The responsibility is the same.
Who this is for
Why lived experience changes everything
When I was eight years old, I was sexually abused by a thirty-five-year-old man who was known to my family. It continued for around a year. Nobody knew. I showed no signs. I kept the secret through my childhood and teenage years and spoke up for the first time at twenty-seven.
Reflecting on that experience, I know that confident, informed adults around me could have changed my journey significantly, helping me speak up earlier or at the very least feel safe enough to disclose and access the support I needed.
That understanding is what I bring into the room, as someone who lived it and who has spent years helping others understand what it actually feels like from the inside.
I open the session with a visual that makes the scale of the silence around this subject impossible to ignore, and it reframes the question everything else is built around.
Not: how do we stop this from happening?
But: how do we create the conditions where a child feels safe enough to speak?
The silence is where the problem lives. Understanding what creates it, and what breaks it, is where the real work begins.
What the session is built around
The three-pronged approach
The session introduces a practical framework built around three groups.
Staff and professionals
understanding what they’re actually looking at, and building the confidence to name it and respond.
Parents and carers
understanding their role in keeping the conversation open at home, so children have somewhere to go beyond the professionals in their lives.
Young people
understanding their own safety, their voice, and
who they can tell.
When each group understands their part, they create what I describe as a cocoon of safety around the young person,
so that whoever a child chooses to go to, they have somewhere to turn.
What people take from the session
The session speaks to the person, not just the professional. Some adults in the room are carrying their own experiences with this subject, sometimes unknowingly, and the session reaches the human as much as it reaches the working role.
It changes what a victim is believed to look like. Most of us carry a fixed picture of who this happens to and how it shows up, often a withdrawn or visibly distressed child, when the reality is far more varied. The session breaks down those stereotypes and the nuances underneath them, so that adults stop looking only for the rare and obvious and start seeing what’s actually in front of them.
It builds recognition and the confidence to act on it. This isn’t about a lack of knowledge but about the gap between knowing something in theory and recognising it in a real child or a real conversation, and hearing a real story helps adults not only spot a situation but feel equipped to respond to it with empathy.
It reduces the professional anxiety that builds up around this subject. People often avoid these conversations, with each other and with the children they’re responsible for, because they don’t feel confident having them. The session gives teams a safe space to talk openly through the discomfort, and come out the other side better equipped.
The conversation also continues long after the session ends, in the team meeting where someone raises a case differently, in the office still talking about it days later, and in the parent who goes home and has a clearer conversation with their own children that evening.
Delivered as a half-day, four hours, in person, with the extended format allowing time for group discussion, practical activities, video elements, and the kind of reflection that doesn’t happen in a one-hour training slot.
A maximum of thirty participants keeps discussion meaningful and participation genuine throughout. Where timetables or organisational needs require it, the session can be adapted. Get in touch to talk through what would work for your setting.
How the session works
After the session
These sessions can surface things. Someone in the room might recognise something in what they’ve heard, either about a child they work with or something closer to home, and the session is structured to handle that with care. I’m always available to support your team in any conversations that follow.
Get in touch
If this feels relevant to your team or setting
Get in touch below to talk through what a session would look like for your group.
Frequently asked questions
Who is this session for?
Anyone who works with or alongside children and young people, including teachers, pastoral and support staff, social workers, police officers, foster carers, and safeguarding leads. If your role puts you close to a young person’s life, this session is relevant to you.
How long is the session?
It’s designed as a half-day, around four hours, which allows enough time for the content to breathe, for group discussion, and for people to reflect on what they’ve heard rather than just receive it. Where timetables require it, I’m happy to discuss adapting the format while still covering the core content.
How many people can attend?
A maximum of thirty participants, because keeping the group at this size means discussion stays meaningful and participation stays genuine throughout.
What does the session cover?
My own story is used as a carefully structured case study, explored in stages, with each stage creating space to consider what might have been noticed, what might have been missed, and why. Alongside that, the session introduces a practical framework built around three groups, staff and professionals, parents and carers, and young people, and how each plays a part in creating safety around a young person.
Does this align with statutory safeguarding guidance?
Yes, the content is designed to complement and support the requirements set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). If you’d like to talk through how the session aligns with your specific safeguarding framework, I’m happy to have that conversation before you book.
Is this CPD accredited?
If CPD accreditation is important for your team or organisation, please raise this when you get in touch and we can discuss what’s possible.
How is this different from standard safeguarding training?
Most training focuses on procedure, legislation, and identifying indicators, and this session starts from a different place. It uses real lived experience to close the gap between knowing and doing, the gap that exists when someone has the training but still doesn’t feel equipped for the conversation in front of them. It’s not a replacement for statutory training. It’s what adds depth to it.
Can this be adapted for different settings?
Yes, a school staff team, a social work team, a police unit, and a foster carer group will all come to this work from different places. Get in touch to talk through what would work best for your group.
How much does it cost?
Pricing depends on the size of the group and any specific requirements. Get in touch and I’ll put together a proposal that suits your organisation.
