Safeguarding
The vision of Slough Children First is that all children in Slough should be safe, secure and successful and that remains our focus. Despite the current coronavirus pandemic, our priority is to ensure the safety of children and young people in Slough so the Trust is currently operating business as usual. We are closely monitoring the situation and as it unfolds we will review our services to ensure our critical functions including safeguarding are prioritised.
Many of our staff our now working from home unless it absolutely necessary that they are in the office and, where possible, technology is being used to replace face-to-face contact. However, not all these contacts can be replaced. To effectively safeguard children young people, visits to those children, young people and their families will still take place where appropriate.
If you are concerned about the welfare of a child or young person, please call our Referral and Assessment Service on 01753 875362, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, or 01344 786543 outside of these hours.
Government advice
The latest advice from the government is that if someone in your household has symptoms of Covid-19 – a new, persistent cough, a temperature over 37.8 degrees or a loss of smell or taste – the entire household must self isolate for ten days. If you have been a close contact of someone who has tested positive or developed symptoms then you must isolate for ten days, but your household does not have to unless you start to develop symptoms or test positive.
For the latest information on social distancing, please see Government stay at home guidance.
Nationally, Public Health England are leading on the health response. They are updating their website daily with the latest information, please go to Covid-19 information for the public.
In the meantime we would like to stress the importance of usual illness prevention:
- Wash your hands often – with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. This is particularly important after taking public transport.
- avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in a bin. See Catch it, Bin it, Kill it.
- clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces in the home and work environment.
Covid-19 and your wellbeing – Coping guides for children, young people and families
In difficult times like these, looking after our mental health is just as important as taking care of our physical health. It’s normal for everyone to feel anxious at the moment, and children and young people of all ages are just as affected as adults by the worry and stress coronavirus can cause.
Families may also be overwhelmed by the constant influx of information and misinformation, online and elsewhere. Yet helping children and young people to build their resilience and to deal with change and uncertainty has never been more vital.
Children and young people are having to cope with sudden change in their social lives, daily routines and access to education while families face challenges associated with spending extended periods together at home.
To support the wellbeing of children and young people during the coronavirus pandemic, East Berkshire CCG has put together three concise guides for parents and carers and for children and young people themselves. The guides list some of the best reliable and free sources of information and advice to help children and young people and their families to cope with life under lockdown.
Download the coping guides.
One Slough – our community response
Slough CVS is helping to build community resilience in response to the coronavirus crisis through the One Slough project. It is a challenging time for everyone and the they want to help local people to support one another and provide essential services to people who need it.
Slough Borough Council and Slough CVS are working with key local community groups and organisations so there can be a coordinated effort across the borough to organise volunteers and those who need help.
They are planning to link up with many more local organisations and groups so they can build on the fantastic work already being done across the borough.
It is important that all our efforts to help those in need are organised through a collaborative approach that we can act in line with a spread prevention approach.