Supporting Safe Practice, Enabling Critical Awareness and Taking Care of the Safeguarding Workforce

Purpose and Scope

This document sets universal standards for reflective safeguarding supervision that can be applied in children’s homes across England. These standards are designed to support residential child’s home  providers in meeting their statutory obligations under The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Quality Standards framework.

Reflective supervision allows time to move from the often complex and challenging tasks related to safeguarding matters, to focusing on the staff member’s reflection on their own approach and practice, thoughts and emotional challenges.

The Value of Effective Safeguarding Supervision

Effective support and supervision can:

• Keep a focus on the child’s safeguarding needs and outcomes
• Acknowledge and help address the emotional impact of the work
• Provide support following particularly complex or distressing cases
• Provide a forum for challenging views and exploring other possibilities and perspectives
• Provide a forum for identifying what works and what needs to develop
• Avoid delays in taking or following up action
• Support staff wellbeing and reduce burnout in emotionally demanding roles
• Build confidence in decision-making and professional judgment

It is recognised that each children’s home will have its own supervision policies and organisational culture. These standards can therefore be used to inform, strengthen or supplement existing supervision arrangements and policies within your setting.

Core Principles of Reflective Safeguarding Supervision

The following ten principles form the foundation of effective safeguarding supervision in children’s homes. Each principle is essential to creating a supervision culture that protects children, supports staff, and promotes excellence in residential children’s homes.

1. Organisational Responsibility for Supervision Arrangements

Principle: Each children’s home is responsible for ensuring arrangements are in place to supervise and support staff working with children and young people.

Implementation:

Registered managers and registered persons must establish written supervision policies that align with these standards and meet the requirements of Regulation 33 of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. These policies should clearly set out:

• How staff will be supported through reflective safeguarding supervision
• The methods and techniques to be employed (one-to-one sessions, group supervision, peer supervision, case discussions)
• Frequency and duration expectations for different staff groups
• The roles and responsibilities of supervisors and supervisees
• Documentation and record-keeping requirements
• Processes for escalating concerns identified during supervision

Ofsted inspections under the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) will evaluate whether supervision is critically reflective, safe, emotionally supportive and appropriately challenging.

2. Child-Focused Safeguarding Outcomes

Principle: Supervision should be focused on safeguarding outcomes for the child(ren).

Implementation:

Reflective safeguarding supervision must maintain the child’s welfare, safety and developmental progress as the primary consideration. Giving focus to safeguarding outcomes within supervision:

• Provides clarity on actions that need to be taken to protect and support children
• Helps staff feel supported and increases their confidence in safeguarding practice
• Develops a sense of empowerment in their work with vulnerable children
• Positively influences approach to decision-making regarding children’s welfare
• Strengthens professional relationships with children, families and partner agencies

Supervisors should ensure that discussion of each child includes consideration of their current risks, protective factors, progress against care plan objectives, and any emerging safeguarding concerns.

3. Relationship-Based Approach

Principle: Reflective safeguarding supervision is relationship-based.

Implementation:

Evidence consistently shows that relationships are a key source of resilience when dealing with emotionally challenging issues such as child protection. A relationship-based approach to supervision recognises that:

• Trust and mutual respect between supervisor and supervisee are foundational
• The quality of the supervisory relationship directly influences staff wellbeing and retention
• Effective relationships enable honest reflection and professional vulnerability
• Consistency in supervisor-supervisee pairings supports deeper understanding over time

Children’s homes should aim to provide continuity of supervisor where possible, and ensure sufficient time for supervisory relationships to develop authentically. Both parties share responsibility for nurturing and maintaining the quality of this professional relationship.

4. Confident Access to Safeguarding Supervision

Principle: Staff can expect to confidently have access to safeguarding supervision to help them practice safely.

Implementation:

Safeguarding children is an emotionally challenging aspect of residential child care work. Staff must know that they can access reflective supervision when they need it, particularly following critical incidents or when facing complex safeguarding dilemmas.

It is important to recognise the difference between line management supervision and reflective safeguarding supervision:

• Line management supervision is often task-oriented, focusing on performance management, rota management, compliance requirements and operational matters
• Reflective safeguarding supervision offers emotional support, opportunity to reflect and learn from experiences, and clarity on the values and approaches that underpin practice

Both forms of supervision are necessary, but they serve different functions. Children’s homes should ensure staff understand when and how to access each type of support, and that safeguarding supervision is available outside of scheduled sessions when urgent situations arise.

5. Regular Protected Time and Space

Principle: Staff should have regular, planned protected time and space for reflective safeguarding supervision.

Implementation:

In accordance with Regulation 33 of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and National Minimum Standards, children’s homes must provide supervision at the following minimum frequencies:

Staff Group	Minimum Frequency
Established staff (employed 6+ months)	1.5 hours one-to-one monthly
New staff (first 6 months)	One-to-one fortnightly
Agency/relief staff	After every 8 shifts worked
Registered managers	Monthly with responsible individual

Table 1: Minimum supervision frequencies for children’s home staff

Supervision time must be protected and uninterrupted. This means:

• Scheduling supervision in advance and recording it in staff diaries
• Ensuring adequate staffing levels so supervisees can fully engage without operational distractions
• Providing a private, comfortable space conducive to reflective discussion
• Minimising cancellations and rescheduling promptly when unavoidable
• Using additional group supervision or peer supervision to supplement individual sessions

6. Learning Culture: Recognising Excellence and Learning from Mistakes

Principle: Reflective supervision supports an open culture of learning, recognising good practice and using mistakes to learn and develop.

Implementation:

Creating a psychologically safe supervision environment enables staff to:

• Share examples of practice they are proud of and understand what made it effective
• Discuss situations that did not go as planned without fear of punitive response
• Analyse the contextual factors that influenced both successes and challenges
• Develop resilience and adaptability in their safeguarding practice
• Contribute to organisational learning and continuous improvement

Supervisors should actively encourage reflection on both positive and challenging experiences. When mistakes occur, the focus should be on understanding contributory factors, identifying learning points, and supporting professional development rather than blame.

This approach aligns with Ofsted’s expectations that children’s homes demonstrate a culture of continuous improvement and that leadership responds constructively to challenges.

7. Supporting and Enabling Professional Challenge

Principle: Reflective safeguarding supervision supports and enables professional challenge.

Implementation:

Local and national serious case reviews consistently highlight the absence of professional challenge as a contributing factor to safeguarding failures. Children’s homes staff may need to challenge decisions made by:

• Local authority children’s social care teams
• Health professionals
• Education providers
• Police or other agencies
• Colleagues within their own organisation

Reflective supervision provides a space to:

• Explore concerns about decisions that may not be in a child’s best interests
• Consider multiple perspectives and alternative approaches
• Build confidence to raise concerns through appropriate channels
• Practice how to articulate professional concerns effectively
• Understand when to use informal resolution versus formal escalation processes

Supervisors should familiarise themselves with local escalation and resolution policies (often provided by Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships) and support staff to use these processes when professional disagreement arises.

8. Joint Responsibility for the Supervisory Relationship

Principle: The supervisor and supervisee share a joint responsibility for the supervisory relationship.

Implementation:

Effective supervision requires active participation from both parties. Each brings distinct but complementary responsibilities:

Supervisor responsibilities:

• Create a trusting, non-judgmental space for reflection
• Facilitate critical thinking and professional curiosity
• Provide appropriate challenge balanced with support
• Ensure supervisory discussions link to children’s outcomes
• Maintain appropriate boundaries and confidentiality
• Document supervision appropriately

Supervisee responsibilities:

• Prepare for supervision sessions by reflecting on practice
• Engage honestly and openly with the supervision process
• Bring concerns, dilemmas and successes to discussion
• Be receptive to feedback and challenge
• Act on agreed actions between sessions
• Contribute to the quality of the supervisory relationship.

Both parties should feel confident to give feedback on the supervision process itself, including what is working well and what could be improved. This meta-conversation about supervision strengthens the relationship and improves effectiveness.

9. Recognition and Support for Vicarious Trauma

Principle: The supervisor ensures the support function is met, including awareness and recognition of vicarious trauma.

Implementation:

Working with children who have experienced trauma, abuse or neglect inevitably impacts staff emotionally and psychologically. Supervisors must be alert to signs of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout, including:

• Changes in emotional responses or increased cynicism
• Physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches or sleep disturbance
• Intrusive thoughts about children’s experiences
• Reduced empathy or emotional numbing
• Difficulty maintaining professional boundaries
• Increased sick leave or reduced performance

Effective supervision addresses the emotional impact of the work by:

• Normalising emotional responses to traumatic material
• Providing space to process difficult feelings in a contained way
• Recognising the cumulative impact of multiple challenging cases
• Identifying when additional support may be needed (such as counseling, occupational health or workload adjustment)
• Promoting self-care strategies and work-life balance
• Connecting staff wellbeing to quality of care for children

Supervisors should receive training in recognising and responding to vicarious trauma, and organisations should have clear referral pathways for staff who require additional support.

10. Confidentiality with Clear Exceptions

Principle: Discussions in reflective supervision should be confidential unless risk is identified.

Implementation:

Confidentiality within supervision enables staff to speak openly about their practice, uncertainties and emotional responses. However, confidentiality has necessary boundaries. Supervisors must act when:

1. A child or family member is at significant risk of harm
2. There is unsafe practice placing people at risk
3. There is evidence of illegal activity
4. There are serious concerns about staff conduct or fitness to practice
5. Professional registration or regulatory requirements necessitate disclosure

These exceptions to confidentiality should be clearly explained at the commencement of the supervisory relationship and reinforced through supervision agreements. Staff should understand that breaking confidentiality in these circumstances is not a breach of trust but a professional and legal obligation.

Supervision records should be stored securely, with access limited to those with legitimate need. The level of detail recorded should balance accountability with the need for psychological safety in supervision discussions.

Documentation and Record Keeping

Supervision sessions must be documented in accordance with Regulation 37 (record keeping) of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015

. Effective supervision records should include:

• Date, duration and attendees
• Key themes and areas of discussion
• Specific children or cases discussed (with appropriate cross-reference to children’s files)
• Analysis and reflection demonstrated
• Agreed actions with timescales and responsible persons
• Review of previous actions
• Staff development needs identified
• Date of next supervision

Records should be signed by both supervisor and supervisee and stored securely with appropriate access controls. Supervision records may be reviewed during Ofsted inspections to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of supervision practice.

Supervisor Training and Competence

Effective safeguarding supervision requires specific knowledge, skills and values. Children’s homes should ensure that staff undertaking supervisory responsibilities have:

• Appropriate experience in residential child care and safeguarding practice
• Knowledge of child development, trauma and attachment
• Understanding of the legislative and regulatory framework for children’s homes
• Skills in reflective practice, critical analysis and professional challenge
• Training in supervision models and techniques
• Awareness of vicarious trauma and staff wellbeing
• Commitment to their own continuing professional development

Supervisors should themselves receive supervision on their supervisory practice (often termed “supervision of supervision”) to ensure quality, consistency and their own professional support.

Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement

The registered manager and registered person should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of supervision arrangements through:

• Staff feedback surveys on supervision experience
• Analysis of supervision frequency and compliance data
• Audit of supervision records for quality and impact
• Correlation between supervision quality and outcomes for children
• Ofsted inspection feedback
• Staff retention and wellbeing indicators
• Learning from complaints or safeguarding incidents

Findings from quality assurance activity should inform ongoing refinement of supervision policy and practice, ensuring the organisation maintains excellent standards that support both staff and children.

Implementation Checklist for Children’s Homes

To implement these standards effectively, children’s homes should ensure:

• Written supervision policy reflects these universal standards
• All staff understand the difference between line management and reflective supervision
• Minimum supervision frequencies meet or exceed regulatory requirements
• Supervision time is protected and rarely cancelled
• Private, appropriate space available for supervision
• Supervisors have appropriate training and competence
• Supervision agreements establish expectations and boundaries
• Documentation systems enable effective record-keeping
• Links established between supervision and staff development
• Processes in place to support staff experiencing vicarious trauma
• Quality assurance mechanisms monitor supervision effectiveness
• Senior leadership models commitment to supervision culture

Conclusion

High-quality reflective safeguarding supervision is fundamental to excellent residential child care. It protects children by ensuring staff practice safely, critically and compassionately. It supports staff by acknowledging the emotional demands of their work and providing space for professional growth.

These universal standards provide a framework that can be adapted to suit the specific context of each children’s home while maintaining consistency with statutory requirements, regulatory expectations and evidence-based practice.

By embedding these principles into everyday practice, children’s homes can create a culture where supervision is valued, staff feel supported, and children receive the outstanding care they deserve.

Appendix: Key Differences from Line Management Supervision

Aspect	Line Management Supervision	Reflective Safeguarding Supervision
Primary Focus	Tasks, performance, compliance	Practice, reflection, professional development
Orientation	Organisational needs	Child outcomes and staff wellbeing
Typical Content	Rotas, policies, targets, HR matters	Case analysis, emotional impact, values, learning
Emotional Tone	Evaluative, directive	Supportive, exploratory, curious
Power Dynamic	Managerial authority emphasized	Collaborative, relationship-based
Documentation	Performance metrics, compliance checks	Reflection, analysis, professional judgment

Table 2: Distinguishing line management from reflective safeguarding supervision

Both forms of supervision are essential and complementary. Many children’s homes integrate elements of both within supervision sessions, while maintaining clarity about when the focus shifts between the two functions.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further clarification.

Godfrey Mushandu

Managing Director

Care Quality Support  and Ultra Healthcare 

Registered Address: 20-22, Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, England.

Operational Office: 55B Basepoint Innovation Business Centre. Metcalf Way, Crawley, RH11 7XX

Email: godfrey@carequalitysupport.co.uk

Web 1:  https://www.carequalitysupport.co.uk/

Web 2: https://www.ultrahealthcare.co.uk

Phone: 020 8064 2464  WhatsApp: +447737144708

📞 Admin Contact for Additional Support: Email: admin@carequalitysupport.co.uk Phone: 02080642464 Website: Care Quality Support WhatsApp: +447737144708