Using this Manual

The manual has been organised with the Core Procedures in the most prominent place. These chapters explain the actions that must be taken when there are concerns about the welfare of a child.

Chapters which provide more detailed safeguarding guidance have been written to include the most significant points to ensure that the content is accessible to a wide, multi-agency readership.

More detailed guidance can be accessed in Local Resources.

The manual has been designed and constructed by a team of people from Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire in partnership with tri.x. The intention is to provide a user-friendly, clear structure which enables readers to find the section they are looking for more easily. We have also reduced duplication and potential confusion by integrating wherever possible, the safeguarding guides with local protocols. The aim, is to avoid readers having to look at several parallel procedures containing overlapping information.

All aspects of the manual are reviewed, when it is updated, including the links to external information. If for any reason you need to refer to an earlier version of the manual tri.x maintain archived versions of each edition which can be made available if necessary.

In order to ensure that you are viewing the most up to date version of a web-site you made need to force your internet browser to re-fresh to data which is stored on your computer. For most browsers press the control key and F5. Users accessing the manual on Apple computers will need delete the existing cache in the Settings app and then re-load the website.

These procedures use the word 'must' where the provision is a legal requirement. The word 'should' is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

The manual has a standard internet search engine, it will search all chapters and documents within the manual, including Word documents and PDFs - it will NOT search the internet.

The search engine does not prioritise or order the search results, so it is important to be as accurate as possible with the search terms.

For best results check spelling, as an incorrectly spelt word will not return any results – unlike some search engines this one will not make assumptions and suggest similar words to those you have misspelled.

There are two ways of improving accuracy and refining the number of hits. For example if we search the current manual for "assessment" there are 34 occurrences found, If we search for  parental assessment and make sure that "all search words" button is ticked this limits the results to those documents that contain both "parental" and "assessment". However if we also enclose the phrase "parental assessment" in inverted commas – there is only one hit – the Safeguarding Babies at Birth Practice Guidance.

The search also has a wild card (asterisk *) function if users are unsure of the spelling of a particular word. For example, when the word "ophthalmology" is searched for the results yield one match. However searches for "ophtholmology" or "ophthalmolopy" will not find any results, however searching for "oph*" will find the relevant chapter.

To use the wild card function successfully; spell as much as the word accurately as you can – the more letters the tighter the search parameters.

This manual will be updated on a regular basis and a summary of the changes can be accessed via the 'Amendments' button on the Home page. 

The next edition of this manual will be published in July 2024.

If you have any suggestions or if you are working on procedures or guidance, please use the contact details above to ensure your comments are taken into consideration.

This manual contains a local resource section which can be accessed via the navigation bar. If there is a resource that you think should be added talk in the first instance to your manager.

The nominated administrator for this area will be able to access online training in the use of the area from tri.x.

This library is populated and maintained locally and not by tri.x. tri.x will not be responsible for content which is added into this area, and any concerns should be directed to the contact person with responsibility for the procedures.

The manual is accessed by readers who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a glossary of definitions is available under the resource tab.

There is also a National Contacts resource populated with details of key national agencies and organisations likely to be relevant to procedures user.

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or omissions, please alert your manager.

We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when this manual is updated, and to receive a monthly newsletter containing articles which may be of interest. Click on the 'Register for Updates' button on the home screen, to complete and send your details to us.

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The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. Content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of tri.x and Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) and the Nottingham City Safeguarding Children Partnership (NCSCP).

This website aims to achieve Double-A conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in accordance with government guidelines. 

The Manual is intended to be viewed on line to ensure only the most up-to-date version of procedures are being used. It will be updated regularly so, in the unlikely event there is a requirement for hard copies they should be destroyed after 72 hours.

It is recommended that this manual is viewed with the latest browsers, with Java Script and cookies enabled for maximum compatibility and functionality.

Recommended browsers are:

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This manual has been tested on a variety of mobile devices to ensure that it displays correctly. If you are using an older mobile device it is possible that the manual will not display correctly.

If you would like the text to be larger, resize the text under the accessibility options, alternatively if you would also like the buttons and the rest of the layout to be enlarged you can use the zoom function within your browser.

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