Christina Gabbitas (Author): Safeguarding with stories

In this episode, Claire meets with Christina Gabbitas: an author, publisher and honorary member of the NSPCC council.

Throughout the episode, Christina talks about how she uses her writing as an opportunity to open up conversations about hard-hitting concepts such as abuse and knife crime. She discusses her shyness as a child and how she overcame this, channelling those childhood fears into her writing.

Christina talks in detail about the research she carried out in preparation for writing her book ‘Share Some Secrets’ which involves speaking up about abuse. She discusses the impact this book has had in making children feel comfortable and able to share troublesome secrets: having calls from Norway, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland to thank her for providing this resource.

The conversation also covers knife crime and how she was approached by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office to write a story to explore the effects of this issue. Talking openly, Christina describes real-life stories of victims of knife crime, as well as discussing the choices and consequences children face.

Christina offers advice and reassurance on developing teachers’ knowledge of safeguarding, concentrating on how research through conversations can broaden perspectives on what is such a difficult part of the job.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Stories can open up a conversation with the children.
  Creating a dialogue may make children feel more comfortable and willing to share ‘secrets’ or any troubles that they may be facing. Exposing the children to honest and frank conversations can prepare them and make them feel like they are not alone.
• Speaking to people can broaden safeguarding horizons.
  Through research where she has spoken to children, victims and other members of the public, Christina has become aware of a whole host of issues people face as well as recognising warning signs people may exhibit. There are lots of these signs, and it can be hard to identify which are a cry for help. You may think a child is okay because they seem ‘happy go lucky’ but this might not be the case.
• Teach the children the difference between good secrets and bad secrets.
  It is important for children to know the difference between good and troublesome secrets which is a difficult concept for them to understand. This links to common news articles stating how children have been abused and carry it through adulthood without speaking out about it. If they are taught this critical difference earlier on in life, would they feel more confident to speak up?
• Deal with hard-hitting issues in a non-scary way.
  Stories can present difficult topics in a way that everyone can relate to. Christina’s aim is to prevent children from feeling scared and through offering them a support network. Books can make this accessible through use of imagery and rhyme.
• Benefits of reading aloud.
  Reading aloud and interactive sessions can have a hugely positive impact on the children. It gets them involved and engaged in high-quality texts. Incentives such as World Read Aloud Day (on 5th February) can be used to promote this practice.
• Educating teachers about knife crime.
  Knife crime is on the rise and is not just an issue in London. It is moving to other cities and towns across the country. It is important that educators understand how children get involved in knife crime. It is also crucial to let the children know: these are your choices, these are your consequences.
  
  

BEST MOMENTS

“Writing for me is therapy, but is helping other children.”

“If you never try, you never know. Better to try and fail than not try at all.”

“Sometimes we don’t know what we want to do. We take opportunities, we take those opportunities, we make the best of them and learn from them.”

“It’s the power of media; the online media is quite amazing. But the most important thing to me is actually it is helping. I know now that it is helping children to speak out. So that’s one of my greatest achievements in life I would say.”

“I think if you can educate children from a young age without it being too scary but just kind of giving them the idea. Prevention is always better than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards, isn’t it?”

“Children are carrying knives because they think it’s going to protect them, but statistics are if they are carrying a knife, they are more likely to get stabbed with a knife or harmed with a knife.”

“Again it’s educating children and the wider society about what’s happening.”

“You’ve got to be everything: you’ve got to be a teacher, you’ve got to be a social worker, you know, you’ve got to be a counsellor. And it’s really hard and I do think that teachers should get more help within schools, I really do.”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina’s Website: https://www.christinagabbitas.com/
Reach Out, Speak Out Abuse of Power Safeguarding Conference – 12th March 2020 (Use code C20 at checkout for 20% off ticket price): https://allevents.in/mobile/amp-event.php?event_id=1000066099634787
World Read Aloud Day website: https://www.litworld.org/worldreadaloudday
Share Some Secrets Book:

• https://shop.nspcc.org.uk/products/share-some-secrets
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeIO4v9c9RU

Ineqe Safeguarding Group: https://ineqe.com/
No More Knife Crime Website: http://nomoreknifecrime.com/

The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast/
Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/
Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019/

ABOUT THE HOST
Claire Riley

Claire, alongside her husband Ed, is one of the directors of Classroom Secrets, a company she founded in 2013 and which provides outstanding differentiated resources for teachers, schools, parents and tutors worldwide.

Having worked for a number of years as a teacher in both Primary and Secondary education, and experiencing first-hand the difficulties teachers were facing finding appropriate high-quality resources for their lessons, Claire created Classroom Secrets with the aim of helping reduce the workload for all school staff.

Claire is a passionate believer in a LIFE/work balance for those who work in education citing the high percentage of teachers who leave or plan to leave their jobs each year. Since February 2019, Classroom Secrets has been running their LIFE/work balance campaign to highlight this concerning trend.

The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education.

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