Contextual Safeguarding: Amended Safety Mapping Exercise

Contextual Safeguarding (CS) is an approach to safeguarding that supports practitioners to recognise and respond to the harm young people experience outside of the home. This safety mapping exercise is an edited document based on the safety mapping document developed by Hackney Children and Families Services to help practitioners to identify areas of risk and safety and can be used for safety planning with children, families and networks. It has been amended to accommodate practitioners in South Lanarkshire, Scotland but can be used by other practitioners in Scotland. Safety mapping can be used by practitioners as part of a broader assessment of risk within local neighbourhoods or on its own with individual young people. Further details about carrying out a contextual assessment can be found on the Contextual Safeguarding Network.


Amended Language Sheet
This activity sheet supports professionals to reflect on the language they use with young people by inviting young people to share which words feel helpful, unhelpful, or uncomfortable. It promotes respectful, non blaming communication and helps build trusting relationships. It was developed from the Contextual Safeguarding Language Sheet, (2024) Scale-Up Toolkit, to reflect a Scottish context.

7 Dimensions of Safety Poster
This poster was developed with young people as part of an exercise on contextualised safeguarding. It is to be placed in spaces where practitioners work with young people. The poster provides an overview on what young people stated they require to feel safe. Young people's insights into safety revealed seven core dimensions: emotional, relational, social, environmental, resource-based, control/predictability, and voice/agency.