🔍 Professional Curiosity
Quick Reference · safeguard-hub.org
⚖️ What WT2026 Requires
Working Together 2026 is explicit: practitioners must maintain professional curiosity and not accept information at face value when working with families.
SCR and SUSR learning repeatedly identifies a failure of professional curiosity as a factor where children came to serious harm — particularly in cases involving:
- Domestic abuse hidden from services
- Neglect normalised over time
- Disguised compliance by parents
- Professionals seeing the adult, not the child
- Optimism bias — assuming things will improve
🔢 The 6 Practical Methods
1Observe — look beyond the stated facts; body language, home conditions, how child and adult interact
2Question — ask open, curious questions; don't accept vague or incomplete answers without gently probing
3Research — check agency history, previous referrals, GP notes, school records before visits
4Challenge — respectfully challenge inconsistencies; it is professional, not confrontational
5See the child — alone, in their own space; do not allow the parent to answer for the child
6Triangulate — cross-check what you are told against what you observe and what other agencies report
🚧 Common Barriers
- Disguised compliance — family appear engaged; scrutinise actual change, not just co-operation
- Optimism bias — hoping things will improve; focus on evidence
- Familiarity — long-standing cases; step back and view with fresh eyes
- Fear of conflict — professionals avoid challenge to keep relationship intact
- Workload — high caseloads suppress curiosity; escalate if this is the case
- Cultural humility deficit — assumptions about "normal" that exclude marginalised groups
🗣️ Voice of the Child
Professional curiosity includes actively seeking and recording the child's own perspective — not just what adults say about the child.
- See the child alone where possible — even briefly
- Use age-appropriate language and tools (drawing, Three Houses)
- Record what the child said, not your interpretation of it
- If the child is non-verbal — observe closely and document
- Ask: "What do you like? What worries you? What would you like to change?"
- Don't stop at one visit — trust develops over time
📝 Recording Standards
- Record facts separately from analysis
- Note what you observed, smelled, heard — not just what was said
- Record your professional judgement and why you made the decision you did
- If you did NOT refer — record why not
- Use contemporaneous notes — record same day where possible
- Avoid jargon and abbreviations that others won't understand
- Records may be read at a serious case review — write accordingly
🚨 When to Escalate
If your professional curiosity raises concerns that are not being acted on, escalate:
- Speak to your line manager / DSL immediately
- If disagreement with another agency — use the professional challenge / escalation policy
- If a child is at immediate risk — do not wait for agreement: refer to MASH or call 999
- Whistleblowing protections apply (Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998)
"It is better to be wrong and refer than to be right and stay silent."