Safeguarding Overview
We all need to work together to safeguard children, by ensuring that there is a robust and effective safeguarding culture. Safeguarding has a wide remit and goes beyond the boundaries of the nursery, school and college gates. Safeguarding in a school environment means that we are:
- protecting children and young people from any kind of maltreatment
- preventing the impairment of a child or young person’s mental health, physical health or development
- ensuring that children and young people grow up in circumstances which are consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action at the right time to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes
Those in governance have a pivotal and strategic role to play in ensuring that there is an ethos of effective safeguarding and a whole school approach. Governors, just as for all staff must understand and follow the concept of ‘it could happen here’.
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm, which means:
NSPCC
- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- preventing harm to children’s health or development
- ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
Essential reading, key guidance and helpful websites
Promoting a Safeguarding Culture
Statutory duties
When the word ‘must’ is used it means this is a statutory requirement, when the word ‘should’ is used, governing boards (proprietor for academies and independent schools) ‘must’ have regard for statutory guidance. The statutory guidance for schools and colleges (and maintained nurseries) that must be adhered to is Keeping Children Safe in Education which is normally updated annually and the multi-agency guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
All governors and trustees must have read and understood in full the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and all revisions. KCSIE informs school policies and procedures and must be at the heart of safeguarding practices in schools. KCSIE should be read alongside Working Together to Safeguard Children and departmental advisory documents:
- What to do if you are Worried a Child is Being Abused – Advice for Practitioners; and
- Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Between Children in Schools and Colleges
Governance is strategic, not operational, however, it is important that those responsible for leading schools and colleges have full regard for their statutory duties relating to the governance of safeguarding. It is important to remember that governors have no right or remit to know about individual cases of concern.
Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure there policies and procedures in place in order for appropriate action to be taken in a timely manner to safeguard and promote children’s welfare (KCSIE). Safeguarding policies should be reviewed annually and be publicly available find out more here, a model Norfolk safeguarding policy is available here.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) has overall responsibility for safeguarding in a setting, the role is of significant importance for safeguarding children in a school or college. The DSL role holder must be on the senior leadership team, in many cases the role is held by the headteacher or principal. As stated below, the role should be explicit in the job description of the role holder. The term DSL can also be used for deputy DSL’s who have to be trained to the same standard as the DSL. However, the DSL lead responsibility should not be delegated. Board’s should ensure that the alternate or deputy DSL also has this role expressed in their job description.
Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure an appropriate senior member of staff, from the school or college leadership team, is appointed to the role of designated safeguarding lead. The designated safeguarding lead should take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety). This should be explicit in the role holder’s job description. (KCSIE annex C).
Annex C (KCSIE) explains further the role requirements including availability; managing referrals; working with others; information sharing and child protection; raising awareness and training; understanding the views of children and holding and sharing information.
Safeguarding Link Governor
Governing boards should have a member of the board (they must not be a member of staff) take strategic leadership responsibility for their school’s or college’s safeguarding arrangements. This governor should be a senior member of the board such as the Chair, Vice-Chair or equivalent.
KCSIE sets out that an individual on the governing body should take strategic leadership responsibility for the organisation’s wider safeguarding
arrangements (and the Prevent duty should be seen as part of the wider safeguarding obligation). It is important that this governor or academy trustee receives appropriate safeguarding training to undertake this role. However, it is best practice if everyone on the board has training about safeguarding, to make sure they have the knowledge and information needed to perform their functions, understand their responsibilities and assure themselves that their own organisation’s safeguarding arrangements are robust. (Governance Handbook).
Understanding safeguarding is important for all governors but particularly for the safeguarding link governor, it is important that this governor has sufficient understanding to challenge the DSL effectively, whilst also championing effective and robust safeguarding. A safeguarding compliance checklist for governors is available to support this role.
Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP)
There are three statutory safeguarding partners: Local Authority, Police and Clinical Commissioning Group. The three safeguarding partners should agree on ways to co-ordinate their safeguarding services; act as a strategic leadership group in supporting and engaging others; and implement local and national learning including from serious child safeguarding incidents. Read more about NSCP.
Final word
Safeguarding is extensive and can feel overwhelming to anyone new to the role, we would recommend that you seek support if you have any concerns through your DSL, through your governance professional or governance support networks. You can also sign up to safeguarding newsletters. We would recommend that you use the audit tools to support your monitoring work and if something isn’t right or you are not sure about something always ask or raise a challenge.
