The Importance of Safeguarding in Schools

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAFEGUARDING IN SCHOOLS The safety and wellbeing of children and young people should always be at the forefront of the education system. The policies put in place by schools and colleges must work effectively to protect the children in their care. Here's a breakdown of the issues that safeguarding covers, what schools need to do and who is involved. These guidelines apply to maintained, non-maintained and independent schools, including academies, free schools and pupil referral units, as well as colleges that only educate students under the age of 18. SAFEGUARDING Safeguarding is defined by the Department for Education as: Preventing the impairment of Children's health or development Taking action to enable all Children to have the best outcomes Ensuring that Children grow up in Circumstances Consistent with the provision of safe and effective care Profecting children from maltreatment Protect Prevent Action Safety All adults who have contactwith children Schools and colleges should work together play arole. School staff are particularly with the social and health services aswell important, as they may be able to identify concerns early and provide essential help. as the police to promote the welfare of the young people they work with. WHAT CHILDREN WANT According to the HM Government's Working Together to Safeguard Children report, children want the following from a safeguarding system: Respect Understanding & action To be seen as a competent individual. To know what's going on and be heard. Support Vigilance To know that adults will take notice To be supported both in their own right andas a member of their family. when something is troubling them. Stability Advocacy To gain a relationship with those tasked to help them, which is stable and on-going. Auseful and helpful way for them to express their views and any issues. Explanation Information & engagement To learn about the results, To be educated and participate in decisions, plans and procedures involvingaspects of safeguarding. decisions and assessments carried out at a school or college. WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? GOVERNING WORKERS SOCIAL. STAFF. ADULTS OTHER. THE SCHOOL'S ROLE Every school and college should have a safeguarding lead to support staff members in their safeguarding duties. All members of staff inschools and colleges have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for children to learn in. They also havearesponsibility toidentify childrenwho may need help or are suffering harm, and to take appropriate action. An important part of the school safeguarding structure is managing visitors on site. In order to ensure the safety of students and staff, it is vital that schools are thorough in their background checks of visitors. Anyvisitors to schoolsmust besignedinand carry aphotographicidentification badge. According to Ofsted, pupils should be aware thatvisitors are required to wear identification badges and should be cautious of any visitornot wearing one. If the building has frequent visitors itisgood practice to hold regular meetings to minimise interaction with students, and change routines to reduce the amount of time students and visitors are on site together. Ultimately, any visitor who is not wearing an identification badge while on the school site must be challenged. IDENTIFICATION Every school and college should have a safeguarding lead to support staff members in their safeguarding duties. TOR BOOKS VISITOR MANAGEMENT PAPER-BASED Easily managewho is inside a school or college, what ifany organisation they are from and record the registration of Control who is on your site through hi-tech means, with technology such as signature pads, barcode car they have parked on the premises. scanners and HD web cameras. O PRINTING CARD ROOKS CONTRACTOR STAFF ID Similar in designto visitor books, these are more suitedifyou want Create personalisedidentification cards in aninstant, so that staff to record hired external workers members and pupils caneasily establish whothe unfamiliar face is. visiting a school or college. NEED TO KNOW During a staff induction, every team member should be made aware of the following systems that have been set up in a school or college to support safeguarding. The current child profection policy The staff behaviour policy/code of conduct Who the designated safeguarding lead is. SOURCES https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/300319/KCSIE_FINAL_8PG.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/300309/KCSIE_gdnce_FINAL.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/briefings/signs-of-abuse_wdal 02204.html http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/findings/howsafe/how-safe-2014-report_wdf101938.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/372753/Keeping_children_ safe_in_education.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/281368/Working_together_to_safeguard_children.pdf Children in Need of Support by Joanne Westwood on Google Books O TOOHOS MEMBERS TOOHOS SOFTWARE VISITOR MAN