Safeguarding in Education - remaining compliant and driving standards

How to remain compliant and help drive safeguarding standards in schools.

Safeguarding is an ever-increasing concern in schools and educational settings, with all staff members playing key roles in helping to identify and protect children from a range of risks. As a result, it is vital to ensure that staff know what to do in the event of an issue: what signs to look out for, how to respond effectively and how to talk to the child concerned.

The provision of mandatory training is a legal requirement and should be followed by all schools and Further Education (FE) colleges. This includes maintained and independent schools, academies and alternative provision academies, free schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Training should take place at induction and should also be scheduled into a regular review process.

In September 2018, we will see a change to the legislation regarding safeguarding in schools, when Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2018 is released. Until this point, schools and colleges should continue to work towards KCSIE 2016. What will these upcoming changes mean for your organisation? How will you ensure that all of your staff receive the latest information and how will you remain compliant?

New safeguarding guidance and adjusting staff training

The new KSCIE guidance is organised into four main parts:

1. Safeguarding information for all staff.
2. The management of safeguarding.
3. Safer recruitment
4. Allegations of abuse made against teachers and other staff.

All staff should be well-aware of the effective systems within your educational establishment that support safeguarding, and these should include:

• A child protection policy.
• A behaviour policy.
• Staff behaviour policy or code of conduct.
• Your organisation’s safeguarding response for children who go missing from education.
• The role of the designated safeguarding lead (including the identity of the designated safeguarding lead and any deputies).

All staff should also be well-equipped to identify children who may need help. Digital safeguarding solutions, such as online learning and development, are particularly effective in supporting training challenges, giving staff the tools they need. When developed correctly, online resources can also help to address behavioural change in staff members, which is a development area for all organisations working within this sector.

Finding the right safeguarding training for your school

In a busy educational establishment, it can be difficult to manage compliance and ensure that they are fully engaged with the latest training developments. With conflicts between lessons, timetables, exams, support and other responsibilities, it is challenging to find the time to get a body of staff together to complete training and ensure that everybody is present.

An ideal solution to tackle this issue is through the use of e-learning, such as the Safeguarding in Education course. The use of online learning allows training to become much more accessible for staff. Bite-size learning breaks down the content into short sections of studying and application, allowing the learner to complete the training at their own pace and in their own time, fitting in easily around their timetable and other teaching commitments.

Hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS), this makes it easy for school management teams to see who has completed their training, the success rates and the date of completion, making the annual training programme simple to track and schedule.

An added benefit of online learning for your staff is the continual availability of learning materials. The course content and supporting resources are easily accessible at any time after completion, enabling a permanent reference source, should a member of staff feel the need to refer back to the guidance or refresh their knowledge.

Developing a bespoke training course – one that is tailored for your organisation, according to roles within your educational establishment – provides both the mandatory training aspect, which covers essential information, and also more in-depth information, pertinent to your setting.

Questions to consider when choosing or enhancing your training programme:

• How could online training fit into our current programme?
• We already have e-learning, but maybe we’re missing a trick?
• What are our training priorities?
• How can we increase our safeguarding standards?

How can we evidence the impact that our learning and development has had on our staff and what difference this has made to their job roles?

If you’re interested in discussing any of the above in more detail, or if you have any questions as to how you can enhance your safeguarding offering, please get in touch with Felicity Bagshaw here.