Child Safeguarding Policy Q & A: Oct 2010

1          Is the school's child protection (safeguarding) policy freely available for parents to read?

Every school is expected to have a child protection (Child Safeguarding) policy that is revised annually, is made available to all staff and volunteers and is freely available to parents on request. Some schools will put this policy on the school's website to ensure ease of access.

There can be no good reason as to why this policy is not readily available to parents; indeed guidance from the Department of Children Schools and Families (DCSF) requires schools to make it available.
 
2          Who are the child protection (safeguarding) officers at the school, other than the Headteacher?
What training should they receive, and how frequently?

A Designated Senior Person is expected to carry responsibility for Safeguarding (Child Protection). Some larger schools will need more than one such designated senior person; and there should always be an identified deputy for occasions when the named designated senior person is not available.

To equip them for their role, the designated senior staff for Child Safeguarding ought to receive basic child protection training (to understand the different categories of child abuse and signs to look out for); and advanced training in inter-agency working, so that they understand the roles of the key statutory agencies (local authority children's services, health, police etc) as well as mechanisms for making a referral.

They should attend refresher training at least every two years.

3          What training do staff receive in child protection (safeguarding)? What does this training cover and is it ongoing?

All staff who work with children in schools are expected to have received, during their induction period, basic child protection (safeguarding) training, which is updated every three years.

As well as being made aware of the categories of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional and neglect) and the identity of the Designated Senior Person for Child Safeguarding and his/her deputy, they should also be given a copy of the school's Child Safeguarding policy, which will include details of how and where to take forward a concern or to report an allegation.

Whilst the normal route for concerns will be through the Designated Senior Person for Child Safeguarding, for allegations against staff to the Headteacher and allegations against the Headteacher to the Chair of Governors, staff should also be informed about how to take forward concerns or report allegations directly to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or Police.

It is important that even temporary staff and volunteers are made aware of the school's Child Safeguarding Policy and mechanism for reporting any concerns and allegations.

4          Is the school's written policy to report child protection (safeguarding) allegations to the Local Authority Designated Officer ("LADO") or the Police?

Where an allegation is received by a school that a staff member or volunteer has behaved in a way that has harmed a child (physically, emotionally, sexually or through neglect); or has behaved in a way that indicates that he or she is unsuitable to work with children, a referral should be made to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or to the police. The LADO is readily available, including by telephone, to discuss and take referrals about allegations or concerns - even those that may not, on the face of it, appear particularly serious. It is particularly important that schools ensure all allegations are examined objectively by the LADO, so that an independent, expert view is obtained.

5          Who needs to undertake Safer Recruitment Training, and how frequently should it be renewed?

Initially the government stated that every Headteacher and Chair of Governors should undertake Safer Recruitment Training. From January 2010 it became a statutory requirement to renew such training every five years. It is now also acknowledged that many individuals are involved in recruitment in a school and, from October 2009, the "Chair" of any appointment board bears personal responsibility for the decisions of the board. It is therefore expected that at least one person on any appointment board will have undertaken Safer Recruitment Training - renewed every five years.