1. Safeguarding Children
Contributed by Christine Jones
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2. Safeguarding children
A number of agencies, including schools, have statutory duties to co-operate to improve the well-being of children and to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

3. Every Child Matters agenda (2003)
The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their
background or their circumstances, to have the support they
need to:
be healthy
stay safe
enjoy and achieve
make a positive contribution
achieve economic well-being.

4. Children Act 2004 Well being is encapsulated in a child’s
Physical and mental health
Protection from harm and neglect
Education, training and recreation
Contribution to society
Emotional, social and economic well being

5. Schools should safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils by:
Creating and maintaining a safe learning environment for children and young people. This means having effective arrangements in place to address a range of issues. Some are subject to statutory requirements, including child protection arrangements, pupil health and safety, and bullying.
Identifying where there are child welfare concerns and taking action to address them, in partnership with other organisations where appropriate
Making children and young people aware of behaviour towards them that is not acceptable and how they can help keep themselves safe.
Meeting the health needs of children with medical conditions, providing first aid and school security.
Developing children's understanding, awareness, and resilience e.g. by tackling drugs and substance misuse, sex education etc.

6. Welfare concerns Education staff have a crucial role in:
helping identify at an early stage, welfare concerns and indicators of possible abuse or neglect
referring those concerns to the appropriate organisation, normally Children's Social Care
contributing to the assessment of a child's needs and, where appropriate, to ongoing action to meet those needs.

7. Working together to safeguard children (Laming report – updated 2009)
Lord Laming believed that schools must ensure that they are proactively involved in safeguarding children. He stressed that correct information sharing is crucial to good child protection practice in keeping children safe. ‘Ofsted should revise the inspection and improvement regime for schools giving greater prominence to how well schools are fulfilling their responsibilities for child protection’

8. The four categories of abuse are:
Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Neglect

9. If you have concerns that a child is being abused you should trust your judgement and take action

10. Working with strong suspicions
Sometimes you may be worried about a child’s injuries or behaviour even though the child has not said anything to suggest that they have been abused. This is difficult but you can help by:
Being approachable, available and prepared to listen.
Discussing your concerns with the designated teacher
Not assuming that someone else will pick up on concerns and take action
Recording your concerns and observations (noting dates) as these will help to build up a picture

11. What action should you take?
If you have concerns about a child’s welfare, record it and report it to the designated teacher without delay.
The designated teacher will contact the social services on your behalf, if they believe that the child is at risk, and follow it up with a written referral.

12. How to respond if a child makes a disclosure of abuse
Take what the child says seriously
Listen to the child without interruption or prompting.
Do not ask leading questions. Only interject to reassure or to clarify.
Remain calm and don’t rush into action that may be inappropriate
Let them know what you are going to do to help
Report what you have been told to the designated teacher on the same day.
Record what was said and who was present. Use the child’s exact words wherever possible. Concerns about abuse must always be recorded.

13. Things to avoid Do not allow your shock to show.
Do not probe for more information than is offered.
Do not make negative comments about the alleged abuser.
Do not make promises that you cannot keep, such as promising that everything will be alright.
Do not agree to keep the information secret
Never express disbelief in what the child is saying

14. Recording the allegations
If a child tells you he or she has been abused you should make a note of exactly what they have said, (using the child’s own words where possible).
Date and sign the record.
Pass this on to the designated teacher in an envelope marked ‘Confidential’

15. Overall summary of guidelines
If you are worried about a child make sure that you record your concerns and then speak to someone as soon as possible.
Any suspicions, however small, should be recorded and passed to the designated teacher. This may build into a bigger picture
If a child confides in you do not agree to keep the information a secret as this could put the child at risk. Explain that you might have to tell someone and why. Use the 7 golden rules as a guide, to assess if you should share the information.
If you suspect that a child is being abused talk to the designated teacher as soon as possible.
If a child makes a disclosure of abuse, listen carefully and do not ask leading questions. Never express disbelief.
Do not try investigate or question the child, except to clarify what you have been told.