Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance is statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment.
Identifying children who are missing education and helping them get back into it.
Online service for schools to give to parents tips and advice on preparing their children for adult life
Launch of a new online service for schools to give parents tips and advice on preparing their children for adult life. It covers a range of issues including: online safety; spotting the signs of self-harm and having a healthy body image. The new online tool for schools to give parents advice and tips on preparing their children for adult life.
What to do if you're worried a child is being abused: advice for practitioners - March 2015
New advice for professionals on identifying and responding to child abuse. It replaces the previous version of ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused’ (2006). What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused: advice for practitioners (PDF).
Information sharing - updated July 2018
Advice for safeguarding professionals on information sharing. The advice explains relevant legislation and includes key principles and practicalities of sharing personal information. This advice replaces ‘Information sharing: guidance for practitioners and managers’ (2008).
Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services (PDF).
Working together to safeguard children - July 2018
The Department for Education has published a revised version of the Working together to safeguard children guidance (PDF). Changes include: guidance on notifiable incidents and a definition of serious harm.
Setting up and improving counselling services
Guidance about setting up and improving counselling services for schools in England. Advice includes: counselling should be part of a whole school commitment to improving mental health and well-being, and pupils should be involved in the development and evaluation of the service. Counselling in schools: a blueprint for the future (PDF).
Keeping children safe in education: key changes
The NSPCC has published a briefing On Keeping Children Safe in Education (2021), which will come into force for schools in England on 1 September 2021.
Ofsted - Safeguarding Children and young people and and young vulnerable adults policy.
Run, Hide, Tell resources for schools
Counter Terrorism Policing in collaboration with the PSHE Association and Girlguiding have produced a Run, Hide, Tell resource pack for teachers to use to inform 11-16 year olds on how best to react to a gun or knife terror attack. The resource includes training films, lesson plans for key stage 3 and key stage 4 as well as teacher guidance on how to deliver this material confidently and safely.
Source: National Counter Terrorism Security Office Date: 14 November 2017
Further information: Run, Hide, Tell
Reporting FGM
The FGM reporting duty for Health and Social Care professionals and Teachers came into force on 31 October 2015 for more information please go to the FGM page in this section
Local guidance
Annual Report Template
Head Teachers Annual report template to the Governing Body on Safeguarding Children 2013/14 (Word, 183KB)
Model Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy for Schools - updated July 2022
Please see below for a draft safeguarding children policy which you can download and adapt to your school - the updates are in red so that schools can easily identify them - remember to save your policy.
- Draft / example policy document (Word)
- Safeguarding policy appendix (Word)
Links
- Annual Safeguarding Audit template (Word)
- Safeguarding Incident Form (Word)
- Safeguarding Leaflet for visitors (Publisher)
Safeguarding Children Training
This information will help you identify the right Safeguarding Children course to attend. There is further reference to the underpinning legal framework at the end of this document.
If you still require further help please contact: LSCB.Training@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
To book onto courses go to www.safeguardingbedfordshiretraining.co.uk
National guidance, training and support
NSPCC guidance
The NSPCC have recently published a number of helpful Briefing Papers on the theme of how schools, colleges and academies may protect children from neglect; sexual abuse; sexting; sexual exploitation and grooming and entrapment. The guidance is available on the NSPCC website.
Recommended adult to child ratios
The NSPCC offers guidance on appropriate levels of supervision for children and young people. This includes advice on: adult to child ratios; toilet ratios; first aid ratios; travelling ratios. Please here to go to the relevant page on the NSPCC website
Safeguarding in Education Self-Assessment Tool (ESAT)
The NSPCC and the Times Educational Supplement have produced a free Safeguarding in Education Self-Assessment Tool (ESAT) which enables school safeguarding leads to audit their school's current safeguarding arrangements and supports them to make changes and identify areas for developments.
Staying safe online
Childnet has published guidance to help schools develop effective strategies to understand, prevent and respond to cyberbullying. It has also produced a toolkit for discussing online safety issues in PSHE lessons with students aged 11-14.
Date: 28 November 2016
Further information: Cyberbullying: understand, prevent and respond: guidance for schools
Crossing the line: PSHE toolkit
E-safety for schools
The NSPCC has updated its website to include online safety advice and resources for schools and colleges. The webpage includes: links to resources to teach children and young people the skills to stay safe online; resources and advice to share with parents and carers; and guides and example documents on how to safeguard against and respond to an online safety incident which can be used to develop policies and procedures.
Source: NSPCC Date: 08 September 2017
NSPCC Training
Child protection in education
This online introductory course is aimed at all staff, including volunteers, who work with children in schools and colleges.
Nude selfies
The National Crime Agency has launched a campaign for parents to deal with an increase in young people sharing nude selfies.
To give parents the tools to deal with these issues and reduce the dangers of sexting, CEOP have created a series of short animations entitled ‘Nude selfies: What parents and carers need to know’. The new Thinkuknow films are packed with information and advice on helping parents to advise children about avoiding taking risks online, knowing what’s safe and what’s not, and where to get help if anything goes wrong.
The four films are available to watch for free online, cover the following issues:
- Film 1: Helps parents and carers understand the reasons why young people create and share nude or nearly nude images.
- Film 2: Helps parents and carers learn about effective strategies for talking to your child about nude or nearly nude images.
- Film 3: Helps parents and carers understand how to respond if your child discloses that they have shared nude or nearly nude images by risk assessing the different contexts in which images may be shared.
- Film 4: Helps parents and carers learn about how to get help and support if your child shares nude or nearly nude images.
If you’re a teacher or trainer, you can download the animations and accompanying guidance pack which will provide you with everything you need to deliver a session with families from www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers
PREVENT
Protecting children from radicalisation: the prevent duty.
From: Department for Education
First published: 1 July 2015
Part of: Schools: departmental advice, Running a school or college, Schools, colleges and children's services and Safeguarding children.
How social media is used to encourage travel to Syria and Iraq - Briefing note for schools
Free awareness raising on line package produced by the College of Policing – not safeguarding specific but helpful: http://course.ncalt.com/Channel_General_Awareness/01/index.html
Prevent online training and enables you to print out Certificates to confirm you have undertaken the course. The website is Foundation Online Learning www.foundationonline.org.uk and offers:
- Prevent for Governors and Board members
- Prevent for support staff
- Prevent for practitioners
- Prevent for leaders and managers
Safer Recruitment
The Safer Recruitment Consortium (NSPCC, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, CAPE and NASS) has published updated guidance to assist schools in developing their staff code of conduct / staff behaviour policy.
Safer Working
Use of photos on websites and in other publications
The use of photos on websites and in other publications poses direct and indirect risks to children and young people. Organisations wishing to use images of the children they work with or are otherwise in contact with must therefore have a policy in place to safeguard the children involved. Visit the NSPCC for further guidance.
Website to support school and college staff to keep children and young people safe
The Centre for Research on Children and Families at the University of East Anglia (UEA), has launched a website to support school and college staff in understanding abuse and neglect from the child or young person’s point of view.
The iCAN website includes free training materials and resources for schools and colleges, and a framework to help teachers and other school and college staff to be alert to children and young people who may be experiencing abuse or neglect, and to better understand: to what extent children and young people recognise maltreatment and how they decide whether to tell someone about it; how they may show their distress, even when they can’t talk about it; and what children and young people think about the help they receive.
More information is available on the iCAN website.
Source: UEA Date: 17 July 2017
