Safeguarding children - information for schools

Professionals in schools can find all they need to know about safeguarding standards and the support available from the Schools' Safeguarding team on the Virtual School webpage

Schools, academies, alternative providers and early years education settings should all comply with statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education.

You can view and download the following documents:

Keeping Children Safe in Education
Working Together to Safeguard Children
- this is the DfE’s statutory guidance for inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
NCASP Procedures Manual (Safeguarding Children)

Further advice and guidance from the Schools’ Safeguarding Team can be found on the Virtual School webpage.

Minimum requirements
Schools are required by law to have the following safeguarding measures in place:

A safeguarding and child protection policy:
- to be reviewed annually
- details procedures for handling suspected cases of abuse
- including procedures to be followed if an allegation is made against a member of staff
A designated safeguarding lead (DSL):
- this must be a senior member of staff
- their training must be updated every two years
- a deputy DSL must also be appointed (with the same level of training)
A policy outlining procedures for the safer recruitment of staff
A single central record of all staff and volunteers used by the school
Safeguarding training every three years for all staff and volunteers working with children in schools
An anti-bullying policy which prevents all forms of bullying and ensures that pupils are safe to learn
Procedure for passing child protection records to a receiving school
Awareness of statutory requirements, regarding:
- forced marriage
- extremism
- female genital mutilation (FGM)
- child sexual exploitation
- peer-on-peer abuse
- domestic abuse
- sexual violence
Arrangements for pupils on work experience placements

In addition to the national legal requirements above, in Northumberland we also strongly recommend that schools have a designated person for e-safety and an e-safety policy. Guidance on good practice in this area is published in Ofsted’s e-safety briefing for inspectors.

All schools are automatically partners in their local safeguarding children’s board and are required to follow the relevant local authority’s procedures. The NCASP also offers advice, information and guidance to schools.