UK Safeguarding for Parents New Here

Where to start

• Safeguarding is a legal duty on every school in the UK: in England the framework is Keeping Children Safe in Education, and each other nation has its own guidance.
• Every school has a designated safeguarding lead, whatever the title, the right adult for any concern.
• Ask the DSL where you are unsure if something rises to the level of concern.
• Families newly arrived at UK independent schools are often surprised by how seriously the school takes safeguarding: the training the staff have, the Designated Safeguarding Lead whose name appears in every policy, and how often safeguarding is mentioned in school communications. If you’re used to a different system, the way it’s presented can make it seem more alarming than it is.
• UK safeguarding is statutory. In England, every school, independent schools included, works to Keeping Children Safe in Education, known across the sector as KCSIE, which sets out what schools must do to protect children. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own guidance, under a different name and with a differently titled lead, on the same architecture. The DSL in your child’s school is the senior member of staff who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding; the governing body or proprietor is answerable for it. All the training, the policies and the seriousness come from this framework. None of it is a sign of a particular concern about your child or your school.
• In practice, this makes your school’s safeguarding something you can rely on. The DSL is the right adult to bring in if you have any concern about your child’s safety, online or in person. She is also the right adult to ask if you are not sure whether something rises to the level of a safeguarding concern.

It goes with

• Your Child’s Online World. For parents who have seen something on their child’s phone that they can’t unsee.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

• Safeguarding. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
• School stress. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.