Safeguarding children

Safeguarding children is one of your school's top priorities. All children and young people have a right to be and feel safe in your school, and their parents or carers also have a right to expect that their child will be safe in your school's care.

Teacher stood with their students with stars above them

Safeguarding children: what must schools do?

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child* states that:

‘Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.’

To ensure these rights are fulfilled, your school or college must operate within a culture of safety where safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare is embedded into everything you do.

Schools must teach children how to keep safe and how to report concerns or worries to trusted adults at school and elsewhere. Safeguarding children in schools is an ongoing process that requires the commitment of everyone that works or volunteers in them.

Teacher stood with a giant safeguarding checklist

What is effective child protection?


Effective child protection is an essential element of the wider work of safeguarding children and promoting their welfare. This means that schools and school staff must be committed to:

  • Treating the welfare of children as paramount and recognising and respecting children’s rights.

  • Developing good links with parents and carers, and encouraging their involvement in the school or college.

  • Promoting positive child-centred relationships between staff and students.

  • Ensuring all staff listen to children and respond to their needs. It's important that staff know what to look out for, such as changes in wellbeing, peer interaction, mood, mental health, friendship groups, and academic work which can signpost abuse.

  • Taking all allegations seriously, including rumours and concerning comments.

  • Training staff in the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures and ensuring staff fully understand their legal and moral responsibility to be vigilant and report anything that causes concern.

  • Ensuring staff understand that allegations against staff, parents or anyone else who has contact with children are reported immediately.

  • Taking a zero-tolerance approach to sexual violence and sexual harassment.

Child protection training

Safeguarding and duty of care training should be ongoing and child protection training refreshed annually. Topics should include, but are not limited to:

  • Child protection
  • Child exploitation
  • Anti-bullying
  • Extremism and radicalisation
  • FGM
  • Online safety
Hand pressing Tes Safeguarding options
  • Students in class that are happy

    Contextual safeguarding and extra-familial harm

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  • The 10 categories of abuse and how to handle them blog image

    The 10 categories of abuse and how to handle them

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Tes Live Lesson on staying safe with NSPCC

Learn how children can stay safe in this recorded PSHE Lesson led by NSPCC Schools Coordinator Gemma Rose. Through a series of activities, pupils learn about children's rights and consider who their safe adults are and the support available to them. Pupils then explore how to develop healthy relationships by responding to different scenarios.

Watch Live Lesson

Tes Live Lessons NSPCC Logo

How we can help

We have great tools that can help you to safeguard the children in your care.

  • Teachers doing safeguarding checks

    Safeguarding training

    You can provide all your staff with the knowledge and confidence to spot potential safeguarding issues with our online safeguarding training package, Tes Safeguarding.

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  • Teacher safeguarding her pupils

    MyConcern

    Support staff to easily record and monitor safeguarding concerns. Enabling early interventions by identifying trends and patterns and helping to inform decision-making with our case management system, MyConcern, now part of Tes.

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