Safeguarding: What UK educators could expect in 2024/25
Safeguarding is a cornerstone to whole school success. Schools have a legal and moral duty to protect students in their care. However, a great approach to child protection and safeguarding can also have positive effects on student confidence, learning and progress.
In the year ahead, school leaders will face some familiar challenges. However, the fast-moving world of safeguarding will always throw fresh obstacles at teachers.
A new government may bring new expectations and priorities. Social media and the wider online world may continue to create new issues and reasons for concern. And teaching staff will have to remain vigilant and reactive to everything the year may have in store.
To help you prepare for the coming year we have used recent data and Tes Magazine's coverage to build a picture of the current safeguarding landscape. We'll preview some of the challenges that schools may face while highlighting some of the amazing work currently being done in schools. Lastly, we'll also share some of the ways Tes can support your whole school safeguarding.
The safeguarding picture today
- 34% of educators have a new concern disclosed to them on a weekly basis.
- 85% believe there are more safeguarding concerns now than 5 years ago.
- 59% believe there are more concerns now than last year.
The statistics featured above are taken from our recent Safeguarding Awareness Week survey of UK educators in May 2024. The results highlight how valuable the time of a safeguarding lead is and the sheer number of concerns required to track and manage through. The sheer number and regularity of disclosures can put a strain on safeguarding policies and procedures in place. Highlighting the importance of having strong and robust school safeguarding processes, able to effectively handle this quantity of disclosures.
In our recent webinar Sue Bailey, Safeguarding Lead at The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) shared that she felt there were still impacts from Covid and the lockdown period. To help staff in her trust with this issue, Sue shared they had received extra training on abuse indicators, reporting concerns and understanding their responsibilities.
“We’ve done much more training than we’ve ever done and raised awareness with all of our colleagues in terms of what to look for, indicators of abuse, how to report and what they should be doing.”
Sue Bailey, Safeguarding Lead, Arthur Terry Learning Partnership
Specific challenges this year
Many of the challenges facing safeguarding leads and school leaders this year will not be new. The familiar challenge of coping with an ever-increasing caseload may be the biggest that safeguarding leads face this year. Pair this alongside a growing list of responsibilities and statutory guidance, while receiving minimal support from outside agencies.
Luke Ramsden, Senior Deputy Head at an independent school in London explained in a recent Tes Big Debate webinar that;
“Legislation is always saying that, ever more it is the schools’ remit to deal with that, pretty much every year the school now deals with that and that, and that. So, we have more on our plates every year as well.”
On top of this, online safeguarding continues to grow in significance and impact. Over 40% of responses in our safeguarding survey identified social media as the main reason for a perceived increase in reported safeguarding concerns. Challenges to safeguard children from online issues may become more complex this year due to the growth of AI and increased usage of social media.
Sue Bailey at ATLP also added that the long-term effects from the Covid lockdowns in 2020 are still issues. On top of this, she adds that, “we are particularly seeing this now, the impact of the economic downturn and the impact of poverty and more children living in disadvantage,.” These are all further challenges that are likely to continue throughout the school year.
With the recent news that Ofsted one word judgements are to be scrapped, this has knock on effects for safeguarding. While details are not clear at the time of writing, new 'report card' judgements will include safeguarding. Ofsted also made clear that when safeguarding concerns are identified in an otherwise high-performing school, inspectors will allow the school time to remedy issues and revisit within three months. This will be an area school and trust leaders will need to monitor closely as more details emerge.
Best practices in schools
As we mentioned previously, 34% of respondents to our survey said a child comes to them with a new concern every week. To cope with this, Sue shared that ATLP have dedicated safeguarding staff with the responsibility of working with children and local authorities to protect children and provide early help. This has helped students feel more confident in talking to someone who has the time and capacity to address their concerns.
The aforementioned high levels of safeguarding reports may actually be a symptom of good practice. This high quantity of reports may be a result of schools encouraging early and often reporting, and creating multiple reporting routes for children.
Adopting a 'better safe than sorry' approach of early reporting and intervention has become safeguarding best practice in many schools. This was highlighted by Katherine Tyler, (Safeguarding and Welfare Officer at the Globeducate Trust) who felt it was important that children were given a variety of reporting routes. Adding that it is also vital that all staff feel confident and trained to handle a disclosure.
“That would be something I would promote with all my DSLs, that it is really important to have multiple channels for students to report.”
Katherine Tyler, Safeguarding and Welfare Officer at Globeducate
KCSIE updates for 2024
The 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' statutory guidance received an update for 2024 with further safeguarding best practice. There is a more general update of key safeguarding information which is relevant for all teaching staff. There is also an update for school leaders and governing bodies, highlighting specific duties and the importance of working with local authorities.
The 2024 update also shares how educational settings can reduce the risk of employing staff who may be a risk to students. The fourth of five main updates details how schools should respond to allegations made against staff. Lastly, the 2024 update covers processes to protect a child or young person from sexual violence.
Read our blog to find out more about the 2024 KCSIE updates.
How can we support your school?
Schools can reduce their safeguarding costs by 60% by using our award-winning reporting tool, MyConcern.
MyConcern
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Secure safeguarding reporting: Use one system to access all information - confidentially. Everything is at your fingertips and can be shared with the right people at the right time.
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Spot risks early: Easily identify trends and patterns early so you can address issues before they escalate.
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Encourage open reporting: Show your school's commitment to child protection by enabling your whole community to report concerns. Lead the way by facilitating anonymous reporting - ensuring nothing gets missed.
Visit the Tes MyConcern home page
Tes Safeguarding Training
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Unlimited access, anytime, anywhere: Whole-school access to over 80 online, expert-written courses available on a dedicated platform.
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Stay updated in line with statutory guidance: Regularly updated courses ensure your team always has the latest information and guidance.
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Inspection-ready reporting: Easily provide evidence for inspections with a reporting suite that monitors and documents all training activities.
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CPD-accredited training: Staff gain personalised certificates and CPD points for each completed safeguarding course.
Visit the Tes Safeguarding Training home page
“Everything to manage safeguarding, from referral to tracking, to the management of case review, is all contained within the MyConcern package. It is one of the best purchases I have ever made.”
Chris Tallon, Headteacher at Woodcroft Primary School
How can we support your Trust?
Leaders working across large groups of schools need the clarity and robust structures to easily access updates and insights. Standardisation of processes and ways of working across schools can ensure efficient use of time for leaders and makes trends, insights and data easier to spot and understand.
Tes MyConcern subscribers can access a feature called Clarity which is designed specifically for trusts. It pulls together multiple schools' data to offer overviews and highlight trends across the entire trust while also enabling deep dives into individual school data. It ensures that schools use the same labels and terminology when they make reports or update existing reports. Giving those at trust level a consistent approach across the group for easier analysis, trend spotting and strategic, data led decision-making.