This academic year has been incredibly tough for everyone. 

Coming out of lockdown, there were a lot of concerns about students’ mental health. After all, for some families, lockdown was an incredibly challenging experience.

Sadly, our concerns were justified. Between April and September 2021, there was an 81 per cent increase in referrals for children and young people’s mental health services compared with the same period in 2019.

We have felt this in schools, too. Across the academic year, my school has seen a rise in disclosures, with more students presenting with potential anxiety or depression. 

The end result has been that there is an incredible strain on the system and on schools as we try to navigate this post-lockdown world. 

Now we are coming to the end of the academic year, there should be a six-week pause during the holiday and a much-needed break for staff. But for safeguarding leads, is this actually the case? 

Official guidance

Looking at the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance, it would appear that responsibilities for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) stop once the holidays begin.

On page 161, Annex C, it is made explicit that the responsibility is “during term time” and that “appropriate cover arrangements for any out-of-hours/out-of-term activities” should be arranged.

However, despite this direction from the Department for Education, it is becoming increasingly common to hear of local authorities requesting to have a DSL’s contact details over the summer period. 

How to find a balance

While I have always tried to keep in touch with vulnerable students across the holidays, I do think it’s important to have a total break from work, too.

Most of the time, all that is required is a simple email to check in and to maintain a channel of communication in order to sustain a positive relationship.

I do this because, for these students, the summer break is a difficult time. For some, their therapy is paused or disrupted owing to the holidays, or they no longer qualify for a service as they are now too old and haven’t transitioned on to the next stage.

Catch 22

Despite what KCSIE says, it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to down tools for the summer. I know that not checking emails and not knowing if anything was happening would be a heavy weight for me to carry but, at the same time, never truly switching off is an issue in itself.

I’m not the only one. Nigel Leeder is a school governor and safeguarding trainer, and he describes the summer break as a “catch 22 situation”.

“Staff can go on holidays and be worried about pupils and their families to the point of spoiling their holiday,” he says.

“There is a concern around the legal or insurance implications. If there were to be a safeguarding crisis, schools worry that the other agencies could say they believed the school was in touch.” 

Clear communication

The issue of clear communication between school and external agencies is an important one. There have been far too many child safeguarding practice reviews that have centred on a lack of communication between those involved in a case.

So, how can the situation be managed? Leeder suggests that emergency contact details should be given if needed, along with clear guidelines on expectations for staff and the families.

At our school, an out-of-office reply is set on our emails during the holidays. This message contains the phone numbers for the multi agency safeguarding hub as well as a list of different local services students can go to for support.

With all of our current cases, we meet or make contact before the break to ensure expectations are outlined, so students and families know that we won’t be available in the same way as during term time. This also provides an opportunity to screen anything that comes in and respond to any concerns.

A break is needed

This year has tested everyone and it feels like we may have even tougher times ahead.

Therefore, it is essential that we look after ourselves during this break to ensure we are revitalised and ready for whatever awaits us in September.

This job can often feel like we are just spinning plates but we have to step back and remember that we can just take those plates off the stick and set them aside for a while. They will still be there waiting to be spun when we are ready.

Thomas Michael is a designated safeguarding lead in a secondary school