Teachers are “filling gaps that social care should be delivering”, the children’s commissioner has said.
Speaking at the the Confederation of School Trusts’ annual conference today, Dame Rachel de Souza said all she could do “at this stage” was to thank teachers for stepping in “while we try to revive and recreate that system”.
Dame Rachel also argued that there is a “major strategic opportunity” presented by the timing of the care review, the Schools’ White Paper, the SEND review and the integrated care systems reforms in the NHS.
She said that there is now an opportunity to deliver a “system around the children”, urging schools “to engage”.
The children’s commissioner told her audience that school trusts are “absolutely at the centre and the heart of that, ethically, humanly and practically”.
Dame Rachel said: “I... know that you often end up filling in gaps that social care should be delivering and all I can do at this stage is thank you for that, while we try to revive and recreate that system. So, from experience, I know strong families of schools are putting some of their support into place.”
The importance of school attendance for safeguarding
Earlier this week, Dame Rachel’s report Voices of England’s Missing Children said that schools should “create a culture” that “obsesses” over attendance.
She also said schools should aim for 100 per cent attendance on the first day of the autumn term.
The report also set out six “ambitions” to improve school attendance and contained a deep-dive looking at the practices of 10 local authorities.
This is part of an ambition to make school attendance “everyone’s business”, and Dame Rachel has also previously recommended that Ofsted should make it a “top priority” in its inspection framework.
This is part of a vision for all services to be responsible for safeguarding children, as well as “taking ownership and contributing to solutions”.
She further stressed this point today, adding that society was “failing to get looked-after children into good schools which can support them”. Dame Rachel also highlighted the failure to get children “vital mental health support to help them recover from trauma” and said that, to rectify this, “strong relationships are vital”.
“You absolutely need to be part of the safeguarding community and I’ve long been calling for schools to be full and statutory members of safeguarding partnerships. I’m delighted this is getting traction now. You are the true safeguarding partners,” she told the conference.
Statutory safeguarding partners have a joint responsibility for multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
There are currently three partners - the local authority, clinical commissioning groups and the police - and Dame Rachel wants schools to join this list.
She also commented on the importance of children having at least one strong and stable relationship, explaining that this could be a teacher.
Dame Rachel remarked on the “power” of the teacher in a child’s life to “recognise them” and “make space”, adding that it “doesn’t take that much”.
She alluded to one of the ambitions she set out earlier this week: that children should feel “listened to” by teaching staff, and therefore attendance should be prioritised in the Parent Pledge.
The pledge, announced in the government’s Schools White Paper, says schools will identify children who need help to catch up and provide targeted support, keeping parents informed about their child’s progression.
