For safeguarding leads, one of the most important things to come out of the 2020-21 academic year was this phrase from the new Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance: “Even if there are no reports in their schools or colleges, it does not mean it is not happening; it may be the case that it is just not being reported.”
While it specifically refers to sexual abuse and harassment as a key focus, following the Ofsted report in June 2021, it could equally be applied to any sort of safeguarding or pastoral concern.
We know that, as teachers, we only ever see a part of what is going on in our schools, and calling on school leaders and governors to properly acknowledge this is a very positive step. Hopefully, the era of proudly showing inspectors how few safeguarding reports have been made or bullying issues reported is at an end.
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Yet, while this change in mindset is certainly welcome, school leaders need to go further and ensure students feel more comfortable and confident to speak to us about the problems they face.
As part of our approach to do this at St Benedict’s, we teach students, as well as staff, about safeguarding. So, how does this work? And how effective is it?
Step one: Use clear language
Each year, very clear and easy-to-remember messages are delivered by each form’s pastoral tutor about the importance of speaking out about any concerns, potential signs and indicators of what to look out for in other students, and the principle of confidentiality around safeguarding.
This latter point, particularly, is important for students to understand so that they are not surprised or disappointed when a teacher passes on a safeguarding issue to the safeguarding lead.
Step two: Ensure pupils know the process
We strengthened the safeguarding training offered in our personal, social, health and economic education programme, and talk through fictionalised case studies with our students of what actually does happen when a concern is made - in particular, when other agencies become involved. We continue to talk to our students, and work with them to ensure that we are doing all we can to give them confidence to come and talk to their teachers.
Step three: Utilise sixth-formers
Our sixth-form prefects get specific safeguarding training, as well as mental health first-aid training, each year. This means that our senior students know what potential issues to look out for in younger students and what to do if they find out about an issue.
Impact of training students in safeguarding
The positive impact of this safeguarding training can be seen in the trends shown by our records over the past five years, which show a growing number of students willing to talk to us about concerns regarding bullying and peer-on-peer abuse, and at the same time a falling number of concerns where these reports are serious safeguarding incidents. Both of these trends suggest that a greater willingness to report concerns is helping to deter students from unacceptable behaviour.
Of course, it is not a flawless system, and we must never be complacent, but always be looking to identify areas in which further improvements can be made. What is vital, though, is that our young people have the best possible understanding of what will happen with a safeguarding concern before they come and talk to a member of staff, and that, armed with this understanding, they will have the confidence to come forward.
Luke Ramsden is the senior deputy headmaster at St Benedict’s School, Ealing
Find out about Tes Safeguarding Awareness Week 2022 (16-22 May). Everyone has the right to feel safe and this week Tes are offering free webinars, expert guides and resources to help support your school raise awareness around important safeguarding issues.
