A child has asked to speak to you about something, and they start to disclose a serious safeguarding concern.
You listen to what the student has to say, and reassure them. But what happens next?
The first thing that you need to do is take a breath. It can be really difficult listening to a disclosure, so take a second to compose yourself and gather your thoughts. Then make sure you alert the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) or deputy designated safeguarding lead (DDSL) in person as soon as possible.
If you can call them, or have an on-call system in your school, that is a great way of getting that information to them quickly, and you can rest assured that they know about the situation and will be looking out for the concern.
You will then need to write up the disclosure, following the procedure set out in your school. Usually this will involve using a dedicated online system. Ensure that you write down the student’s words. Don’t change things so they “make more sense” or put down your own interpretation of what they meant. Remember that this account could be called upon in court or an inquiry, or parents could make a subject access request and would be able to see it. It is important that it is a true record of what was said.
Safeguarding: How teachers should handle a disclosure
Once you have done that, trust the safeguarding team to handle it. There are a number of things that the DSL will have to do, depending on the disclosure. Sadly, thresholds for support around the country are staggeringly high at the moment. You could listen to a disclosure that you find really difficult to hear, but to a multi-agency safeguarding hub it will be just another to add to the pile - and, unfortunately, there may be many more cases deemed a higher priority.
Due to the nature of safeguarding, there is only so much information that can be passed on to staff. It is very much “need to know”, and this is to protect everyone involved. By all means, check in with the safeguarding team and see if things are OK, but understand that you won’t get all the details. Your DSL may keep you involved to a certain degree to let you know that there is an upcoming initial child protection conference or a child-in-need planning meeting, which your account of the disclosure may inform.
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Although you might not be involved in the proceedings going forwards, a disclosure can still take its toll. It’s incredibly important to make sure that you look after yourself.
Those of us dealing with safeguarding issues day-in and day-out can become somewhat hardened to it - and while incidents still affect us, we also have the benefit of seeing the issue through. If you are not involved in safeguarding and you end up dealing with a disclosure, it can be really difficult to process, especially going forwards when you don’t know what is happening.
Hopefully your school offers access to supervision or counselling for staff (safeguarding teams should really be having regular supervision), so ask for a couple of sessions if they are not already offered to you. Ideally the supervision will be with someone external who is not part of the school community. It is a great space to talk confidentially and to unload.
If external supervision is not available, you should be able to speak to the DSL in a similar way. Make this a priority. You might feel like you can deal with it alone but taking that time after a disclosure to get everything out of your head and off your shoulders is incredibly important.
It is tough having to listen to a disclosure but it is also a privilege - it means that the student sees you as someone they can trust to keep them safe.
Thomas Michael is a safeguarding lead
During the second Safeguarding Awareness Week (22-28 May 2023) Tes will be inspiring children and young people everywhere to SPEAK, SHOUT, SHARE and open up about the safeguarding issues affecting them. We’ll be sharing free resources, lesson plans and safeguarding training courses to help your school keep everybody safe.
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