Information for Schools
Schools, academies, alternative providers and early years education settings should all comply with statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education. Read this revised statutory guidance alongside Working Together to Safeguard Children.
You should also read Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual (pan-regional)
Minimum requirements for schools
By law schools must have the following safeguarding measures in place:
- a safeguarding and child protection policy. This should be reviewed annually. It should include detailed procedures for handling suspected cases of abuse and procedures to follow if an allegation is made against a member of staff;
- a designated safeguarding lead (DSL). The DSL should be a senior member of staff, their training should be updated every two years, and a deputy DSL with the same level of training;
- a policy outlining procedures for the safer recruitment of staff;
- a single central record of all staff and volunteers used by the school;
- safeguarding training every three years for all staff and volunteers working with children in schools;
- an anti-bullying policy which prevents all forms of bullying and ensures pupils are safe to learn;
- procedure for passing child protection records to a receiving school;
- awareness of statutory requirements about forced marriage, extremism, female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation, peer on peer abuse, domestic abuse and sexual violence;
- arrangements for pupils on work experience placements.
Visit the following links for further information and guidance including:
Child Exploitation
Cases of possible Child Exploitation (sexual and criminal) are discussed at the SSCP's, Missing, Slavery, Exploitation and Trafficking Sub Group (MSET) on an monthly basis. The framework can be found in our Professionals page
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass is a unique police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse. Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given in strict confidence to a school's key adult to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child. Each school should have a member of staff (key adult) who has been fully trained to liaise with the police and children's social care, so are able to ensure the right support is made available to the child following the disclosure of a domestic abuse incident.
https://www.operationencompass.org/
Operation Endeavour
Operation Endeavour is a joint operation between Together for Children and Northumbria Police to safeguard children and young people at risk of harm from going missing.
Operation Endeavour aims to support children and young people who go missing from home. Children who go missing from home are at risk of significant harm and they may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, violent crime, gang exploitation, or to drug and alcohol misuse.
As a result, following any report of a child going missing to the Police, the Police will make contact with Children's Social Care who will then communicate relevant and necessary information to nominated school staff.
Each school has members of staff (key adults) who have been fully trained in liaising with the Police and Children's Social Care when required, and will ensure that the necessary support is made available to the child or young person following their return.