Completing your SEF - safeguarding

   

According to ‘The Evaluation Schedule for Schools’ January 2010, inspectors should evaluate:

·      the effectiveness of the school’s arrangements, including links with key agencies, for ensuring the safety of its pupils. 

The guidance inspectors are asked to take account of includes the extent to which the school:

·      has clear policies, strategies and procedures to ensure the safeguarding and welfare of pupils, including those relating to behaviour, bullying, health and safety, harassment and discrimination, and meets all required duties

·      has established clear management responsibilities in relation to child protection including relevant designated staff

·      monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of its policies and practices

·      ensures that adults working with pupils are appropriately recruited and vetted

·      ensures that adults receive up-to-date, high-quality, appropriate training, guidance, support and supervision to undertake the effective safeguarding of pupils

·      encourages and enables pupils to report any concerns or complaints including concerns about poor or abusive practices

·      takes reasonable steps to ensure that pupils are safe on the school site, for example by monitoring visitors or volunteers or those using the premises during school time

·      identifies concerns about possible abuse and/or neglect and/or pupils who may have gone missing, and refers such concerns promptly to the relevant agencies

·      records information relevant to safeguarding concerns clearly and accurately and shares it appropriately, both internally and with other agencies

·      helps pupils to keep themselves safe, including encouraging pupils to adopt safe and responsible practices and deal sensibly with risk, for example:

o   when handling hazardous equipment and materials

o   looking after themselves during outdoor activities

o   when attending alternative educational or work-related provision

o   using the internet

o   if they come into contact with groups that encourage the use of violence.

In order to help self-evaluate prior to inspection schools might ask themselves:

·      Do we have the necessary policies in place including:

o   Equal opportunities policy

o   Health and safety policy

o   Internet use policy

o   Child protection policy

o   Race equality policy

·      Are these policies effectively implemented within the school?

·      Are all staff aware of their roles and responsibilities within these policies?

·      How do we know these policies are being effectively implemented?

·      Do governors monitor safeguarding effectively? Is there a named governor for child protection? How does the headteacher help keep governors informed? How do the governors hold the school to account for safeguarding?

·      Is training for all staff, including the designated person, up-to-date?

·      Does the school have rigorous procedures in place for vetting members of staff and for ensuring safe recruitment?

·      Is the single central record in place and up-to-date?

·      Does the school work proactively with other agencies to safeguard pupils?

·      Are all staff aware of their roles in relation to safeguarding pupils?

·      Does the school have procedures for dealing with allegations against staff?

·      Are risk assessments in place, reviewed and acted upon?

·      Is there a clear reporting system for if a pupil, member of staff, parent or other person has concerns about the safety of children?

·      Do the pupils feel safe and are they helped to adopt safe practices?

·      Does the curriculum help pupils to learn how to keep safe?

·      Is the school site secure – has safety been reviewed recently?

·      Is there a shared understanding of safeguarding within the school?

·      Are there good systems of communication within the school for sharing information about safeguarding issues?

·      Are parents informed about the school’s role in safeguarding?

·      Do pupils understand how they can share concerns and gain information?

·      Are pupils and parents consulted about safeguarding? Are their views acted upon?

When completing the SEF schools no longer have prompts to help them. Instead it is expected that schools use the grade descriptors as a guide:

Outstanding (1)	The school is a leader of high-quality practice, ensuring, for example, that its procedures are constantly updated to reflect developing technologies. The school has excellent quality assurance and risk assessment systems which are routinely informed by pupils’ and parents’ views, including those who may have barriers to communication. There is a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues among the governors and staff at all levels, all of whom receive regular training on safeguarding, in particular child protection. As a result, a realistic and proportionate approach to safety and safeguarding permeates all aspects of the school’s life. The school’s collaborative working with other key agencies is exemplary.
Good (2)	The school adopts recommended good practice across all areas of its work. The school’s well-developed quality assurance and risk assessment systems take account of the views of pupils and parents. These are acted upon to make effective improvements to the safeguarding systems. Training of all staff, in particular child protection, is of good quality. The school integrates issues about safety and safeguarding into the curriculum so that pupils have a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe. The school is proactive in building on collaborative working with other key agencies to reduce the risk of harm to pupils.
Satisfactory (3)	All safeguarding regulations and duties are met and arrangements and policies for safeguarding are in line with government requirements and systematically reviewed. All staff have been suitably trained and have the skills and expertise required. The school identifies dangers, fosters a realistic understanding of risk and helps pupils to keep themselves safe. Arrangements for interagency working are effective. The school knows which of its pupils are most at risk and gives priority to safeguarding their welfare, including pupils who are excluded or persistently absent.
Inadequate (4)	Safeguarding regulations and duties are not met. or Arrangements for safeguarding are not robust and there is no system to maintain and update them, or the systems that are in place are ineffective. or Pupils do not receive sufficient information, or support, to enable them to keep themselves safe. or There is little or unproductive involvement of key agencies.

Different strands can be tracked within these grade descriptors. Identifying these can help schools decide on their grading as well as helping them to determine what actions are necessary to move to the next level.

 

Strand 1: compliancy with requirements 

 

Outstanding (1)	The school is a leader of high-quality practice, ensuring, for example, that its procedures are constantly updated to reflect developing technologies.
Good (2)	The school adopts recommended good practice across all areas of its work.
Satisfactory (3)	All safeguarding regulations and duties are met and arrangements and policies for safeguarding are in line with government requirements and systematically reviewed.
Inadequate (4)	Safeguarding regulations and duties are not met.

 

Strand 2: dealing with risk  

 

Outstanding (1)	The school has excellent quality assurance and risk assessment systems which are routinely informed by pupils’ and parents’ views, including those who may have barriers to communication.
Good (2)	The school’s well-developed quality assurance and risk assessment systems take account of the views of pupils and parents. These are acted upon to make effective improvements to the safeguarding systems.
Satisfactory (3)	The school identifies dangers, fosters a realistic understanding of risk and helps pupils to keep themselves safe.
Inadequate (4)	Arrangements for safeguarding are not robust and there is no system to maintain and update them, or the systems that are in place are ineffective.

 

Strand 3: staff development   

 

Outstanding (1)	There is a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues among the governors and staff at all levels, all of whom receive regular training on safeguarding, in particular child protection. As a result, a realistic and proportionate approach to safety and safeguarding permeates all aspects of the school’s life.
Good (2)	Training of all staff, in particular child protection, is of good quality.
Satisfactory (3)	All staff have been suitably trained and have the skills and expertise required. The school identifies dangers, fosters a realistic understanding of risk and helps pupils to keep themselves safe.
Inadequate (4)	Safeguarding regulations and duties are not met. or Arrangements for safeguarding are not robust and there is no system to maintain and update them, or the systems that are in place are ineffective.

 

Strand 4: curriculum    

Outstanding (1)	No specific mention
Good (2)	The school integrates issues about safety and safeguarding into the curriculum so that pupils have a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe.
Satisfactory (3)	helps pupils to keep themselves safe.
Inadequate (4)	Pupils do not receive sufficient information, or support, to enable them to keep themselves safe.

Strand 5: inter-agency work   

 

Outstanding (1)	The school’s collaborative working with other key agencies is exemplary.
Good (2)	The school is proactive in building on collaborative working with other key agencies to reduce the risk of harm to pupils.
Satisfactory (3)	Arrangements for interagency working are effective. The school knows which of its pupils are most at risk and gives priority to safeguarding their welfare, including pupils who are excluded or persistently absent.
Inadequate (4)	There is little or unproductive involvement of key agencies.

 

What might this judgement look like on your SEF? Below are some suggestions for statements you might want to include:

The whole school has a clear understanding of the importance of safeguarding and the need for vigilance of all members of staff. A safeguarding audit (June 2009) indicated that 99% of staff felt confident in what their role is in relation to safeguarding. Staff induction procedures and the staff training schedule (File A) show that all members of staff are kept up-to-date with school practice and national guidance.

All policies are up-to-date (File B) and shared with staff. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and all staff  act upon them appropriately. This is monitored by the Senior Leadership Team. The schools has just completed an audit of site security with the premises management at the LA and is currently putting in a new CCTV camera at reception. Recommendations acted on last year resulted in a 70% reduction of members of the public using the school playing field as a short cut.

Pupils are helped to understand how to keep themselves safe through the established PSHE programme (File C). Consultation following units shows that 100% of pupils are clear  about who they should talk to if they have any concerns and 95% feel confident that they know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Internet safety is a regular unit at the beginning of every year’s teaching component. (File C)

The school’s behaviour policy and anti-bullying strategy were reviewed in the summer term 2009. This included consultation with parents, pupils, governors and members of the community. As a result there has been a reduction in the number of fixed-term exclusions of 50% during autumn term 2009. The pupil survey shows that 99% of pupils feel that any incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively by the school (File A)

Specific initiatives such as the involvement of community police, the road safety team and community action groups have had a positive impact on pupils’ understanding of how to stay safe in the community (Survey File A).

The school operates efficient safer recruitment practices. Three members of staff and two governors have completed the online training and all appointments include at least one trained member of staff. 

The school has established its own multi-agency team who meet half-termly to ensure early intervention in cases of concern. All child protection meetings are attended by at least one member of school staff. Records of referrals and concerns are kept rigorously and all actions are followed-up and evaluated. Staff are clear about their roles in relation to child protection (staff survey June 2009).