Safeguarding Children in Education:

Safeguarding Audit Toolkit for Schools and Colleges in East Sussex, 2015-2016

Part 1: Guidance for Completing the Safeguarding Audit

A. Why should schools and colleges evaluate their safeguarding arrangements?

All educational establishments have a legal responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.

  • Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 requires governing bodies of maintained schools and further education colleges to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
  • Section 157 of the Education Act 2002 requires proprietors of independent schools (including academies, Free Schools and city technology colleges) to have arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
  • The Non-Maintained Special Schools Regulations 1999 require governing bodies of non-maintained special schools to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Regular monitoring is essential to ensure that the educational establishment has strong policies, procedures and mechanisms in place to safeguard children and young people; it will also help the establishment to prepare for safeguarding aspects of inspections by Ofsted or other relevant inspectorates.

B. About this audit toolkit

The purpose of the audit toolkit is to provide educational establishments with some practical advice on how to ensure that all children are safe and provide evidence that safeguarding is a priority within their establishment. It has been developed to align it with the following statutory guidance and inspection frameworks:

  • Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings(2015),Ofsted
  • Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015) Department for Education
  • Working Together to safeguard children (2015) HM Government

The audit tool has also been informed by results of inspections locally and findings from serious case reviews nationally and locally.

The audit toolkit includes the following parts:

  • Part 1: Guidance for completing the audit tool
  • Part 2: Safeguardingaudit tool
  • Part 3: Safeguardingaction plan

Definition: In this toolkit, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. ‘Children’, therefore, means children and young people throughout the document.

C. How to use the audit tool

Although the audit toolkit does not provide a comprehensive list of issues and evidence, it has been designed to help you think about what you have in place and what you may wish to put in place in the future.

  • The educational establishment’s safeguarding arrangements should be auditedannually. The designated safeguarding lead and the headteacher, principal or proprietor should work together to complete the audit and compile an action plan. It is recommended that thechairof the governing body or the nominated child protection governoralso contributes to this.
  • Once the audit is completed, it is essential that it is checked and signed off by the chair of the governing body or trustees.
  • The action plan should be reviewed, on an ongoing basis ideally, and at least half-way through the year, to ensure that actions are completed within timescales and achieve a green rating;further actions should be agreed for the next audit to ensure continuing improvement.
  • The audit and reviews of the action plan should be formally discussed and recorded within management and governing body meetings and then shared appropriately. The completed audit could be used not only as inspection evidence regarding how your establishment is currently meeting its safeguarding requirements, but also importantly to detail any actions you are planning, with timescales, to improve outcomes for children.

D. RAG rating and action planning

The traffic light system relates to how the educational establishment assesses itself against achieving a particular standard. If your establishment assesses itselfas red or amber, areas for development need to be recorded along with the person responsible for completing the action and a timescale in which to do soon the separate action plan (a template action plan is provided in Part 3).

RED / Indicates that processes are lacking and need to be developed as a matter of urgency in order to meet minimum requirements for a specific standard.
AMBER / Indicates that processes are in place but they need to be reviewed or further improved for a specific standard.
GREEN / Indicates that the establishment meets the standard fully with all processes in place and up to date, at least to the required minimum.

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Safeguarding Children in Education:

Part 2: Safeguarding Audit Tool for Schools and Colleges in East Sussex, 2015-2016

Name of school/college / Date of audit
Person completing the audit / Job title / Signature
Person completing the audit / Job title / Signature
STATUTORY TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Name of designated safeguarding lead (DSL) / Job title / Date of last DSLtraining
Name of deputy DSL / Job title / Date of last DSLtraining
Name of the nominated safeguarding governor / Date of last governor safeguarding training
Date of last safeguarding training for all staff working with children (refresher training every three years as recommended by the LSCB)
CHAIR OF THE GOVERNING BODY OR TRUSTEES OR THE PROPRIETOR
This audit has been accepted by [insert name and position (chair of the governing body/ chair of trustees/proprietor)] who will be responsible for ensuring that the recommendations and actions arising from the audit are implemented and reviewed.
Name / Date / Signature
RETURNING THE AUDIT TOOL AND ACTION PLANAs part of the audit process, East Sussex Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) will select a sample of schools and colleges to test and quality assure audit returns. This will be carried out by a small audit team from East Sussex County Council (ESCC) visiting the establishment.
All schools and colleges are requested to return their completed audit tool and action plan by email to ESCC.
  • The deadline for returning the audit is Friday 18th December 2015
  • The email address to return the audit is
  • Evidence for meeting each standard should be provided. Documents should be embedded, or links provided to the establishment’s website where documents can be found, in the appropriate section on the audit tool.

Safeguarding standard / Evidence you may have / Notes / RAG rating / Action(enter details of action to be taken to meet the standard and transfer to the Action Plan (Part 3))
1)The educational establishment has robust governance and lines of responsibility to ensure that practice meets required standards; leaders and managers are clear about their responsibilities and the steps they are taking to develop good practice beyond the statutory minimum.
1.1 / A member of the establishment’s governing body champions safeguarding and child protection issues, liaises with the senior leadership team and provides written information and reports to the governing body at least three times a year. /
  • The establishment has a nominated governor or trustee for safeguarding and child protection issues.
  • The nominated governor is kept up to date about policies, procedures and individual issues, if appropriate.
  • Minutes of meetings of the governing body and subcommittees where safeguarding and child protection issues are discussed. It is recommended that safeguarding is a standing agenda item for the Full Governing Body agenda.
/
  • Neither the governing body nor individual governors have a role in dealing with individual cases (except when exercising their disciplinary functions in relation to allegations against a member of staff); however, it is helpful to have a nominated governor.

1.2 / A senior member of the establishment’s leadership team is designated to take lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues, providing advice and support to other staff, liaising with the local authority, and for working with other agencies. /
  • Evidence that the designated safeguarding lead’s job description clearly defines their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
  • Evidence that time is made available for the designated safeguarding lead to undertake the duties required of the role.
/
  • The designated safeguarding lead should have the status and authority within the management structure to be able to carry out the duties of the post, including committing resources to child protection matters, and where appropriate directing other staff.
  • In schools,it is recommended that the designated safeguarding lead has qualified teacher/social worker status

1.3 / A deputy is available to act in the designated safeguarding lead’s absence. /
  • Evidence that the establishment has a deputy with appropriate seniority.
/
  • In large establishments, or those with a large number of child protection concerns, it may be necessary to have a number of deputies to deal with the workload.

1.4 / Staff members are aware of the line of accountability and who the designated safeguarding lead is within the establishment. /
  • The establishment should have a clear protocol in place that informs staff who has responsibility for child protection and how to contact them.
  • Minutes of meetings where information has been provided and discussed.
/
  • The protocol should be mentioned in the staff handbookand provided to new staff in their induction pack.
  • It should also be displayed in the staff room.

1.5 / The designated safeguarding lead is held to account through line management and supervision or appraisal by their manager (if the designated safeguarding lead is the headteacher or principal, this should be through their line management committee). /
  • The work of the designated safeguarding lead is scrutinised and challenged effectively – evidenced through minutes or notes of regular supervision or appraisal
  • Evidence that further support or training is provided, as necessary
/
  • It is important that supervision and management processes are sufficiently challenging to ensure the establishment’s safeguarding procedures are robust.

1.6 / Systems are in place to ensure the establishment monitors and quality assures implementation and compliance of child protection and safeguarding requirements and procedures. /
  • Evidence of quality assurance activities by the designated safeguarding lead, for example audits of children’s child protection files or records and training.
  • Evidence of systematic review of the action plan from the previous Safeguarding Children in Education Audit.
  • Evidence that action is taken without delay to improve any deficiencies identified.
/
  • The designated safeguarding lead should audit files at least annually to ensure staff members are aware of how to recognise concerns and what to do to report concerns.
  • The Safeguarding Children in Education Audit (this audit) should be conducted annually and the resulting action plan should be reviewed regularly, eg identified recommendations and actions could be incorporated into the establishment’s annual Improvement Plan.

1.7 / Any deficiencies or weaknesses in safeguarding and child protection arrangementsbrought to the attention of the governing body and senior managers are remedied without delay. /
  • Evidence of systematic challenge by governors – documented in minutes of meetings.
  • Evidence of challenge by the senior leadership - documented in minutes of meetings.
  • The policy review cycle is implemented within set timescales.
  • Surveys/questionnaires for children, parents and staff members.
/ Examples of this may be:
  • Senior management, governor and staff meeting minutes
  • Parental feedback you collect
  • Policy review cycle agreed by the governing body

Safeguarding standard / Evidence you may have / Notes / RAG rating / Action(enter details of action to be taken to meet the standard and transfer to the Action Plan (Part 3))
2.1 / Leaders, managers, governors and proprietors take account of statutory guidance which set out their responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. /
  • Awareness of statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015).
  • A copy ofKeeping Children safe in Education (2015)is made available and all staff have read part one of the statutory guidance
  • Minutes of meetings where the documents have been discussed, including at full governor and sub-committee meetings.
/
  • Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) can be found on the Department for Education website at
  • Keeping children safe in education: for schools and collegescan be found on the Department for Education website at

2.2 / The establishment has a child protection and safeguarding policy and procedures in place that are in accordance with Pan Sussex Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, and the policy is made available to parents on request. / •The policy and procedures are in place and signed off by governors.
  • The policy and procedures are reviewed annually and accessible to staff.
  • The policy is accessible to children and parents; for example, it is available on the establishment’s website.
  • Parents are informed through newslettersand the annual admissions document.
/
  • Sussex Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures can be found at

  • A model child protection and safeguarding policy for schools is on Czone at

2.3 / The establishment has a staff behaviour policy or code of conduct which includes staff/pupil relationships, acceptable use of ICT, and communications including the use of social media. / The policy or code is in place and signed off by the governors. /
  • A model code of conduct for schools is on Czone at

2.4 / The educational establishmenthas an anti-bullying policy that is reviewed annually. /
  • The policy is in place and signed off by governors.
  • Accurate records should be kept of bullying-related incidents and actions taken to deal with these.
  • In schools, anti-bullying should be integrated into a high quality PSHE education programme
  • Anti-bullying initiatives and promotional and awareness raising activities should be systematically captured in order to provide evidence of these pro-active methods to reduce bullying.
  • The establishment’s Improvement Plan should refer to actions to eradicate bullying and be signed off by governors.
/
  • All staff should be competent and feel confident about implementing the protocol for managing incidences of bullying.
  • There should be a consistency of approach throughout the establishment for identifying and managing incidents of bullying.
  • The Education Support, Behaviour and Attendance Service offers a range of support for schools to tackle bullying. See Czone at

2.5 / The educational establishment has a written e-safety policy and procedures and a social media policy that are reviewed annually. /
  • E-safety policy and acceptable use policies (one for staff and one for children/young people), reviewed annually, and signed off by governors.
  • A social-media policy, reviewed annually, and signed off by governors.
  • The policies accurately reflect current safeguarding procedures.
  • There is a named governor with responsibility for overseeing e-safety.
  • The establishment conducts an annual e-safety audit.
  • E-safety is included on the Improvement Plan and signed off by governors.
  • Evidence of monitoring the establishment’sinternet, e-mail and social media traffic, especially that used by staff.
  • Robust procedures for incident management and safeguarding any ‘e’ evidence.
  • Initiatives and awareness raising activities for children, parents and staff should be systematically captured to provide evidence of these pro-active methods.
/
  • It is recommended that the establishment has a designated e-safety officer.
  • Has the establishment conducted e-safety awareness raising training with staff in the last year?
  • It is recommended that the schools provide an e-safety awareness raising event for parents and carers annually.
  • An e-safety audit should be run annually with all stakeholders.
  • The establishment should have a named contact within East Sussex County Council who can supply advice and guidance with regard to incident management.
  • All children, parents and staff members should be aware of the establishment’s social media policy that sets out safe practices for all members of the community.
  • Guidance on writing an e-safety policy and a model social media policy are available on Czone at

  • East Sussex Schools ICT Support offers a service to visit schools; this includes e-safety assemblies, workshops for target groups and drop-in surgeries for parents. Information about this offer is available at

2.6 / The educational establishment takes reasonable steps to ensure that children are safe on the premises. /
  • A health and safety policy and procedures, updated annually, which cover identifying, reporting and dealing with accidents, hazards and faulty equipment.
  • A policy for supporting children with medical conditions (Administration of Medicines/Complex eaHHeaHealth Needs Policy) is in place that details the arrangements to ensure that children are supported whilst in school. Documented health care plans, protocols and records of any medicines administered are in place and compliant with current policies. Staff have received relevant training and medicines are stored appropriately.
  • All health and safety checks are up to date and where issues have been identified they have been quickly acted upon.
  • Procedures and relevant risk assessments are reviewed to ensure that the physical space is safe.
  • Entrances and exits to the siteare effectively monitoredparticularly at high risk times at the start and end of the day; fencing is adequate and secure.
  • Visitors are asked to show photo IDs; visitors and volunteers wear a visitor badge while on the premises and are monitored.
  • Systems are put in place to ensure that children are collected by named “safe” adults as appropriate to the age and vulnerability of the child.
  • Evidence of reasonable steps to ensure safety in the case of fire or an emergency, including an emergency evacuation procedure that is regularly reviewed and up to date.
/
  • This section is about the physical safety of the premises, eg up to date fire drills, checks of fire detection and control equipment, electrical equipment, building safety, etc are signed off by the relevant managers.
  • All checks must ensure that the premises, including outdoor spaces, furniture, equipment and toys, are fit for purpose and clean and safe for use by children.
  • The educational establishment should consider training for staff to ensure that current protocols and practices for evacuation and/or ‘lock down’ are clear and well understood by all members of the community in the case of a criminal or terrorist intrusion.
  • Procedures and relevant riskassessments are on Czone at