Safeguarding in Schools Policy: Guidelines & Standards

Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy

A central, annually updated document defining abuse, outlining procedures for identifying, reporting, and managing incidents of concern – following the “5 Rs”: Recognise, Respond, Report, Record, Refer.

Child Bullying & Behaviour Policy

Measures to prevent all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying and prejudice-based bullying. This can also address child-on-child abuse, ensuring sexual violence or harassment is never dismissed as “banter”.

Child on Child Abuse Policy

Focussed clear policy procedures for handling reports of sexual violence or harassment between pupils.

Attendance Policy (Children Missing Education):

Outlining the response for pupils who are frequently absent – persistent absence can be a red flag for abuse or exploitation.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy

A policy that adopts a “whole-school” approach to promote positive mental health, prevent problems and how support is provided. This includes identifying concerns for early intervention, staff training on warning signs, clear referral pathways, student/parent involvement, and aligning with safeguarding/SEND policies.

Online Safety Policy

A policy that creates a framework for safe and responsible technology use, protecting students from online risks like harmful content, contact, and conduct, while also teaching about digital citizenship.

Prevent duty guidance – radicalisation & extremism

Integrated into safeguarding to protect children from radicalisation and extremist ideologies.

Referrals & Interventions

Every school’s policy should explicitly outline the pathway for referrals:

• Immediate Danger: If a child is in immediate danger, staff must call 999 for the police or an ambulance immediately.
• Standard Referrals: Concerns about abuse, neglect, or exploitation must be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). The DSL is typically responsible for formalising the referral to the Local Authority Children’s Social Care team.
• Reporting (FGM): Teachers have a statutory legal duty to personally report “known” cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in children under 18 directly to the police.
• Open Pathway: The policy must state that any staff member has the right to make a direct referral to social care if they believe a child is at risk and the school’s internal processes are failing. 

All concerns and referrals must be recorded with clear timings, settings, and verbatim accounts from the child where possible.

Ofsted Inspection Guidelines

Ofsted inspections, heavily integrate safeguarding and online safety into the Framework, evaluate whether schools have effective, up-to-date filtering and monitoring systems and policies to protect pupils from online harms. Inspectors assess staff training, pupil understanding, and the ability of school leadership to manage digital risks. 

Key requirements for Ofsted online safety inspections include:

• Appropriate Filtering and Monitoring: Schools must demonstrate they have appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place to protect children from harmful content, such as extremism, pornography, and grooming, and regularly review their effectiveness.
• Policies and Procedures: Robust, up-to-date online safety, child protection, and acceptable use policies must be in place and understood by all staff, volunteers, and pupils.
• Knowledge and Training: Staff must receive regular, up-to-date training on online safety.
• Curriculum Integration: Evidence of how online safety is taught within the curriculum to ensure pupils understand risks, such as cyberbullying, grooming, and social media dangers.
• Governor/Proprietor Oversight: Governing bodies must ensure they are doing all they reasonably can to limit exposure to online risks, which includes checking the effectiveness of IT system, monitoring.
• Pupil Voice: Inspectors will talk to pupils to check if they feel safe and understand how to manage online risks. 

• You can access the link to our Ofsted Online Safety & Monitoring Questions Checklist here: https://www.securus-software.com/ofsted-safeguarding-questions/

Alternative Provisions & Off-Site Visits Policy

Ensures that safeguarding continues even when students are not on the main school premises. 

Filtering & Monitoring Standards

Schools are required to implement, review annually and document appropriate internet filtering and monitoring to protect pupils from harmful/illegal content. Systems must cover all devices, including BYOD, and be overseen by a designated safeguarding lead, such as the DSL, to ensure effectiveness. Key areas include blocking malicious content, managing user-specific risks, and ensuring real-time monitoring. 

Governor Guidelines & Reporting

School governors hold statutory, collective, and individual responsibility for school safeguarding under KCSiE statutory guidance. This includes regular updates to ensure effective policies are in place, training has been carried out and a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is appointments, and, in many cases, appointing a specifically named safeguarding governor to monitor compliance, such as the Single Central Record (SCR) for vetting and safeguarding checks for staff and volunteers.

You can access the link to our Governor Digital Safety Checklist here: 
https://www.securus-software.com/safeguarding-responsibilities-for-school-governors/

You can view the latest Government statutory guidance for KCSiE, Prevent, Working Together to Safeguard Children, Filtering & Monitoring standards and other legislative documents within our resources:
https://www.securus-software.com/safeguarding-legislation-for-schools/