Balancing safeguarding priorities: Doing the right thing

Balancing safeguarding priorities: Doing the right thing

In our recent Student Voice: Contextual Safeguarding Webinar, we explored a key challenge facing schools and local authorities: limited time and resources.

Generally speaking, safeguarding professionals carry two broad responsibilities:

1) Doing the right thing for our children
– Knowing our school communities are safe
– Understanding the safeguarding issues young people actually face, from their perspectives, hearing directly from them, not what adults assume
– Knowing whether the interventions we put in place are making a difference

2) Doing the right thing for our organisation
– Complying with inspection frameworks and government requirements (sometimes feeling like “tick-boxing”)
– Evidencing that KCSIE and Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance are live, active practices in our schools

With limited time and resources, it’s no surprise these two responsibilities can often feel like they run in competition with one another. But they don’t have to be.

By developing a common language and shared framework, schools can bring these responsibilities together, ensuring both compliance and genuine impact for young people.

DSL, Jason Tait, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children in Action’ webinar