Safeguarding in Schools

Safeguarding is one of the biggest challenges facing schools today, and the reality is that this challenge places the school at risks from various perspectives. First and foremost, there is the obvious fact that the safeguarding of all children must be the primary driving consideration. To this end, many schools implement strategies and various education to ensure that if they identify that a child is at risk, there are processes that needs to be followed. This way of thinking aligns to South Africa’s legislation, and it is very important. However, schools also need to consider the risk of not having proactive solutions in place.

The concept of ‘Duty of Care’ is the place where many schools find themselves falling short. Inasmuch as Duty of Care refers to the need to ensure that the right steps are taken once a child makes a disclosure, schools also need to be considering what steps can be taken to prevent these things from happening in the first place. South Africa’s legislation hasn’t addressed this as well as other countries in the world, and for that reason, schools need to ensure that their policies drive these responsibilities. Schools should also ensure that they appoint at least one person to take responsibility for policing those policies. Schools need to be considering not only Reactive Policies but also Proactive Policies. A Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) should be appointed, trained, and empowered at the school to ensure that these policies are being adhered to. Many schools will have resources on staff, such as counselors and sometimes even psychologists. Other resources that schools may have, include Discipline Officers, and inasmuch as the resources are valuable, they are reactive.

In reality, getting Proactive Safeguarding correct takes more than the drafting of a few policies and some training. The reality is that Safeguarding is not an action, it is a process. Only schools which take responsibility for driving that process forward will truly save our children.

Take note of The Guardian’s 9-Point Safeguarding Action Plan for school governing bodies to implement in their schools:

1. Mandate a safeguarding audit. Commission an independent assessment of your school’s current policies, practices, and risks with a specialist safeguarding organisation.
2. Approve specialist policy development. Every school should adopt a bespoke safeguarding policy created by safeguarding specialists, not generic tick-box templates.
3. Ensure comprehensive staff training. Every adult in your school, staff or volunteers, must complete accredited safeguarding training. Untrained means unprepared and that puts children at risk.
4. Appoint a Designated Safeguarding Officer. This is not a guidance counsellor. This is a dedicated, trained safeguarding lead with the authority to act on risks and incidents. 
5. Enforce full educator vetting. School governing bodies must demand and record checks against:

• National Sexual Offenders Register.
• Child Protection Register.
• SAPS Criminal Database

6. Champion parental awareness. School governing bodies should ensure parents are informed, trained and encouraged to join The Guardian Army, a national platform for empowered parental oversight. 
7. Implement monitoring & evaluation systems. Safeguard, the only safeguarding administration management tool available to monitor safeguarding compliance. 
8. Activate Anonymous Reporting Channels. Support the use of The Guardian’s Anonymous Reporting App in your school. Whistleblowing and disclosures save lives.
9. Make panic button access available to learners. Every learner deserves a way to call for help immediately. On the Guardian’s Anonymous Reporting App, there is a feature that offers exactly that.