Safeguarding FAQs
We've put together a list of frequently asked questions we get on our safeguarding courses and answered them for you.
Firstly, what is safeguarding?
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To put it simply, Safeguarding is the protection of children's welfare, physically and mentally and the prevention of any harm. The NSPCC explains Safeguarding further as:
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protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
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preventing harm to children’s health or development
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ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
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taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
Who needs to worry about Safeguarding?
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Everyone who works with children needs to be concerned about Safeguarding, from schools and nurseries to sports clubs and dentists, everyone who has access to children needs to be aware of Safeguarding. All organisations who work with or around children need to have safeguarding policies and procedures and staff need to be trained in the protocol. Safeguarding training is not only about preventing abuse to children, it's also about identifying children who are suffering from harm and how to deal with the situation.
What do I do if I have a Safeguarding concern?
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This depends entirely on your organisations safeguarding policy and procedures and will have been covered in your Safeguarding Awareness training. It oftens requires talking to your organisation's Designated Safeguarding Lead. If you are asking this question you may need to refresh your Safeguarding Awareness Training.
How often do I need to refresh my training?​
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If you're a DSL - you need to renew your training EVERY TWO YEARS. And, if/when there if a policy change. These are usually covered in the KCSIE updates.
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For Safeguarding Awareness, generally every year is preferred.
Can my organisation's DSL training the staff in Safeguarding Awareness?​
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Yes they can, an organisation's Designated Safeguarding Lead can training the other staff in Safeguarding Awareness and we have some resources which can help too. It is worth mentioning though that it is important that a DSL is very confident that they get the correct and updated information out to staff members as Ofsted can like to test staff and like to see evidence of safeguarding training.