Section 14 of the Children Act 2004 sets out the objectives of LSCB’s, which are:
· To coordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area; and
· To ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for those purposes
Keeping children safe in education July 2016:
· Under section 14B of the Children Act 2004 the LSCB can require a school or college to supply information in order to perform its function; this must be complied with.
Education Acts:
Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 came into effect on the 1 June 2004. Section 175 requires school governing bodies, local education authorities and further education institutions to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Such arrangements will have to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State. Similar requirements are in place for proprietors of Independent Schools under Section 157 of the Education Act 2002.
In Luton this requirement takes the form of this annual self audit return.
The audit enables you to:
§ ensure that statutory requirements for safeguarding and child protection are being complied with
§ evaluate your school’s safeguarding practice, and discuss any obvious issues arising from this audit in terms of patterns of strength and areas for development in the light of your whole-school context
§ develop a robust action plan to address any weaknesses or areas for development which have been identified
§ ensure that key people (including the governing body) have access to sufficient information to enable them to make a judgement about the quality of safeguarding within the school
§ ensure your self-evaluation accurately reflects the school’s safeguarding practice
§ assemble evidence of impact of practice for an Ofsted inspection in accordance with the Ofsted guidance ‘Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings (August 2016)
§ reflect on safeguarding policy and practice in order to strengthen arrangements to safeguarding and promote children’s welfare
Luton’s Local Safeguarding Children Board requires all schools and colleges, including independent schools and academies to complete this annual safeguarding audit, returning a copy to the schools’ safeguarding in education lead. The content reflects the statutory duties, as laid out in ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (Department for Education September 2016).
How to complete the audit
The head teacher/ principal designated safeguarding lead and nominated governor for safeguarding should work on this audit together during the autumn term. It must be signed by both head teacher / principal and nominated governor to confirm that they agree the contents. The fifth column provides a space to consider the evidence used to support self assessment.
This audit should be reviewed half way through the year to record progress against identified priorities and agree actions for the next audit. Completion of the audit and review should be formally recorded within school management and governing body meetings.
Each column represents a continuum of development and effectiveness. By highlighting the relevant prompts, or parts of the prompts, across the grid, schools can identify their current strengths and areas for development. You may wish to add / attach additional comments/evidence/action plan to support your judgements.
Focusing / Developing / Embedding / EnhancingThe school recognises it is at the beginning of a process. What is happening already is identified but there is much more to be done. / The school has started to address some aspects but further development is needed to secure and consolidate good practice. / Many aspects are now in place and are beginning to become embedded across the school. / Aspects are embedded fully in whole-school approach and practice. There is whole-school consistency and cohesive practice.
Return date: week beginning – Monday February 6th 2017
Return to:
Name of school: ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Name / Role within the Senior Leadership Team / Date last attended LSCB Higher Level Training / Date when renewal of training is required / Annual updates receivedDesignated safeguarding lead (DSL)
Deputy designated safeguarding lead
Deputy
designated safeguarding lead
Nominated safeguarding governor / Date last attended Foundation training (formerly Level 1)
Focusing / Developing / Embedding / Enhancing / Evidence / how do we know
Governing Body
Governing Body / A member of the Governing Body has been assigned to the role of Safeguarding Governor.
The Safeguarding Governor is not a member of school staff
The Safeguarding Governor has undertaken Safeguarding/Child protection training / An annual report is provided by the school to the Governing Body which is accepted
The Safeguarding Governor undertakes focused safeguarding visits to the school on an annual basis
The impact of the report to the Governing Body and visits do not yet contribute to the development of Safeguarding arrangements in the school / The Governing Body have a secure understanding of the statutory guidance for schools Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016 and use this guidance to support them in measuring the effectiveness of safeguarding in the school
The governing body understands the responsibility placed upon them within Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016
Systems for holding the school and Head Teacher to account for safeguarding are in the development stages / There is demonstrable evidence of the Governing Body holding the Head Teacher and school to account in relation to the effectiveness of safeguarding
The report to the Governing Body includes
1) The number of students subject to Child Protection Plans
2) Child in Need Plans
3) Multi Agency Early Help Assessments
4) Single agency Early Help Assessments/interventions
5) Number of Looked after children
6) The number of referrals made to Children’s Social Care (MASH)
7) The attendance, attainment and progress of vulnerable students
8) The participation rate in extra clubs and activities of vulnerable students
9) The outcomes of any recent audits of school safeguarding records
10) The school’s approach to quality assuring and supporting those with responsibility for safeguarding (managerial supervision)
Governing Body visits demonstrate professional curiosity in relation to the nature of safeguarding issues experienced by pupils and how the school provides support and intervention in accordance with the thresholds framework
The Governing Body ensures there is an effective training pathway in place for staff at all levels in the school to ensure compliance with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016. The training pathway is informed by the local context including trends and themes emerging from the safeguarding issues experienced by the pupils of the school
The Governing Body ensures the school provide Early Help in accordance with the LSCB Thresholds Framework and that children received the correct help at the correct time. This includes ensuring the school follows the pathway for referral to CAMHS and/or other organisations in order to support the emotional health and well-being of pupils (including those who may be self-harming)
The Governing Body reviews the effectiveness of all policies and procedures that form part of the school’s safeguarding framework
Commissioned services / Safeguarding expectations do not yet feature within commissioning agreements or service level agreement / Safeguarding expectations are included within SLA or Commissioning agreements however these do not cover all aspects of Section 175/157 / Safeguarding expectations are included within the SLA or Commissioning agreements and cover all aspects of Section 175/157 / Commissioned services are required, as part of the commissioning agreement to complete a Section 11 Children’s Act 1989 or S175/157 of the Education Act as part of the commissioning / service level agreement
Extended Services / School lettings / There are no arrangements in place to reassure the school of the safeguarding arrangements in respect of extended services or school lettings / The school takes steps to monitor that external groups using the school for extended school activities / lettings are appropriately registered for the services they provide and meet the requirements of their registration status / Extended services operated by the school or school staff e.g holiday clubs / childcare operate to the school’s operational safeguarding arrangements (including recruitment) and procedures are in place that robustly measure staff knowledge, understanding and compliance
External groups, using the school for extended school activities, are monitored to ensure they have an up to date, effective safeguarding / CP policy in place and adults involved in the activities are up to date with procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child. These policies include safer recruitment and staff induction arrangements / As embedding
.
Focusing / Developing / Embedding / Enhancing / Evidence / how do we know
Policy / The school has no Safeguarding / Child Protection policy currently in place. / The school has a policy but it needs updating (i.e. not been reviewed in the past year).
References within the policy are not reflective of current statutory guidance / The school has a policy which is reviewed annually. It is shared with and accessible to families but it is not fully effective in that not all staff demonstrate understanding of this / The school has an up to date policy which is reviewed annually and ratified by the Governors. When there is a change in statutory guidance the policy is reviewed more frequently.
This policy describes procedures which are in accordance with government guidance and refer to locally agreed inter-agency procedures.
The policy makes reference to safeguarding in specific circumstances as defined within Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016.
The policy is known to everyone working in the school, including the governing body and regular visitors and staff demonstrate their understanding of this including their role and responsibilities
Visitors are asked to read a brief summary which informs them of the safeguarding procedures of the school
It is easily accessible to parents and carers via the website.
Safeguarding and child protection procedures are referenced in other relevant policies and procedures for the school
Audit / monitoring / There is currently no monitoring taking place of the effectiveness of the policy within the school. / A safeguarding audit is completed by the DSL. Impact of the audit on improved practice is minimal
The school is beginning to develop a system of monitoring to identify the effectiveness of the policy. / A safeguarding audit is completed during the autumn term, involving the head / principal, DSL and deputies and the nominated governor for safeguarding.
If a weakness is identified, procedures are reviewed and revised immediately. / The safeguarding audit is completed and reviewed part way through the academic year to identify where progress and impact has been made and where further developments are required.
The safeguarding audit monitors whether all policies (where safeguarding and child protection is referenced) are aligned.
Evaluation of whole school practice informs the regular monitoring of the policy, including in-house monitoring of individual files for children who are a concern / have child protection issues.
All staff are involved in/made aware of any changes made to school procedures following a review.
All review/auditing activity in relation to safeguarding is reported to the Governing Body as part of the safeguarding report
Supervision / There are no formal processes in place for supervision.
Supervision may take place informally on an ad-hoc basis which is not consistently recorded / There are processes in place which provide opportunities for regular case discussions, however this is not part of a supervision policy or agreement.
The lack of structure limits the effectiveness of supervision in providing oversight, clarity of decision making and ensuring the child receives the correct help at the correct time in the least intrusive way / Supervision policy is in place which clearly defines the function of supervision and responsibilities of the supervisor and supervisee
Supervision takes place which is regular and frequent.
Supervision agreements are in place
Supervision discussions are not linked to case files / As per embedding
Minutes of supervision are recorded and linked to case files.
Impact of supervision is evident in decision making and case management
Decision making is informed by interagency procedures including thresholds framework
Evidence of effective use of LSCB escalation (resolution of professional disagreement) procedures is in place and utilised appropriately
Operational Safeguarding arrangements
Operational Safeguarding arrangements / Procedures are in place (including what to do about concerns about a pupil)
There is a DSL in place who is a member of the school SLT and this is clearly defined within their JD.
Deputising arrangements for the DSL are not in keeping with Keeping Children Safe in Education in relation to skills, knowledge and training. This role is not clearly defined within their JD
There is not always access to a DSL on site during all opening hours / The DSL, deputy DSL and members of SMT are aware of procedures (including the LSCB Procedures)
There is a DSL available at all times that the setting is open, contact information is well known and understood
The Deputy DSL is in place however is not trained to the same level as the DSL.
Methods of measuring knowledge and skills of the Deputy DSL are not yet fully developed / All school staff and relevant Governors are aware of the procedures (including LSCB interagency procedures).
Head teachers/ principals ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to and understood by staff.
The Deputy DSL is trained to the same level as the DSL and demonstrates appropriate levels of skills and knowledge to undertake this role
Appropriate personnel from the school regularly attends the Safeguarding Officer Network event
The school contributes to multi agency working by attending
Strategy meetings
Child Protection Conferences
Core Group Meetings
Team around the Family meetings
Child in Need Meetings
Local Authority templates are used for reports for such meetings and these are shared and submitted in accordance with LSCB Interagency procedures / All staff, volunteers, agency/supply staff including regular visitors are aware of the procedures (including LSCB Interagency Procedures)
Updates for all staff in relation to safeguarding are provided on at least an annual basis
At regular intervals throughout the year, ‘scenarios’ are used to pose the question to staff ‘What would you do if…….’ alongside re-visiting the child protection procedures.