Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility Michelle Prosser Haywood
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play. To fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals should make sure their approach is child centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child. (Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020) Providing a safe environment for children to learn, identifying children and young people (CYP) who are likely to suffer significant harm and taking appropriate action with the aim of making sure they are kept safe both at home and in an educational setting is the cornerstone of the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) policy documents. Your school will have translated them into their Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy (see for example, https:// www.woodhouse.priacademy.co.uk/images/ image_gallery/large/1605519936.pdf ). As a teacher you will be expected to be familiar with these policies, which are revised annually in line with changes to KCSIE. Familiarisation and knowledge of policy guidance will form both part of your initial induction when you will be taken through the policy, as a new member of staff and through regular updates and reminders to all school staff, throughout the academic year. In school we have an understanding that that abuse can ‘happen here’, and the ‘here’ can be 28
your school or within the community which surrounds your school, which is why we need to be aware of what we are looking for, in order to keep children safe from harm.
Types of Abuse Firstly, it is key that you know the signs and types of abuse to look out for, • Physical abuse can include evidence of hitting, shaking, throwing, scalding and drowning and children may find it difficult to explain the injury • Emotional abuse, leads to a child feeling worthless and unloved, and indicators may be self-harm, evidence of insomnia, depression, passivity and resignation • Sexual abuse, is defined as forcing or persuading a child to take part in sexual activity. Children who have been sexually abused can self-harm, flinch at physical contact and have feelings of guilt and shame • Neglect is the failure to meet a child’s basic physical needs and may include, insufficient food, inappropriate clothing, lack of personal care and appropriate supervision Many of the high-profile cases we see in the media, lead us to be believe that offenders are not known to children (see for example, Iain Huntley), and that their behaviour was extraordinary (see for example, Jeremy Forest, who took a pupil to France, and made national
