Management oversight

Safeguarding should be a standing agenda item at all Governing Board meetings. A safeguarding report should be submitted to the Governing Board so that they can monitor compliance with the requirements of the Education Act 2002 and identify areas for improvement beyond minimum statutory requirements. The report must not contain details about individual pupils but should provide sufficient information for the Governing Board to enable it to make a judgement about the quality of safeguarding within the school. Where weaknesses are evident, the Governing Board should ensure that these are addressed within the School Improvement Plan, so that progress towards achieving the desired outcomes is regularly monitored.

A regular cycle of visits between the DSLs and Governors with responsibility for Safeguarding is crucial so safeguarding compliance can be monitored and evaluated. There should be a clear agenda for each visit and records of these can then be reported back in Governing Board meetings with appropriate challenge and support given.

The Education Safeguarding Team have developed two guidance documents to support with monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of safeguarding practice.

• Safeguarding compliance checklist for governors (Word doc) [100KB]
• Guidance on writing a safeguarding report to the Governing Board (Word doc) [104KB]