Understanding Child Safeguarding: A Teacher’s Guide
All children have a right to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Here’s what you need to know about child safeguarding.
What does safeguarding mean?
Safeguarding is defined as any measure performed to enhance the well-being of children and safeguard them from danger. It involves:
Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
Preventing harm to children’s health or development
Ensuring children grow up safely and with effective care
Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes
What is the difference between child safeguarding and child protection?
Child safeguarding and child protection are two terms that are often used interchangeably but are not in fact synonymous.
Child safeguarding is specifically focused on implementing preventative actions that ensure that all children and young people are protected from deliberate or unintentional acts that could lead to the risk of or actual harm. In short, it is an incredibly important means of protecting children from harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Child protection is an important aspect of the safeguarding procedure. It refers to the laws, policies, and measures that take place once a child or young person has already been identified as being at risk (often via safeguarding processes).
In short, safeguarding is what we do to prevent harm, whereas child protection is how we respond to harm.
Different types of child abuse
Teachers and school staff are well positioned to spot signs of abuse. Here are the four primary categories of abuse children may experience:
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse
Neglect
Signs of abuse can be difficult to spot in children, especially child neglect and emotional abuse. Some common indicators of abuse include:
unexplainable injuries
reluctance to go home or to a specific place
appearing to be frightened of a specific individual
emotional trauma reactions, such as fear, anger, or difficulty trusting others
flinching when touched
being watchful, as if expecting something unpleasant to happen
depression
anxiety
self-harm
acting withdrawn
age-inappropriate behaviour, for example, sucking a thumb
academic changes
acting out or increased risky behaviours
bullying
abusive or cruel behaviours toward animals or other people
having unwashed clothes, skin, or hair
frequently missing school
To help prevent child abuse and learn how to spot the signs, it is imperative that teachers undertake regular safeguarding training. Read on as we delve deeper into what child safeguarding really means and what it involves.
The 6 Principles of Child Safeguarding
Children of all backgrounds have an equal right to protection from danger. The 6 principles of safeguarding as defined by The Care Act 2014 are:
Accountability: Everyone is accountable and has a part to play when it comes to safeguarding and protecting those who are vulnerable. If you are responsible for protecting vulnerable children and young people, you are legally obliged to keep your child safeguarding training certificates updated.
Empowerment: It is important for any person who has been a victim of abuse to feel that they have control over their situation. It is your job to ensure that those individuals feel empowered to make their own decisions. As such, support and encouragement are key to effective working with a victim of abuse or neglect.
Protection: Support needs to be provided for those who require it and organisations should be able to show that measures are in place to prevent abuse or neglect from occurring and provide support and help for those who are at risk.
Prevention: Caregivers need to ensure that they prevent neglect, abuse, or harm of any kind from occurring to children under their care. Organisations that have a sound safeguarding policy in place will be able to do a lot when it comes to identifying risks before they become an issue. Accordingly, it's crucial that organisations thoroughly train staff, raise awareness, and make child safeguarding information easily accessible.
Proportionality: There is no one-size-fits all approach to safeguarding, particularly as many elements of it are hugely sensitive in nature. When a safeguarding incident occurs, you should report your concerns in a manner that is appropriate for the risk presented.This ensures that each individual is taken into account when dealing with safeguarding issues.
Partnership: It is important to work in partnership with your local authority and all services or organisations in your community that might be able to assist in detecting and reporting abuse.
What are some examples of safeguarding measures?
Child safeguarding measures guard them against mistreatment or any form of physical, sexual, mental, or emotional abuse. It gives children safety and a sense of security.
All workplaces and individuals that engage with children should have safeguarding policies and procedures in place. Here’s a brief overview of the ways organisations can reduce the risk of harm by staff, partners, and communities:
The development of a policy that describes how an organisation is committed to preventing harm to children, outlining the steps that must be taken should an incident occur. Here is an example of Save The Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy.
Thorough guidance as to the organisation’s child safeguarding policy, and each individual’s responsibility towards safeguarding children.
The appointment of a designated safeguarding lead. This person will have an in-depth knowledge of child safeguarding guidelines and legislation. It’s their duty to ensure others in the organisation understand and follow safeguarding procedures.
The implementation of stringent recruitment processes and regular vetting of staff, partners, and communities.
Routine child safeguarding training and education for staff.
Easy access to child safeguarding advice and support.
Clear reporting guidelines, ensuring that all staff know how to raise safeguarding concerns.
Regular monitoring and review of an organisation’s safeguarding measures.
It’s important to note that while no standards can offer complete protection for children, they do minimise the risk to children of harm.
Who is responsible for safeguarding children?
Safeguarding is the responsibility of all individuals who have contact with children and young people. This includes professionals within the education and healthcare sector, as well as the wider community.
Why is child safeguarding training important?
Child safeguarding training gives you the knowledge and skills to recognise the main signs and indicators of abuse and neglect so that you will always know what to look out for when it comes to safeguarding vulnerable children and young people. It will also inform you on how to respond appropriately to child abuse concerns.
By providing training, organisations such as schools, hospitals, care homes, and sports clubs are able to promote a culture where safeguarding concerns are taken seriously, reported, and addressed.
Online Child Safeguarding Training
Effective safeguarding is vital for spotting the warning signs and alerting the relevant authorities in order to help victims of abuse in a timely manner. It has been a legal requirement for professionals and volunteers who come into close contact with children and vulnerable adults at work for many years.
To ensure that you and your organisation are up-to-date with the latest child safeguarding measures, check out this article outlining the best child safeguarding training courses and resources available online.
We also highly recommend enrolling in our Basic Safeguarding and Child Protection course. Designed to meet the learning needs of your school community or organisation, this CPD accredited course will help you learn new skills and best practices to stop abuse and neglect, ensuring that all your students and staff remain protected.
Final thoughts
If you work with children, your number one priority should always be to ensure that those under your care are protected from harm – both inside and outside your institution.
If you work in a school, you are obligated to report suspicions of abuse to the teacher responsible for child protection. They will then take suitable action based on procedures set out by the local safeguarding children board. In the absence of such a person, you should waste no time in calling the police or local child protective services, as failure to immediately report known or suspected abuse poses a direct safety risk to the children who may be victims of assault.
