Safeguarding and Prevent

Transcription

1 Safeguarding and Prevent As teachers we are tasked, not just with teaching children, developing, knowledge and understanding; another major part of our role is to look after and keep children safe, helping them to develop skills and attitudes that help us to live together in an increasingly diverse society. This may form part of our moral responsibilities as teachers, but it is also part of our statutory duties. Safeguarding In essence, this is about keeping all children safe in education. In this instance children includes everyone under the age of 18, from those in EYFS settings to sixth form students and those in FE colleges. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, is defined by the Government as Protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children s health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. To do this effectively as teachers we need to know well DfE (2015) Keeping Children Safe HMSO the context in which our children live. When you are placed in a school we ask that as a priority you explore and describe in your School Based Training File, the context in which your school operates; this enables you to understand the needs and wants of the children who will be in your care. Everyone who comes into contact, with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children (including trainee teachers). School staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children, to prevent concerns from escalating. Schools should work with social care, the police, health services and other appropriate organisations to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Each education setting should have a designated safeguarding lead (find out who this is in your school), they provide support to staff members to carry out their safeguarding duties and will liaise closely with partners in safeguarding, such as children s social care, the health service and if necessary the police.

2 The Teachers Standards 2012 state that Teachers, including headteachers, should safeguard children s wellbeing and maintain public trust in the teaching profession as part of their professional duties. All school staff and trainees have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn. They also have a responsibility to identify children who may be in need of extra help, who are suffering (or who are likely to suffer) significant harm. All staff have a responsibility to take appropriate action. As a student this would usually take the form of passing on concerns to your class mentor and the safeguarding lead in school. What you need to know as a student You should be aware of systems within your school which support safeguarding (these should be explained to you as part of school induction if not ASK!) and should include you being given a copy of a school s child protection policy, the school s staff behaviour policy (sometimes called a code of conduct) and the role of the designated safeguarding lead. What you need to do as a student Like other members of staff in a school, trainee teachers are expected to: Be clear about the named safeguarding person in a school and the process of logging concerns Be vigilant for signs of abuse and neglect so that they are able to identify cases of children who may be in need of help or protection Maintain an attitude of it could happen here Familiarise themselves with types of abuse and neglect, and examples of specific safeguarding issues (see pages of Keeping Children Safe ) Be aware that part of a school s safeguarding duty involves protecting children from grooming, radicalisation and all forms of extremism Be confident in using on-line safety strategies, based on the school s policy When concerned about the welfare of a child act in the interests of the child. Did you know? 1. Teachers and schools have a responsibility to protect children from extremism in all its many forms; this is seen as a safeguarding priority Safeguarding vulnerable people (including children) from radicalisation and extremism, is no different from safeguarding from other types of harm

3 2. Ofsted will consider how well a school safeguards a child, including from all forms of extremism, when making judgements about a school. Prevent and Safeguarding Protecting children from the risk of grooming and radicalisation should be seen as part of school s wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other forms of harm. It involves insuring that all staff understand the potential use of IT to influence young people and children s views and developing ideologies and the need to provide a curriculum (including SMSC) in the context of inclusivity, diversity and equality, that explores amongst other cross-curricular themes and dimensions: Democracy The rule of law Individual liberty (including freedom of speech) Mutual respect Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs Later in your course.. As your course progresses you will have opportunities to explore, critique and begin to look at the practical implications of safeguarding, Prevent and SMSC provision (including British values) on your practice, philosophy and pedagogy. You will focus further on the professional roles and responsibilities of the teacher (as defined in the Teachers Standards) diversity, inclusion and equality. In the meantime, make sure you are aware of the importance of safeguarding and Prevent as school wide priorities and engage with the basic materials listed below. Essential Reading Before you go into school, as part of your SBT, you need to read and be familiar with: DfE (2015) Keeping Children Safe in Education HMSO 5/KCSIE_July_2015.pdf DfE (2015) The Prevent Duty Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers HMSO (Particularly pages 5 and 6 and page 8 to 10) 8/prevent-duty-departmental-advice-v6.pdf DfE (2014) Promoting Fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools

4 Safeguarding and Prevent Appendices 1. Prevent From 1 July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter- Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (paragraphs 57-76) to safeguard children and young people from extremism. This is known as the Prevent duty. It applies to a wide range of public-facing bodies. The statutory Prevent guidance summarises the requirements on schools in terms of four general themes: risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies. Schools are expected to assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism, including support for extremist ideas that are part of terrorist ideology. This means being able to demonstrate both a general understanding of the risks affecting children and young people in the area and a specific understanding of how to identify individual children who may be at risk of radicalisation and what to do to support them. Schools and colleges should have clear procedures in place for protecting children at risk of radicalisation. These procedures may be set out in existing safeguarding policies. It is not necessary for schools and colleges to have distinct policies on implementing the Prevent duty The Prevent duty builds on existing local partnership arrangements. For example, governing bodies of schools should ensure that their safeguarding arrangements take into account the policies and procedures of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) Schools must ensure that children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when accessing the internet in schools. Schools should ensure that suitable filtering is in place. It is also important that schools teach pupils about online safety more generally.

5 2. SMSC Under Section 78 of the Education Act 2002, all schools must promote Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education: Spiritual - the growth of a sense of self, unique potential, an understanding of strengths and weaknesses and a will to achieve. It involves attempting to answer life s BIG questions and challenges and to recognise a need to address one s none material well-being Moral - an understanding of the difference between right, wrong, and moral conflict, developing concern for others and the will to do what is right; reflection on the consequences of actions and making responsible moral decisions and acting on them Social - a realisation of responsibilities and rights e.g. in families and communities, an ability to relate to others and to work with them for the common good. It involves a sense of belonging and the awareness of the need and possibility of making an active contribution to society Cultural - an understanding of cultural traditions and an ability to appreciate and respond to a variety of aesthetic experiences; respect for one s own culture/s and the cultures of others; a curiosity about differences; an understanding, appreciation and ability to contribute to culture