Independent safeguarding inspection and audit
An educational establishment instructed me after a serious safeguarding incident involving two pupils. The school wanted an independent safeguarding audit, to consider whether the safeguarding practice in the school was of a good enough standard and whether the response to the incident followed best practice standards.
The remit set by the school was the following:
- Whether negligence was a factor in the school incident occurring
- Whether the school’s policies, procedures and protocols relating to safeguarding and child protection were being implemented effectively and whether there were any gaps
- Whether sufficient attention was paid to the potential risks posed to students from staff, from visitors and from other students
- Whether arrangements for safeguarding the most vulnerable students, including Looked after Children, were effective
- Whether arrangements for reporting and investigating any allegations of abuse were dealt with appropriately and any learning points were acted upon expeditiously, taking into account an assessment of the risk of recurrence and its potential seriousness
- Whether governance arrangements in this area met best practice standards
- Whether any improvements needed to be made to the school grounds
- Whether other improvements needed to be made
- An opinion as to whether the school safeguarded and promoted the welfare of students effectively.
The audit was conducted over a two month period and included interviewing members of staff, site inspections, inspection of policy and procedure and unannounced visits to the school grounds. The conclusions of the report reassured the school as to the standard of safeguarding knowledge and practice generally among its staff; and assisted the head and governors in identifying areas for future improvement.
The audit was well received by the governors and head, with the safeguarding governor commenting (please insert quote from testimonial from Shelley College- attached in PDF form).