Safeguarding
The Autumn Safeguarding Reset: What Schools Need to Check Before Half-Term
The start of a new academic year brings new pupils, changing staff responsibilities, refreshed routines and evolving classroom dynamics. While policies may have been reviewed and training completed, these early weeks are when safeguarding systems face their first real test. School leaders need confidence that everyone understands their safeguarding responsibilities and that concerns are being recognised, reported and acted upon consistently across the school.
This practical session will explore the key checks that help leaders move beyond compliance and provide meaningful assurance that safeguarding systems are embedded, understood and operating effectively across the whole school before issues become more significant.
- Start-of-year safeguarding readiness: checking that key policies, procedures, staff updates, reporting routes and safeguarding information are in place, understood and being used consistently.
- Staff confidence and consistency: exploring how leaders can assure themselves that staff know what to report, how to record concerns, and when to act on early signs of risk.
- Vulnerable pupils and emerging concerns: considering how schools can review pupils already known to be vulnerable, identify new concerns early, and respond to patterns linked to attendance, behaviour, family context or wider safeguarding risk.
- Oversight and assurance before half-term: looking at how DSLs, senior leaders and governors can use early checks, records, supervision and safeguarding discussion to identify gaps before they become more significant.
Let us introduce you to this week's professional speaker
Sarah Cook
Sarah has thirteen years of experience in safeguarding in education, culminating in the role of Head of Safeguarding for a successful Multi Academy Trust. Running a multi-disciplinary team and working with DSLs across primary and secondary academies she enjoyed offering support, advice and challenge to colleagues to develop safeguarding practice across the Trust. Sarah is passionate about supporting DSLs and making their incredibly difficult role easier to navigate by offering engaging training, a supportive approach, and clear recommendations and advice. Outside of work she is a voracious reader and enjoys swimming and cooking.