Designated Safeguarding Lead

We have a really exciting opportunity for the right candidate to join our brand new independent school in Preston. The setting will have no more then 20 students with SEMH and ASD needs.

The DSL will take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection across the school (including online safety and understanding the filtering and monitoring systems in place).

They will oversee the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring they are up-to-date and effective in keeping all children safe. Promote a culture of vigilance and proactive safeguarding, ensuring all staff understand their responsibilities under Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026.

They will take part in strategy discussions and inter-agency meetings, and contribute to the assessment of children. They will advise and support other members of staff on child welfare, safeguarding and child protection matters, and liaise with relevant agencies such as the local authority and police.

They will work in a team alongside the Deputy Safeguarding Leads and the wider Safeguarding team. Whilst deputies can carry out delegated activities, the ultimate lead responsibility remains with the designated safeguarding lead. The lead responsibilities cannot be delegated.

Some safeguarding activities may be delegated to deputies, but the DSL will retain ultimate lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection.

Duties and responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Culture

• Lead the development, implementation, and regular review (at least annually) of the school’s safeguarding policies, ensuring they reflect current statutory guidance and best practice.

• Ensure all staff understand the importance of safeguarding, promoting consistency in communication with pupils, families, and external partners. Managing referrals and Inter-agency Work

• Take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection as the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), ensuring availability during school hours for staff consultation.

• Act as a point of contact with all safeguarding partners

• Take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection as the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), ensuring availability during holidays across the wider DSL team.

• Oversee the implementation and management of CPOMS safeguarding software to ensure accurate and timely recording of concerns.

• Refer concerns of abuse, neglect, radicalisation, and other safeguarding risks to appropriate agencies, including local authority children’s social care, the Channel programme, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), and the police where necessary.

• Liaise closely with the Headteacher, Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), safeguarding partners, and other DSLs to manage safeguarding cases effectively.

• Support staff in understanding and responding to safeguarding concerns, including those linked to mental health, working closely with the Senior Mental Health Lead.

• Undertake early help assessments for identified pupils and their families, and acting as lead professional where appropriate Working with staff and other agencies

The designated safeguarding lead is expected to:

• Act as a source of support, advice and expertise for all staff

• Liaise with the headteachers to inform them of safeguarding issues, especially ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and police investigations

• Work closely with relevant staff to ensure all processes and procedures with regard to safeguarding and safer recruitment are in place and adhered to;

• Work closely with staff on matters of safety, safeguarding and welfare (including online and digital safety), and when deciding whether to make a referral by liaising with relevant agencies so that children’s needs are considered holistically

• Liaise with staff (especially teachers, Parent Support Worker, support staff, school nurses, IT Technicians and SENDCo) on matters of safety and safeguarding (including online and digital safety) and when deciding whether to make a referral by liaising with relevant agencies so that children’s needs are considered holistically

• Promote supportive engagement with parents and/or carers in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, including where families may be facing challenging circumstances

• Take lead responsibility for promoting educational outcomes by knowing the welfare, safeguarding and child protection issues that children in need are experiencing, or have experienced, and identifying the impact that these issues might be having on children’s attendance, engagement and achievement at school. This includes: Ensuring that school knows who has a social worker; Understanding their academic progress and attainment and maintaining a culture of high aspirations;

• Have oversight of children that are attending alternative provision / not in school

  Support teaching staff to provide additional academic support or reasonable adjustments to help children who have a social worker, reach their potential, recognising that even when statutory social care interventions have ended, there is still a lasting impact on children’s educational outcomes.

Raising awareness

The designated safeguarding lead should:

• Ensure each member of staff has access to, and understands, the school’s child protection policy and procedures, especially new and part-time staff

• Work with the Head of Safeguarding and other DSLs to ensure the child protection policy is reviewed annually (as a minimum) and the procedures and implementation are updated and reviewed regularly

• Ensure the child protection policy is available publicly and parents and carers are aware that referrals about suspected abuse or neglect may be made and the role of the school in this

• Link with the safeguarding partner arrangements to make sure staff are aware of any training opportunities and the latest local policies on local safeguarding arrangements

• Help promote educational outcomes by sharing information with teachers and school leadership staff about the welfare, safeguarding and child protection issues that children who have or have had a social worker are experiencing

• Supporting teaching staff to identify the challenges that children in this group might face and the additional academic support and adjustments that they could make to best support these children.

Training

The designated safeguarding lead (and any deputies) should undergo training to provide them with theknowledge and skills required to carry out the role. This training should be updated at least every two years. The designated safeguarding lead should undertake Prevent awareness training. In addition to the formal training set out above, their knowledge and skills should be refreshed (this might be via e-bulletins, meeting other designated safeguarding leads, or simply taking time to read and digest safeguarding developments) at regular intervals, as required, and at least annually, to allow them to understand and keep up with any developments relevant to their role. Training should provide designated safeguarding leads with a good understanding of their own role, how to identify, understand and respond to specific needs that can increase the vulnerability of children, as well as specific harms that can put children at risk, and the processes, procedures and responsibilities of other agencies, particularly children’s socialcare, so they:

• Understand the assessment process for providing early help and statutory intervention, including local criteria for action and local authority children’s social care referral arrangements.

• Have a working knowledge of how local authorities conduct a child protection case conference and a child protection review conference and be able to attend and contribute to these effectively when

required to do so;

• Ensure that all staff and volunteers have access to and understands the school’s safeguarding/child protection policy and procedures, especially new and part time staff;

• Provide or source appropriate safeguarding training for all school staff to provide them with the relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively, updated at least annually.

• Provide appropriate safeguarding induction training for new staff, volunteers, work experience students, apprentices, visiting staff, supply teachers and governors to provide them with the relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.

• Understand the importance of the role the designated safeguarding lead has in providing information and support to children’s social care in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;

• Understand the lasting impact that adversity and trauma can have, including on children’s behaviour, mental health and wellbeing, and what is needed in responding to this in promoting educational outcomes;

• Understand and support the school with regards to the requirements of the Prevent duty and are able to provide advice and support to staff on protecting children from the risk of radicalisation;

• Are able to understand the unique risks associated with online safety and be confident that they have the relevant knowledge and up to date capability required to keep children safe whilst they are online at school;

• Can recognise the additional risks that children with SEN and disabilities (SEND) face online, for example, from online bullying, grooming and radicalisation and are confident they have the capability to support SEND children to stay safe online;

• Can access resources and attend any relevant or refresher training courses;

Providing support to staff

Training should support the designated safeguarding lead in developing expertise, so they can support and advise staff and help them feel confident on welfare, safeguarding and child protection matters. This

includes specifically to:

• Ensure that staff are supported during referral processes

• Support staff to consider how safeguarding, welfare and educational outcomes are linked, including to inform the provision of academic and pastoral support.

• Deliver (or facilitate) appropriate safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety, and staff responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring

Understanding the views of children

It is important that children feel heard and understood. Therefore, the designated safeguarding lead should support in developing knowledge and skills to:

• Encourage a culture of listening to the child, taking into account of their wishes and feelings, among all staff, and in any measures the school may put in place to protect them; and

• Understand the difficulties that children may have in approaching staff about their circumstance and consider how to build trusted relationships which facilitate communication.

Information Sharing and Managing Child Protection Files

Holding and Sharing Information

The critical importance of recording, holding, using and sharing information effectively is set out in Parts 1, 2 and 5 of KCSiE, and therefore the designated safeguarding lead should be equipped to

:• Understand the importance of information sharing, both within the school, and with other schools on transfer including in-year and between secondary education, and with the safeguarding partners, other agencies, organisations and practitioners;

• Understand relevant data protection legislation and regulations, especially the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR); and

• Using CPOMs, be able to keep detailed, accurate, secure written records of concerns and referrals and understand the purpose of this record-keeping.

• The designated safeguarding lead is responsible for ensuring that child protection files (CPOMs) are kept up to date Information should be kept confidential and stored securely. It is good practise to keep concerns and referrals in a separate file for each child.

Records should include:

• A clear and comprehensive summary of the concern;

• Details of how the concern was followed up and resolved;

• A note of action taken, decisions reached and the outcome.

They should ensure that any safeguarding information held on a child is only accessed by those who need to see it and where the file or content within it is shared, this happens in line with information sharing advice as set out in Part 1 and Part 2 of KCSiE.

Where children leave the school the designated safeguarding lead should ensure their child protection file is transferred to the new school as soon as possible and within 5 days for an in-year transfer or within the first 5 days of the start of the new term. This should be transferred separately from the main pupil file, ensuring secure transit, and confirmation of receipt should be obtained. Receiving schools should ensure key staff such as designated safeguarding leads and SENCOs or the named person with oversight for SEN are aware as required.

Lack of information about their circumstances can impact on the child’s safety, welfare and educational outcomes. In additional to the child protection file, the designated safeguarding lead should also consider if it would be appropriate to share any additional information with the new school in advance of a child leaving to help them put in place the right support to safeguard this child and to help the child thrive in the school. For example, information to allow the school to continue supporting children who have a social worker and been victims of abuse and have that support in place for when the child arrives.

Filtering and monitoring

• Understand the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place in the school, including how to manage them effectively and escalate concerns when identified

• Make sure that the filtering and monitoring systems and processes block harmful and inappropriate content without unreasonably impacting teaching and learning

• Review filtering and monitoring provision at least annually

During term time, the DSL should always be available during school hours for staff in the school to discuss any safeguarding concerns. Ideally this will be in person, but can also be via phone or video call in exceptional circumstances.These duties may be varied to meet the changing demands of the school at the reasonable direction of the Headteacher. This does not form part of the contract of employment. It describes the way the post holder is expected to perform and complete the particular duties as set out above.

Person specification

CRITERIA QUALITIES

Qualifications

and training

• GCSE (or equivalent) in English and maths

• Degree/ Social Care qualification

• Has up-to-date knowledge of statutory guidance, including Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Experience

• Successful leadership and management experience in a school or other relevantorganisation

• Experience of managing safeguarding in a school or other relevant organisation,

including:

o Building relationships with children and their parents, particularly the most vulnerable

o Working and communicating effectively with relevant agencies

o Implementing and encouraging good safeguarding practice throughout a large team of people

• Demonstrable evidence of developing and implementing strategies to help children and their families

• Experience of handling large amounts of sensitive data and upholding the principles of confidentiality

Skills and knowledge

• Expert knowledge of legislation and guidance on safeguarding and working with

• young people, including knowledge of the responsibilities of schools and other agencies

• Knowledge of statutory guidance relating to attendance (Working together to improve school attendance).

• Ability to work with a range of people with the aim of ensuring the safety and welfare of children

• Awareness of local and national agencies that provide support for children and their families

• Excellent record keeping skills and attention to detail, in order to produce reports, take minutes of meetings, and document safeguarding concerns

• Communicates confidently with children, families, staff and external agencies

• Ability to communicate a vision and inspire others

• Ability to build effective working relationships with staff and other stakeholders