Safeguarding for schools

Keeping children safe is naturally one of society’s highest priorities – and the role of education in this has never been more important.

Polly Kerr, Cambridge

Polly Kerr, family and school specialist in Royston

Having expert legal advice on hand to guide you with safeguarding matters helps your school to maintain the highest standards and gives school leaders peace of mind. When safeguarding matters arise, they often require difficult judgements to be made and events can move quickly.

Our services

Our education law specialists help schools with:

rapid response on urgent safeguarding issues – supporting school leaders throughout the process
managing allegations against staff
handling disclosures of abuse from pupils
drafting communications for parents and the press
referring information to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which is a legal duty
reporting obligations - Serious Incident Reporting
managing the reporting to multiple agencies concerned
issues surrounding disclosure of safeguarding files to parents
drafting safeguarding policies
training staff in the law pertaining to safeguarding in schools
drafting documents ready for inspections
advice on the law and serious and complex social issues such as child sexual exploitation
advice on managing online safety and cyber bullying
support for data subject access requests.

What is safeguarding in schools?

The definition includes:

protecting children from maltreatment
ensuring children grow up in a safe environment with effective care
taking appropriate action to enable children to have the best outcomes
child protection - which focuses on protecting children who are suffering from, or are at danger of suffering from significant harm.