Best Practice

Safeguarding and the law

From radicalisation to female genital mutilation, are your staff up-to-date on their safeguarding duties and will they know what to do if they suspect abuse? Safeguarding specialist Sam Preston offers her advice

A teacher confides in you that they’ve spotted fresh bruises on a pupil’s arms during a PE lesson and another member of staff reports that a female pupil is going to the bathroom more frequently and for longer periods. The alarm has been raised: could this be suspected child abuse? The prospect is devastating to anyone, however, as educators, you’re now legally involved.

On average, two children in every UK primary school class have suffered some form of abuse or neglect (according to the NSPCC), so how can senior leadership and teachers help protect children from harm?

From child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child protection, to prevention of radicalisation and female genital mutilation (FGM), it is a legal requirement that all frontline professionals know how to support, respond to and report types child abuse.

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