Safeguarding risks are often heightened when SEND is involved, with many overlaps between the two. As such, joined up working is key. Sara Alston looks at some key principles


There is often an overlap between the children supported by the SENCO and the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) in schools.

For the first time, Keeping children safe in education 2022 made the importance of these two professionals working together explicit (DfE, 2022). This joint working is vital for both effective safeguarding and SEND support.


Increased safeguarding vulnerabilities for SEND children

We know that those with SEND have an increased vulnerability to safeguarding risks and that “additional barriers can exist when recognising abuse and neglect in this group of children” (KCSIE, 2022). Some of these are explicitly identified within KCSIE 2022 (paragraph 199):

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