The importance of seeing the bigger picture in safeguarding
Safeguarding is more than a statutory duty. It’s about building a culture where every child feels safe and where parents and carers feel their child is safe, supported and ready to thrive. Every school carries this responsibility every single day, and they deserve solutions that make it easier.
Why looking at the ‘bigger picture’ is crucial in safeguarding
A holistic, joined-up approach to safeguarding is essential for effectively protecting students. When faced with in-school concerns, at-home concerns and modern challenges, schools need to consider all aspects of a student’s life to gain an accurate picture. Below you’ll find a few examples of how a big picture approach benefits safeguarding.
Safeguarding challenges are complex and interconnected
Modern safeguarding challenges are complex and multi-faceted; it doesn’t stop at the school gates and often involves online threats. Ultimately, it takes a community to help ensure effective safeguarding, where people work together, share knowledge and combine resources.
Some of the key challenges that safeguarding leads face include:
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Contextual factors – safeguarding leads need to recognise that harm can occur in extra-familial contexts such as at school, online, or in social settings
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Systemic issues – under-resourced or fragmented systems can fail to respond to harm effectively
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Overlapping risks – young people can be vulnerable to multiple issues simultaneously, such as neglect, exploitation, mental health problems and bullying
Fragmented or siloed approaches can create blind spots
Working in a fragmented or siloed manner in safeguarding can result in isolated information, which prevents a complete view of risks and cases. This makes it difficult to see the big picture, detect threats and respond to them in a timely manner.
For example, a school office may hold a child’s attendance data, a teacher may notice behavioural changes and a teaching assistant may observe physical signs of harm. When this information is not collated in a centralised manner, nobody has a view of the bigger picture and risks can be missed or downplayed.
Regular safeguarding reviews are essential for compliance, confidence and improvement
Regular safeguarding reviews are essential for compliance, ongoing improvement and overall confidence in the function.
Seeing the ‘bigger picture’ means evaluating current practices, identifying gaps and strengthening a whole-school safeguarding culture:
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Meet statutory obligations – regular reviews ensure that a school meets legal and regulatory requirements
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Prepare for inspections – regular reviews ensure that evidence of effective safeguarding practices is ready and available for inspections
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Build trust with stakeholders – reviews offer clear evidence to parents and other stakeholders of the effectiveness of a school’s safeguarding practices
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Boost staff confidence – reviews allow staff to gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities in regard to safeguarding and help them feel more confident in their abilities
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Identify gaps and weaknesses – reviews will highlight any weakness in safeguarding policy, resources and practices that might otherwise be missed
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Promote a proactive approach – identify potential risks and areas for development before they become a more serious problem
Get started with our free Safeguarding Self-Assessment Review Tool
Regular safeguarding reviews are essential for ensuring students' safety and wellbeing. Our free self-assessment review tool helps schools evaluate their current safeguarding measures, identify potential risks, and highlight areas for improvement, so you can:
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Ensure compliance
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Identify gaps
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Strengthen a whole-school approach
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Demonstrate commitment to safeguarding