What to do if you have a safeguarding concern about another member of staff
What to do if you have safeguarding concerns about another staff member
242. If staff have safeguarding concerns, or an allegation is made about another member of staff (including supply staff, volunteers and contractors) posing a risk of harm to children, then:
- this should be referred to the Headteacher;
- where there are concerns/allegations about the Headteacher, this should be referred to the chair of governors; and
- in the event of concerns/allegations about the Headteacher and/or chair of govenors this should be reported directly to the designated officer(s) at the local authority.
243. Any concerns about staff must be recorded on a low-level concern recording form and referred to the relevant person above.
244. Any allegations that may meet the harms threshold will be addressed as set out in Part four, Section one of KCSIE. Any concerns that do not meet the harm threshold, referred to, as ‘low level concerns’ will be addressed as in Part four, Section two of KCSIE. When an allegation is made, the DSL will be responsible for ensuring that a child is not at risk and refer cases of suspected abuse to Family Connect or the child’s local social care team.
245. We will only undertake basic enquiries to help determine whether is any foundation to the allegation.
246. The LADO for Telford & Wrekin Council is Glenn Ashbrooke who will be informed of all allegations that come to our attention and appear to the meet the criteria set out in part four, section one of KCSIE, so they can consult police and children’s social care services as appropriate. All LADO referrals must be made via Family Connect, unless the subject child is open to a social worker and then the LADO referral must be made via the child’s allocated social worker.
247. The governing body will be notified of any allegations or low-level concerns at each scheduled governing body meeting. The governor responsible for safeguarding will be informed soon after the allegation or low-level concern has been received. Their role is not to know details of the persons or concern but to ensure polciies and procedures are adhered to and to provide relevant support.
248. We will make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) if a person in regulated activity has been dismissed or removed due to safeguarding concerns, or would have been had they not resigned.
249. We believe that those who work within our community are in positions of trust and as such codes of conduct are based on the underlying principle that the highest standards are expected from all. In line with KCSIE a separate code of conduct policy will be adopted by this setting for staff, volunteers, contractors and governors.
250. Guidance for safer working practice for those working with children and young people in educational settings produced by the Safer Recruitment Consortium, provides excellent guidance on the expected standards of all those that work with children. We will make all those in our community aware of its existence and this will work alongside the separate code of conduct mentioned above and any established human resources processes currently in place.
251. To help avoid potential allegations and safeguarding concerns, and for the safety and welfare of pupils and the protection of staff, we will make classrooms highly visible places whereby easy viewing is possible. The masking of windows is forbidden and as such treated as a safeguarding issue for the protection of all. There may be exceptional circumstances where masking of classrooms is needed and justified, for example, for the teaching of drama; in these cases, the Headteacher will make a judgement on a case-by-case basis being appropriate, balanced and proportionate.
252. Please see our procedure for managing safeguarding concerns, or allegations against staff (including supply staff, volunteers and contractors).