To ‘safeguard’ is to be protecting from danger, harm and damage with guidelines and suitable procedures. In 2004, ‘Every Child Matters’ created an agenda that the Teacher Standards and the National Curriculum soon coincided with. Knowles, G. (2009), Cheminais, R. (2006) and Baginsky,M. (2008) list that “…children and young people want to:
- be safe
- be healthy
- enjoy and achieve
- make a positive contribution; and
- achieve economic well-being“
which was mirrored from the Department for Education in 2004 (DfES, 2004b). All of these writers agreeing on the same principles as the DfES shows me the sincere care for justice for children, a strong message becoming a legal necessity and the importance of the inclusion in the National Curriculum. Since Every Child Matters formed an agenda, every service that are in contact with a child’s health, wellbeing and education have united to promote the system. Schools are obliged to get all children through the education system with all of the five outcomes successfully met, because like the agenda reads – every child matters.
Everyone employed in an educational establishment, Teachers and Teaching Assistants in particular, have a vital role in safeguarding and a child’s wellbeing. A 21st century Teacher with children for 30-35 hours a week will naturally create a strong relationship and trust. Teachers use this platform to promote inclusion and detecting harm or danger (Cheminias, 2006).
Teachers have an immediate responsibility to ensure their classroom covers all of the angles of inclusion, even outside the classroom. For example, as a Teaching Assistant, I ran activities in my class one morning due to the class Teacher going to create a risk assessment at a local zoo, for the inclusion of children with special educational needs as well as safety and potential risks. Assessed information was relayed back to the welfare officer and an action plan on how to avoid these risks was addressed, as well as accessibility and other additional necessities. Meanwhile, back in class, I was briefed with my own plan prior to the morning class to ensure the children were safe and productive, which included the addition of more Teacher Assistants in the classroom.
Safeguarding has been praised as being effectively trained (Ben Whitney 2004) and the Disclosure & Barring Service that is free and fast-tracked through the school is thought to be a good system. Additionally, every school has a safeguarding process with a welfare officer employed within the school. I have experienced the importance of a school’s safeguarding policy when I volunteered at a school in 2014. A handbook, that stressed the importance of safeguarding, was given to me in the initial interview. A DBS form had to be cleared before I could spend time in the classroom and I was booked into a staff group meeting about safeguarding shortly after. We, new teachers and staff of the school, explored the hard challenges of forms of abuse, neglect, health and safety, ‘team teach’ and online safety. Many meetings covered how appropriately approach such situations, where to report concerns and how to prevent situations for arising.
Broadhurst, K. et al (2009), voice their strong opinions of the government about the lack of child protection, stating the new integrated services were disappointing and this was highlighted from the tragic death of ‘Baby P’ and the story of kidnapped child Shannon Matthews. In 2016, we can now witness progression in safeguarding policies and movements. The Safeguarding Children e-Academy (2013) created a timeline that shows:
- in 2010, the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ was released, which reflected on the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004
- in 2011, ‘A child-centered system’ was published by Prof. Eileen Munro which focused on the needs of the child
- in 2013, ‘Early Help Arrangements’ were launched, promoting togetherness in working with children; and
- in 2014, ‘The Children and Family Act’, which brings greater protection to vulnerable children, became the law.
These updates in successive years indicate that presently movements are thinking critically and more effectively about the safety of the children, not just in schools, but also coincides with home life. The consistency of progression since 2010 indicates the momentum of positive change and the importance the topic of safeguarding sits within the school setting and the push to enhance for the future is in motion. It would seem that 2004 was the ‘time of raising questions’ and 2009 was the ‘time for change’.
Knowles, G. (2009) Ensuring Every Child Matters, London, Sage Publications Ltd.
Baginsky, M. [ed] (2008) Safeguarding Children And Schools, London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Broadhurst, K., Grover, C. and Jamieson, J. (2009) Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Whitney, B.(2004) Protecting Children: A handbook for teachers and school managers (2nd edition), Oxon, RoutledgeFalmer.
Cheminais, R. (2006) Every Child Matters: A Practical Guide for Teachers, London, David Fulton Publishers.
Safeguarding Children e-Academy (2013) A history of Child Protection by the Safeguarding Children e-Academy [online], Ilkey.
Available:< http://safeguardingchildrenea.co.uk/wp-content/themes/vc_org_1/ChildProtectionTimeLine/childprotectiontimeline.html > [Accessed 16th September 2016]