Safeguarding and well-being

As a student teacher it is vital that before embarking on my next journey onto placement, it is essential that I familiarise myself with the importance of safeguarding and how this is implemented within the school practice through safeguarding policies. The role of a teacher has to ensure and embrace excellent practice of safeguarding everyday which relates to the teaching standards of TS1 and TS7.

(Ofsted, 2011) have stressed the importance of safeguarding all children within the education sector by creating an environment in which all pupils are ‘staying safe, being healthy, making positive contributions, enjoying and achieving and developing skills for economic well-being.’

The responsibility of safeguarding lies with not just teachers, but everyone who comes into contact with children and their families. It is vital that, as teachers we constantly work in a child-centred approach and apply an outstanding show of practice of safeguarding. Staff within the school play an essential role within the children’s lives in identifying concern’s and taking prompt action to avoid further difficulties to certify the health and safety of every individual (DfE, 2016).

Key challenges for Teachers:

Online Safety

During my ‘Contemporary Issues in Teaching and Learning’ lecture, a key challenge discussed was the issue of ‘Online Safety’ for children within a primary school setting. Internet safety is vastly becoming a main issue for educators to tackle as through today’s society and the modern world children are becoming a lot more dependent on the use of information technology.

(Childnet 2015) introduced three key components for teachers and people like myself to familiarise with in regards to the areas of risks for children. These include:

• Contact
• Content
• Conduct

(Turvey et al 2016) explain that the importance for teachers is to ensure that we identify the risks with safety online. Some examples of these dangers which fall under the ‘contact’ category are:

• Cyberbullying
• Online grooming
• Social networking

Issues of content that would be exposed to children include the likes of:

• Pornography
• Illegal activity
• Hateful/racial material

In regards to ‘conduct’ within online safety, (Turvey et al, 2016) looks at the child as the actor of the activity and how they might be portraying themselves online and if they are exposing themselves to illegal downloading or uploading inappropriate content to social media.

From this lecture I have gained a great insight into the issues and risks children are exposed to with using online resources and it has made me aware of the steps I need to carry out for promoting the safety and well-being of the pupils within my school. It is vital that as a student teacher I am familiar with the ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ that is implemented within each school and I know to confront the designated Safeguarding Lead with any issues that I see arise. For further help and external agencies, I can use Childline or CEOP for further advice.

Child abuse

Another key challenge met by teachers within primary schools is the issue of child abuse and or neglect. From this lecture, as a student teacher I learned that I need to assess the different factors that a child could be displaying. Examples of this are looking at the child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors.

During my placement I will be aware to identify four key steps to help me identify and respond appropriately to possible abuse and or neglect. These are:

• To be alert
• Question behaviours
• Ask for help
• Refer

(Children’s Society 2015) stated that ‘low subjective well-being may be a precursor to other issues and problems in people’s lives such as poor mental health.’ To ensure I prioritise a good practice of observing any hidden issues a child could have, within lessons I will encourage all children to communicate and discuss how they feel and use stories and role play to develop children’s understanding and empathy for one another.

References:

Ofsted (2011) Safeguarding in schools: Best practice. Manchester: Ofsted

Department for Education (2016) Keeping children safe in Education. Statutory guidance for schools and colleges, London: DfE

Childnet (2015) [online], London: Childnet International. Available: < http://www.childnet.com/ > [Accessed 19th September 2017].

Turvey, K., Potter, J., Burton, J., Allen, J. and Sharp, J. (2016) Primary Computing & Digital Technologies Knowledge, Understand and Practise (7^th edition), London: Sage, Learning Matters.

CEOP (n.d.) Report Abuse [online], London: National Crime Agency. Available:< https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safer-By-Design/safety-centre/ > [Accessed 19th September 2017].

The Children’s Society (2015) [online], London: The Good Childhood Report 2015. Available:< https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/TheGoodChildhoodReport2015.pdf > [Accessed 20th September 2017].