Prepare for an accreditation visit: a 12-week safeguarding plan

Twelve weeks is enough to find and fix the main gaps if you have already started the process. It is not enough to build a safeguarding system from nothing.

Each scheme runs differently. The Council of International Schools (CIS) asks for a self-study first, then sends peer evaluators for a Team Evaluation Visit that generally lasts four days. The Council of British International Schools (COBIS) says a Lead Improvement Partner works with a school for four to six months before its first visit.

British Schools Overseas (BSO) accreditation, from the Department for Education (DfE), depends on an inspection at least every three years. An approved inspectorate carries it out. Check your own scheme for notice periods and visit length.

No plan can promise a result. A good plan shows you your own gaps before the visiting team does.

If you have less time, do the week 12 and week 8 jobs together. If you have more, spread each stage out.

Start by naming one owner. This is often the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) or the accreditation coordinator. Add a small group: the Head, a deputy DSL, whoever keeps staff records and the governor for safeguarding.

Ask the Head for protected time. You could say: "I need two hours a week and one decision-maker on call. I also need two dates in the governors' diary."

Then ask your accrediting body for the visit dates, the size of the team and the documents it wants in advance. Use the safeguarding policy audit checklist for the first pass.

• List every safeguarding document with its version, approval date and review date.
• Mark each item green (current evidence), amber (old or partial) or red (missing).
• Compare your practice with the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) expectations for school communities. They were written for accrediting and inspection bodies.
• Check ten staff files against the single central record (SCR). The common SCR gaps show what to look for.
• COBIS members can ask for the free SCR health check before the visit.
• Book the governor session for week 6 and the mock check for week 4.

Week 8 is for repairs. Start with the red items and do not begin new projects. The evidence checklist for an accreditation visit shows what each file should hold.

Make your policies agree with each other. The child protection policy and the staff code of conduct often disagree, usually because one was updated and the other was not. Get the final versions approved and dated by governors.

Match the records. COBIS tells schools that what is in the SCR should be reflected in staff files, and the reverse. Where a check could not be obtained, write down what you tried, what you accepted instead and who decided.

Never change a date or add a record after the fact. Add a new note with today's date instead.

Then look at training. List who has not done induction or a refresher, and book catch-up sessions before week 4. Include drivers, cleaners, catering and gate staff, and offer sessions in the language they work in.

• One policy index, with versions and dates that agree.
• An SCR that matches every file you sample.
• Training records that name the policy version each person was taught.
• A termly safeguarding report ready for governors.
• A separate anonymised summary of concerns by month, type, action and outcome. Leave the original log untouched.

Week 4 is the test. Pick ten people, such as a new teacher, a bus driver, a kitchen worker, a nurse, a contractor, a governor and your deputy DSL. Include someone hired in the last two months.

Trace each one through the SCR, the staff file and the training log. Write down where the trail stops, then fix those breaks first.

Next, ask a handful of staff plain questions. Do the same with a few students through your usual pastoral routes.

Keep the questions general, and never ask a child about their own experiences. Say: "I am checking that our system works. There are no wrong answers."

• Staff: who is our DSL, and how do you reach them?
• Staff: what would you do if a child told you something worrying at 3.40 pm?
• Staff: where do you record it, and who do you tell the same day?
• Students: who would you go to if something worried you?

COBIS says the governor for safeguarding should meet the DSL and deputy at least once a term, oversee the SCR and test procedures with questions. Hold that session by week 4, and minute the questions and answers.

Then write a two-page summary for the team. Say what changed since your last cycle, what was hard and what is still in progress. It tells the team where to look and shows that you already know.

Stop making changes. Freeze the evidence folder with one index page at the front, and check that one person can find any item in two minutes.

Brief all staff for 15 minutes. Tell them who is visiting and what visitors may ask. Visitors can often tell a recited answer from a real one.

You could say: "A visitor may ask who the DSL is and what you would do. Answer in your own words. If you are unsure, say so, and tell me afterwards."

• Evidence folder indexed, with a named person who can find any item fast.
• Every staff group briefed, including drivers, catering, cleaning and gate staff.
• Deputy DSL timetabled to take new concerns while you are in interviews.
• Room, schedule and records access agreed with the team.
• Anonymised extracts only for concern records, after checking local data protection rules.
• A proper lunch and a finish time for you each day.

Answer honestly and point to the evidence. A gap you already know about, with a dated plan, is easier to discuss than one the team finds first. Keep a list of anything the team asks for that you could not find in two minutes.

A visit does not pause real concerns. If a child tells a member of staff something worrying, follow your child protection procedure and tell the DSL the same day. If a child is in immediate danger, call local emergency services.

COBIS says it usually issues its report four to six weeks after a visit. Use the wait to write your own action list with names and dates, and share it with governors.

These mistakes come up most often when time is short.

To rehearse your own answers before week 4, read what inspectors ask a DSL.

• Rewriting every policy in the last month, so staff are not trained on the new text.
• Changing dates or adding records after the fact.
• Treating the visit as the DSL's job alone.
• Giving staff scripts to recite.
• Hiding a weak area, so the whole visit becomes a defence of it.
• Counting a signature sheet as training evidence.