Safeguarding team structure for an international school

A safeguarding team is the small group of named adults who receive, record and decide on child protection concerns. It forms around the designated safeguarding lead (DSL), who keeps lead responsibility.

English guidance, called Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), leaves deputies to each school to choose. It says any deputy should be trained to the same standard as the DSL. The UK charity National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) advises large schools to form a designated safeguarding team of senior staff.

Outside England, no single rule applies. Your accreditor, your owner and local law decide what you must have, so check all three.

The International Taskforce on Child Protection (ITFCP), founded by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and others, asks for clear leadership roles at governance, leadership and day-to-day levels. Read the DSL role in an international school for the wider picture.

Decide what each seat must do before you choose who sits in it. Keep the core group small enough to meet weekly.

Anyone who decides whether to refer needs DSL-level training. Read about the deputy DSL role for how to split the work.

• DSL: holds lead responsibility, makes final referral decisions, and reports to the Head and the board
• Deputy DSLs: trained to the DSL standard, take concerns, keep records and cover for the DSL
• Phase or campus leads: know their children, listen first and pass every concern on the same day
• School nurse: spots patterns in injuries, illness and sick room visits, and tells the DSL
• Counsellor: supports children who are struggling and shares what the agreed rules require
• Head of School: backs the DSL with time and authority, and takes concerns about other staff
• Board safeguarding member: sees anonymous trends and takes any concern about the Head

KCSIE expects the DSL to work with school nurses and mental health leads when deciding whether to refer a child. They see signs a teacher may miss, such as repeated injuries, frequent stomach aches or talk of self-harm.

Their professional codes may limit what they can share, and local law on health and counselling records varies. Agree in writing, before any case arises, what they must pass to the DSL, and check the wording with local counsel.

Tell students the limit at the start of a private session. For example: "What you tell me stays private, with one exception. If you or someone else may be at risk of harm, I must tell the safeguarding lead."

Keep the DSL post apart from both jobs. KCSIE asks for a senior member of the leadership team, and one person holding both roles can face a clash between private care and a duty to pass information on.

No guidance gives a number. KCSIE leaves deputies to each school, and the ITFCP sets no ratio of staff to students.

Add people as risk rises. Boarding, young children, regular trips and spread-out sites need more cover than a single-building day school.

KCSIE says the DSL or a deputy should always be available during school hours in term time. Each school defines what "available" means and arranges cover for out-of-hours activity. A confidential shared mailbox, read by more than one trained person, is its example of cover.

If your campuses sit in different countries, write the local hours and rules into each plan. Reporting duties differ by country, so read about mandatory reporting laws and ask local counsel. Then test your cover against the starting design below.

• Every campus has at least one trained person on site for all school hours
• Every campus has a second trained person who covers when the first is away
• Every separate phase building has a named contact staff can reach in minutes
• Boarding houses and trips have named out-of-hours cover with a working phone number
• One DSL leads for the whole school, and a named deputy decides when the DSL is away
• Each trained person has real time in the timetable for the work

Give staff words to say. For example: "I am worried about a child. I need five minutes with a deputy or the DSL today."

A deputy can reply: "Thank you for telling me. Please write down what you saw and heard. I will log it today and tell you what happens next, as far as I can."

Make the route short, and name one person for each of its four steps. Staff should never guess who comes next.

• Any adult tells the campus deputy or the DSL the same day, and writes down what they saw or heard
• The deputy records the concern, checks for danger and tells the DSL the same day
• The DSL decides the action, including any referral to local services, and tells the Head about serious cases
• The board safeguarding member sees anonymous trends and hears of serious cases, as local law allows

KCSIE says that when the DSL and deputies cannot be reached, action should not wait. Staff can speak to a senior leader or take advice from the local child protection service. They then tell the DSL as soon as they can.

If a child is in immediate danger, call local emergency services first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell the DSL the same day.

Every team also needs a route that skips the person involved. KCSIE sends a concern about the Head to the chair of governors or the proprietor. The ITFCP governance briefing gives international schools the same rule, using the board safeguarding member or the Chair.

Name a route for the DSL too. It can go to the Head, or to the board safeguarding member if the Head is also the DSL. Add one outside contact for staff who fear a cover-up, such as the local child protection authority.

Meet for 20 minutes each week. Cover new concerns, open actions, children to watch and who is away next week.

Review the team every term. Ask these questions and write down the answers:

• Can staff on every campus name the person they would tell?
• Did every concern reach a trained person the same day?
• Did anyone wait longer than your own target for a reply?
• Is any one person carrying more than they can manage? See DSL supervision and burnout
• Do the nurse and counsellor know what they must share?

Put the structure on one page that every adult can read. Update it each term and whenever someone joins, leaves or moves campus.

KCSIE says staff learn who the DSL and deputies are at induction. Add the page to the staff handbook and every staffroom wall.

The ITFCP expects the DSL to give the board a safeguarding report at least once a year. Include the team map and any cover gaps, with no child names.

• Names, photos, phone numbers and room numbers for the DSL and every deputy
• Who covers each campus, phase building and boarding house, and when
• Cover for evenings, trips and school breaks, with a second contact
• The shared confidential mailbox and who reads it
• The nurse and counsellor sharing rules in plain words
• Routes for concerns about the DSL and the Head
• Local emergency numbers and the child protection contact for each country