Thank you for taking the time to complete this year’s section 175/157 Safeguarding audit. We ask that for schools who are part of a Multi Academy Trust or Federation, a return is made for each school with a separate DSL.
The purpose of this audit is two-fold. Firstly, all Local Authorities, under S175/157 of the 2002 Education act, requires all schools, including maintained, academies, independent or any who are registered with the Department for Education, are fulfilling their statutory safeguarding responsibilities. In essence, this directly links to the requirements within the current Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE). Much of this aspect of the audit is within part one.
The second part of the audit is to consider any key initiatives, priorities or areas for possible development across Devon. This helps to identify what is working well for schools and to inform the Local Authority and wider safeguarding partners (namely those within the Devon Children’s Safeguarding Partnership – DCSP) where priorities should be. While this section is not mandatory, we request your support to ensure that the analysis represents all Devon schools, as it will be presented to the Education Advisory Group, which is part of the DCSP Executive sub-group structure.
The audit should be completed by the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), or in their absence the Deputy DSL and returned no later than 1st February 2025. This as an excellent opportunity to undertake an annual audit of safeguarding across the setting, identifying any areas that the setting may decide to develop further to be included in wider school development or improvement plans. Involving the Safeguarding Governor or Trustee in completing this audit is appropriate as no individual children or families should be referenced. The DSL should report the completion of this audit, and any areas for development to their governing/trust board.
Please include as much detail as possible. Devon Education Safeguarding team will also use this evidence to promote innovative practice with other schools and settings. This audit can also be used to evidence evaluation of safeguarding practices with inspectors from Ofsted or ISI.
Once all returns have been submitted, these are analysed by the Devon Education Safeguarding Team who will identify trends and adjust training if appropriate. Each individual return is read. If we identify any concerns from the audit, a member of the team will contact the school directly to discuss and offer additional support if appropriate and required. Therefore, please do not expect a member of the team to automatically make contact once returned.
Once analysed, the outcomes from all schools are presented to the Education Advisory Group at their March meeting. This includes a proposed action plan to which representatives from each area of education will be asked to contribute. They will also be accountable for implementing improvements in identified areas. This plan is also shared with the DCSP leadership group and contributes to established priorities for the partnership, including how Education is a key partner as required within Working Together 2023.
This year, we will again ask you to grade many questions on a scale of 1 to 4 (with 1 indicating that safeguarding practices are fully embedded and supported by clear evidence, and 4 indicating that they are not in place). Each question includes detailed descriptions for each rating to help you assess your setting’s status accurately. We recommend adding any questions you answer with a 3 or 4 to your Safeguarding Action Plan for the academic year.
Please ensure that the audit is completed and returned no later than 1st February 2025. Should you have any questions relating to the completion of the audit, please contact Jonathan.galling@devon.gov.uk.