Child Protection
For School Governors
The dedicated handbook for School Governors [ 3.4MB ]
The Child protection Support Service for Schools is a dedicated service for advice, guidance and support to schools on safeguarding issues. Everyone has a responsibility to promote and safeguard the welfare of children.
In order for governors to fulfil their child protection responsibilities they are obliged to acknowledge and work within the relevant guidance and procedural documents that have been produced by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety. Within the school setting there should be a safeguarding team comprising the:
- Principal
- Designated and Deputy Designated Teachers for Child Protection
- Chair of Board of Governors
- Designated Governor for Child Protection
The Chair of the Board of Governors plays a pivotal role in creating the safeguarding ethos within the school environment. In the event of a child protection complaint being made against the Principal, it is the Chair who must assume lead responsibility for managing the complaint/allegation in keeping with DE Guidance and the school’s policies and procedures.
The Designated Governor takes the lead in safeguarding issues in order to be able to advise the governors on:
- The role of the designated teachers
- The content of child protection policies
- The content of a code of conduct for adults within the school
- The content of the termly updates and full annual report from the designated teacher
- Recruitment, selection and vetting of staff, including participating in the selection panel
All governors are offered Strand 1 induction training by BELB CASS officers. Both the Chair and the Designated Governor are offered Strand 2 training by the BELB Designated Officers for Child Protection on the Safeguarding Role of School Governors.
Those governors participating in selection panels are offered Strand 3 training by BELB Human Resources officers.