Coventry to standardise school safeguarding policies

The struggling authority – children's social care services were judged “inadequate” by Ofsted in March – has decided to act after an independent review of safeguarding procedures at 114 schools across the city earlier this year found just two met all the criteria of a good policy.

The council has worked with the review’s author, child protection campaigner Jonathan West, to develop a plan to tackle the inconsistency in schools’ safeguarding arrangements.

A key part of the plan will be to introduce a model safeguarding policy based on best practice that will be adopted by all local authority-run schools. The council will also work with the Department for Education to encourage academies and independent schools in the city use it.

The policy will emphasise that all child protection concerns “must” be reported to the authorities and provide clear procedures for doing so – the review found that many schools’ safeguarding procedures only required staff “should” pass on concerns.

Writing on his blog, West said: “If the model policy (with the all-important statement that child protection concerns "must" be reported) is adopted by governors, then staff at least will have a contractual obligation to follow the policy. A model policy adopted city-wide will bring practice up to the standard of the best schools that scored 10 out of 10 in my initial survey.