Safeguarding Supervision
What is safeguarding supervision?
Safeguarding supervision is a structured process that provides ongoing support, guidance, and reflective practice for professionals working to protect children and vulnerable groups. It involves regular meetings where staff can discuss concerns, reflect on their work, and receive advice on managing challenging situations. Supervision can happen in person and online, and individually and in groups.
Why is safeguarding supervision helpful?
Supervision promotes a thorough understanding of safeguarding procedures, enhances professional confidence, and ensures staff are equipped to respond effectively to safeguarding issues. It also encourages open communication, helping to identify risks early, prevent harm, and foster a culture of safety.
Why should schools use safeguarding supervision?
Schools should use safeguarding supervision to support staff in handling complex cases confidently. Regular supervision helps create a safer environment for children and reassures staff that they have the necessary support to carry out their safeguarding responsibilities effectively. It also supports the social and emotional wellbeing of safeguarding practitioners.
What do practicitioners say?
Supervision remains relatively rare in international schools. One safeguarding practitioner currently working in the Middle East says:
“There needs to be proper supervision for [Safeguarding Leads]...[a] regular monthly meeting with someone who's qualified so that they can have the chance to talk about the case that they're working with, and somebody can like helicopter view into it, have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? But what makes you think that that isn't safeguarding?...And tease out all of those questions…have you thought about working with the parents like this or have you thought about doing this as an assessment?...Supervision [is] so important. Because within that relationship you can explore the impact it's having on you…”
What does the research say?
The view of the safeguarding practitioner above is supported by studies from the healthcare sector which advocate for the role of safeguarding supervision (Warren, 2017; McGarry, 2018; Smikle, 2018; Little, Baker and Jinks, 2018).
However, little research has been done into safeguarding supervision or training in general for Safeguarding Leads in schools (Carolas, 2019). Carolas’ (2019) doctoral thesis uses semi-structured interviews of five Safeguarding Leads in UK education settings to explore how their practice develops over time. The participants expressed a desire for greater formal training and supervision opportunities, saying that supervision opportunities are lacking for them. Despite the limited research, there is a growing body of guidance for safeguarding supervision in education in the UK national setting. For example, the Safeguarding Network (2024) offers a safeguarding supervision course for the education setting that acknowledges in its advertising that:
“Safeguarding supervision has been around in other professional fields for many years, many education settings do not have this valuable support structure in place, although many child safeguarding practice reviews…have recommended this.”
Safeguarding supervision as a concept is therefore relatively new to the international school sector and there are few providers with experience of international school contexts. However, this is an area of emerging development which has the potential to support safeguarding practitioners and, ultimately, improve student outcomes.
Learn more about the research: https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/analysing-the-current-landscape-of-safeguarding-and-child-protect/
