A designated safeguarding officer can be found at nearly every school in the UK – but what exactly do they do?
The role of designated safeguarding officer was first listed in the Children Act in 2004, and the main goal of the Act was to ensure that every organisation that works with children has a person who is there to protect the children. The role existed before 2004 in the form of child protection officers, but now the role is more clearly defined to ensure the safety of children and young people.
Here is everything you need to know about what safeguarding officers do.
Would You Make a Good Designated Safeguarding Officer?
Being a designated safeguarding officer is a challenging and rewarding job, and it is well suited to empathetic, sociable people who like to help others.
The day-to-day role includes making sure that all staff on the premises (such as teachers, cleaners and carers) are aware of the symptoms of child abuse and neglect. The safeguarding officer will also make sure that all the staff know how to raise a safeguarding concern so that the officer can report any issues to the relevant authorities.
The officer will also monitor children who are part of child protection plans to ensure that they are safe. The role can be fairly challenging, but it is ideal for someone who wants to make a real difference in the world, especially if they enjoy working alongside other people.
What Do You Need to Become a Designated Safeguarding Officer?
According to Gov.UK, you will need to undergo a criminal record check to work as a safeguarding officer, as this ensures that you can work with children and vulnerable people. If you want to find out more about this, you can look online about what’s involved in a criminal record check.
You will also need to undo appropriate training, and once you are a safeguarding officer you will need to recomplete the training course every two years. This ensures that all safeguarding officers are up to date with new rules and regulations, and it also means that every officer understands the current assessment process for help and interventions.
This may seem slightly tedious, but the retraining course is fairly simple to complete as you will already be trained in safeguarding.
