The purpose (Why?)
The purpose of this audit is two-fold. Firstly, all Local Authorities, under S175/157 of the 2002 Education act, are required to provide evidence that 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 Safeguarding Children Partnership – DSCP) where priorities should be. While this section is not mandatory, we ask for your support so that any analysis represents all Devon schools that in turn is presented to the Education Advisory Group, part of the DSCP Executive sub-group structure.
To complete (How and when?)
To access the Section 175 audit please click on the resources link S175 audit below.
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.
This year we will again be asking you to grade many questions 1-4, (1 is fully embedded, with clear evidence available and 4 is not in place.) Each question has clear descriptions next to 1-4 to help you decide where you are as a setting.
We recommend that any questions you answer with a 3 or 4 should be added to your Safeguarding action plan for the academic year.
What happens next?
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 that those representing each aspect of education will be asked to contribute to on its completion and hold each other to account for their ability to bring about areas of identified improvements. This plan is also shared with the DSCP leadership group and contributes to established priorities for the partnership, including how Education is a key partner as required within Working Together 2023.
Any questions?
Please ensure that the audit is completed and submitted 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.