What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is about prevention of harm and early intervention to minimise the impact on the child. Safeguarding is a proactive preventative approach to child protection. Safeguarding examples include:

Creating a culture where safeguarding and child protection is everyone’s responsibility.
Implementing a procedure to ensure staff recruited are safe to be working with children (safe recruitment).
Codes of Conduct for staff, volunteers, children and families.
Establishing protocols regarding transportation, overnight stays or billeting of children.
Zero tolerance of bullying.
Robust Child Protection Policy and procedures, which everyone in the organisation knows and uses.
Regular Child Protection training.
Child centred practise.

Child protection is a reactive approach. It is part of a safeguarding process but details the action to follow when a child is identified as suffering from, or likely to suffer from serious harm – for example, a disclosure or suspected abuse and neglect.