The start of the new academic year is always busy.
There are classrooms to prepare, staff to welcome, timetables to organise and pupils to get ready for another year of learning.
But alongside all of that preparation sits another question: One that can sometimes get lost amongst the practical demands of September:
Is our safeguarding system ready for the new academic year?
Start with what you already know.
One of the most useful things a DSL can do before the new academic year is to look backwards.
What happened last year?
Which safeguarding concerns remained unresolved at the end of the summer term?
Are there children whose circumstances have changed?
Are there cases where the school is still waiting for another agency to respond?
Are there children who may return to school carrying difficulties that have developed or intensified during the holidays?
The summer break does not necessarily mean that safeguarding concerns disappear. For some children, the opposite may be true.
A good September safeguarding review therefore is not checking that policies are in place. It is about understanding where the children are now.
Do staff know what to do?
Every September, schools welcome new members of staff and, inevitably, there will be changes in roles and responsibilities.
Safeguarding induction is therefore much more than giving somebody a policy to read.
Is the DSL actually able to lead safeguarding?
This is perhaps a more uncomfortable question.
Schools can have excellent safeguarding policies, well-trained staff and comprehensive recording systems, but still struggle if the DSL does not have the time, authority or access to senior leadership necessary to lead safeguarding effectively.
September is therefore a suitable time to ask:
Does the DSL have the capacity to do the job properly?
Not just to respond to referrals. Not just to attend meetings. Not just to maintain the safeguarding system.
But to analyse patterns, challenge practice, work with senior leaders, support staff, engage with external agencies and provide strategic safeguarding leadership.
The distinction matters.
A DSL who is constantly responding to the next concern may have little opportunity to step back and ask what the concerns are telling the school.
What are the patterns telling us?
The beginning of a new academic year provides an opportunity to look at safeguarding information collectively.
Are there recurring concerns around particular year groups?
Are attendance and safeguarding concerns connected?
Are there emerging issues around peer-on-peer abuse, online behaviour, exploitation, mental health or neglect?
Are particular groups of children disproportionately represented in safeguarding referrals?
Are there concerns that repeatedly come back to the school despite previous interventions?
These questions move safeguarding beyond individual cases.
They allow the DSL and senior leaders to ask:
What are our safeguarding concerns telling us about our school?
That is where safeguarding begins to become strategic.
What happens when the system does not work?
Another question worth asking before September is:
What happens when we encounter resistance or failure elsewhere in the safeguarding system?
What does the school do when a referral is not accepted?
What happens when another agency does not respond?
How does the DSL professionally challenge a decision?
When does a concern need to be escalated?
Who supports the DSL when they need to challenge another professional or agency?
These situations can be uncomfortable.
But effective safeguarding is not simply about following a process when everything works as expected.
It is also about knowing what to do when the process does not work.
September should be about more than compliance.
There is always a danger that the start of a new academic year becomes a process of checking boxes.
Policies reviewed. Training completed. Records transferred. Staff briefed. Contacts updated.
All of those things matter.
But safeguarding is ultimately about much more than compliance.
The real question is whether the school’s systems, culture and leadership arrangements create an environment in which children are more likely to be seen, heard and protected.
That requires professional curiosity. It requires challenge. It requires reflection.
And sometimes it requires somebody to ask the uncomfortable question:
Are we confident that this is actually working?
Five questions for September
Before the new academic year gets fully underway, every DSL and safeguarding leadership team should consider five simple questions:
- What do we already know about the children returning to us?
- What unresolved safeguarding concerns are we carrying forward?
- Do our staff genuinely understand what they should do when they have a concern?
- Does our DSL have the time, authority and support needed to provide effective safeguarding leadership?
- If something does not work as it should, do we know how we will challenge and escalate it?
So, are you ready for September?
The start of a new academic year is always busy.
But before the policies are checked, the training is completed and the systems are switched back on, perhaps the most important question for a safeguarding leader is a simpler one:
Are we ready for the children who are about to walk through our doors?
Not just ready to record concerns.
Not just ready to follow procedures.
But ready to notice when something has changed, to ask the difficult questions, to challenge when something doesn’t feel right and to act when a child needs us.
Because safeguarding readiness isn’t about having everything in place.
It’s about being ready to respond when it matters.
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