Safeguarding Resources, Policy & Guidance

read cOBIS' safeguardiNg STATEMENT   

The UK’s Department for Education’s guidance on Keeping Children Safe in Education (2021) is available here.

In this latest guidance, which came into force from 1 September 2021, an update has been made to take account of changes to safer recruitment checks for teachers as a result of the UK ‘s departure from the EU. This guidance replaces Keeping Children Safe in Education, January 2021.

From 01 January 2021 the TRA (Teacher Regulation Agency) will no longer maintain a list of those teachers who have been sanctioned in European Economic Area (EEA) member states.

These most recent versions (2020 and 2021) contain new references to children’s mental health and when it might be a safeguarding concern, and it includes further advice on online safety and distance learning.

The NSPCC have also published a briefing on the key updates to Keeping Children Safe in Education. Click here to download the NSPCC briefing.

Following consultation and research with COBIS headteachers, DSLs and the COBIS Safeguarding Committee, our safeguarding team have compiled guidelines for member schools to draw on and consider when reviewing and updating their child protection and safeguarding policies.

Read the guidelines

The full document can be reviewed in the Members area of our website. Please contact natalie.williams@cobis.org.uk if you require support to login. 

The International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) have worked in partnership to develop an Education Portal where schools can access child protection resources and report suspected or known abuse. Please click here to access the Education Portal.

For guidance on managing allegations of child abuse by educators and adults, please click here.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC, is the basis of all of Unicef’s work. It is the most complete statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history.

read the full convention (pdf)

read a summary of the uncrc (pdf)

We offer a range of training opportunities related to Safer Recruitment, Child Protection and Safeguarding.

view our safeguarding coursesview cobis/educare online training opportunities

For support on managing allegations in your school, please refer to the international protocol for managing allegations of child abuse by educators and other adults – a resource developed by the International Taskforce on Child Protection (of which COBIS is a founding member) and the Safeguarding Unit of Farrer & Co to address the challenges faced by international schools when managing an allegation of abuse. This protocol was developed in consultation with a broad range of professionals, and is intended to help international school leaders navigate the complexities of responding to abuse in culturally, linguistically, and legally diverse settings.

Learn more about the International Taskforce on Child Protection and COBIS safeguarding resources and courses.

COBIS CEO, Colin Bell has helped with the completion of the 2021 Taskforce reports. This is the result of a significant amount of work by committed members of the global Taskforce which draws on the expertise of practitioners and leaders from associations, schools, law enforcement agencies, academic institutions and more. All 2021 Taskforce reports were published at the end of December on the ICMEC Education Portal.  

The new Taskforce resources for school communities include:  

• Expectations for School Communities: Statement of Commitment to Child Protection (Dec. 2021)  
• Expectations for School Communities 2021: Policies, Personnel, Curriculum, Systems
• Student Voice: Data, Guidance and Resources 2021 

Please see here for the latest Annual Report from ACRO. The Safer Communities Overseas page here is very useful for those schools thinking about doing the ICPC with their staff. COBIS is the Global Ambassador for the ICPC and works closely with ACRO to ensure that overseas schools are well informed about the benefits of the ICPC in their safer recruitment process.