Safeguarding Resources, Policy & Guidance

read cOBIS' safeguardiNg STATEMENT   

The UK’s Department for Education’s guidance on Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024) is available here. It will come into force in September 2024.

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

The 2023 guidance can be found here. It came into force in September 2023. Click here to download the NSPCC briefing.

Filtering and Monitoring standards for schools.

Working Together to Safeguard Children Guidance

Working Together to Safeguard Children Statutory Framework

COBIS Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy Guidelines Summary 2023

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 courses view 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 
• International Taskforce on Child Protection Safer Recruitment Checklist - February 2024

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.