Safeguarding Leadership Tools

Asking the right safeguarding questions can be challenging for school governors who want to ensure the school is upholding its statutory child protection duties. It can be difficult to know what safeguarding questions to ask, what safeguarding data should be gathered, how to present this information to the full governing board and how to support and challenge the school on safeguarding. This handy template supports this process by providing questions that governors can ask when they conduct safeguarding visits in school.

This flexible pack is perfect for safeguarding link governors or anyone looking to support a safeguarding governor with their role, such as headteachers, trust leaders, governance professionals, DSLs or a chair of governors. With three comprehensive, editable resources - a safeguarding audit for governors, a safeguarding report to governors template and a safeguarding link governor roles and responsibilities document - this pack will support governors who are new to role or in cases where the safeguarding governor needs more structure and support in order to be highly effective in their role.

This Annual Safeguarding Report to Governors template is ideal for school leaders who are seeking a little extra support when considering what to include in their annual report to the governing body to give a picture of safeguarding across the school.

The template is carefully structured so you can work with your safeguarding lead governor to report back to your full governing board across the following areas:

• Safeguarding-related roles and training
• New starter information, including processes for safer recruitment and safeguarding induction
• A Single Central Record (SCR) checklist that can be used by the safeguarding lead governor to ensure the correct safeguarding systems for safer recruitment are in place
• Safeguarding policies and procedures checklist
• Curriculum and online safety
• Child protection overview (e.g. referrals, number and types of child protection cases)

The template is fully editable, so you can add or remove details depending on your school's context.

Ensuring that your governors know your school well - especially when it comes to safeguarding pupils - is a vital part of the leadership and management of any setting. As such, this template can also be found as part of our Reports to Governors Template Bundle, Ofsted Preparation Pack and our Safeguarding Audit Pack. A separate Headteacher's Report to Governors Template is also available to help you to work effectively with your governing board.

🔒Updated to align with Ofsted's 2025 School Inspection Toolkit

This safeguarding self-evaluation form template provides a comprehensive framework for DSLs, headteachers and SLT to assess and strengthen safeguarding systems across their school. The editable Word document guides you through a structured annual review of your safeguarding policy implementation, culture and outcomes.

Key features:

• Complete school context analysis - track pupil numbers across child protection plans, looked-after children, early help involvement and vulnerable groups
• Nine core evaluation areas - from strategic leadership and operational management to staff training and pupil perspective
• Evidence-based assessment - suggested sources and documentation for each area to support your RAG ratings
• Governor accountability - ready-to-share format for governing body oversight and statutory compliance demonstration
  

This structured approach helps you identify safeguarding gaps before they become critical issues, ensuring your systems are robust and inspection-ready. Whether you're completing your annual safeguarding audit, addressing governing body requirements, or preparing for Ofsted inspection, this template provides the systematic review process that demonstrates effective safeguarding leadership.

Ideal for DSLs conducting annual safeguarding reviews, headteachers who need to evidence safeguarding effectiveness to governors, and SLT members preparing comprehensive safeguarding evidence for external scrutiny.