Southampton City Council
Safeguarding Lead (Secondary)
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St Mark's C of E School is to be a place where students acquire the knowledge and skills to become confident, resilient, lifelong learners who can contribute to the world they live in.
Through our core Christian values of love, service, and belonging, students will be supported by the whole community to achieve excellence.
We are seeking a dedicated and highly organized Safeguarding Lead (Secondary) to play a key role in ensuring the safety, wellbeing, and positive outcomes of our students in our growing Secondary Phase. This is a vital position within the school, responsible for supporting students as soon as concerns arise, being proactive in protecting children from harm, and ensuring every young person has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive environment.
PURPOSE OF THE POST
The Safeguarding Lead (Secondary) provides operational leadership for safeguarding across the Secondary Phase, ensuring safeguarding systems operate effectively and that vulnerable pupils receive timely, coordinated, and child-centered support.
Acting as a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL), the postholder will lead the day-to-day operational response to safeguarding concerns, ensuring statutory duties are discharged in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education, Working Together to Safeguard Children, and local safeguarding procedures. The postholder will manage safeguarding referrals, coordinate multi-agency working, oversee safeguarding quality assurance, and monitor vulnerable pupils to ensure risks are identified, assessed, and responded to promptly.
Working collaboratively with the Director of Attendance, Safeguarding, and Mental Health (DSL), the postholder will lead operational safeguarding practice across the Secondary Phase, coordinate early intervention and Family Help, oversee safeguarding responses to educational neglect and contextual safeguarding risks, provide professional guidance to staff, and promote a culture of vigilance, professional curiosity, and continuous improvement in safeguarding practice.
Strategic safeguarding leadership, policy development, and overall statutory accountability remain the responsibility of the Director of Attendance, Safeguarding, and Mental Health (DSL).
KEY TASKS
Operational Safeguarding Leadership
- Act as Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL), managing safeguarding concerns in accordance with statutory guidance and school procedures.
- Lead the day-to-day safeguarding operation across the Secondary Phase, ensuring safeguarding concerns are triaged, risk assessed, and responded to promptly.
- Manage the daily safeguarding referral process through CPOMS, allocating cases appropriately and escalating complex or high-risk concerns to the DSL.
- Coordinate safeguarding referrals to Children's Social Care, Family Help, Police, and other partner agencies.
- Represent the school at Child Protection Conferences, Child in Need meetings, Core Groups, Strategy Discussions, and other multi-agency forums.
- Lead safeguarding investigations, ensuring accurate recording, professional decision-making, and child-centered outcomes.
- Support the primary phase with DDSL duties as and when required.
Early Intervention, Vulnerable Pupils, and Multi-Agency Working
- Lead the operational Family Help (Early Help) process, acting as Lead Professional where appropriate and ensuring appropriate early intervention is implemented before statutory thresholds are reached.
- Coordinate multi-agency support for vulnerable pupils, ensuring agreed actions are implemented, monitored, and reviewed.
- Maintain operational oversight of vulnerable pupils including Children in Need, Child Protection, Looked After, and Previously Looked After Children, children currently or previously known to Children's Social Care, Young Carers, Children Missing Education, pupils with SEND, pupils at risk of exploitation, severe or persistent absentees, and pupils experiencing educational neglect.
- Support the completion and monitoring of electronic Personal Education Plans (ePEPs) for Looked After and Previously Looked After Children in partnership with the Designated Teacher and Virtual School.
- Ensure safeguarding information, chronologies, and risk assessments are securely transferred for pupils joining the school or transferring to alternative provision or another educational setting.
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Contextual Safeguarding, Attendance, and Educational Neglect
- Lead the operational response to adolescent safeguarding risks including Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), County Lines, Harmful Sexual Behaviour, peer-on-peer abuse, serious youth violence, online exploitation, radicalisation, missing children, and contextual safeguarding.
- Monitor pupils whose attendance, behavior, or presentation indicates potential safeguarding concerns, ensuring educational neglect is recognized and responded to appropriately.
- Undertake home visits where safeguarding, welfare, or educational neglect concerns require direct assessment, family engagement, or risk reduction.
- Work collaboratively with Attendance, SEND, and pastoral teams to ensure safeguarding remains central to attendance improvement, reintegration, and alternative provision planning.
- Ensure attendance information, behavior trends, and safeguarding intelligence are triangulated to identify emerging risk and inform timely intervention.
Quality Assurance and Statutory Compliance
- Support and monitor the operational quality assurance of safeguarding systems, ensuring safeguarding records, chronologies, referrals, risk assessments, and statutory documentation are accurate, timely, and compliant.
- Audit safeguarding records to identify cumulative concerns, low-level patterns, recurring themes, and emerging adolescent safeguarding risks.
- Ensure statutory safeguarding duties, safeguarding plans, and attendance-related safeguarding actions are completed within required timescales.
- Support preparation for safeguarding audits, local authority reviews, and Ofsted inspections.
- Produce operational reports for senior leaders identifying safeguarding trends, contextual safeguarding concerns, vulnerable cohorts, and the impact of interventions.
- Attend regular update training provided by the Local Safeguarding Board, the Local Authority, and training on national developments so your knowledge is always current.
Professional Support and School Improvement
- Provide professional safeguarding advice, supervision, and guidance to Heads of Year, pastoral leaders, Attendance, SEND, and other staff, ensuring safeguarding responsibilities are consistently understood and applied.
- Support the delivery of safeguarding briefings and training on adolescent safeguarding, contextual safeguarding, online harms, child-on-child abuse, exploitation, educational neglect, hidden harm, and emerging safeguarding risks.
- Support the DSL in undertaking pupil voice activities, safeguarding surveys, and analyzing safeguarding intelligence to inform school improvement.
- Design and implement displays and posters to keep safeguarding in everyone's minds.
- Promote high-quality safeguarding recording, professional curiosity, and effective information sharing across the Secondary Phase.
- Work collaboratively with Senior Leaders and external agencies to strengthen safeguarding practice and improve outcomes for vulnerable pupils.
- Contribute to school improvement priorities by strengthening safeguarding systems, statutory compliance, and safeguarding culture across the Secondary Phase.
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Person Specification
Essential Qualifications
- Relevant professional qualification in safeguarding, education, social care, youth work, or a related discipline.
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) training or willingness to undertake immediately upon appointment.
- GCSE English and Mathematics (Grade 4/C or above), or equivalent.
Essential Experience
- Significant experience of safeguarding within a secondary school or children's services setting.
- Experience of managing Child Protection, Child in Need, Family Help, and safeguarding referrals.
- Experience of multi-agency working, including representing an organization at Child Protection Conferences, Core Groups, Child in Need meetings, and Strategy Discussions.
- Experience of supporting vulnerable adolescents and their families.
- Experience of identifying and responding to contextual safeguarding risks, including Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), peer-on-peer abuse, online harms, serious youth violence, and radicalisation.
- Experience of safeguarding interventions relating to educational neglect, persistent absence, and vulnerable pupils.
- Experience of undertaking safeguarding investigations, risk assessments, and case management.
- Experience of safeguarding record-keeping, quality assurance, and auditing.
- Experience of providing professional guidance, supervision, or support to staff.
Essential Knowledge
- Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).
- Working Together to Safeguard Children.
- Children Act 1989 and 2004.
- Family Help and local safeguarding partnership procedures.
- Attendance legislation, educational neglect, and safeguarding responsibilities relating to school attendance.
- Adolescent development, trauma-informed practice, and contextual safeguarding.
- Safeguarding risks affecting secondary-aged pupils, including exploitation, serious youth violence, online safety, child-on-child abuse, harmful sexual behavior, County Lines, Prevent, and mental health.
- Statutory responsibilities relating to Looked After and Previously Looked After Children, including Education Personal Education Plans (ePEPs).
- Data protection, confidentiality, and information sharing.
Essential Skills
- Excellent safeguarding judgment, professional curiosity, and decision-making.
- Strong organizational, investigative, and case management skills.
- Ability to analyze safeguarding, attendance, and behavioral information to identify emerging risks and vulnerable pupils.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with young people, families, colleagues, and partner agencies.
- Ability to challenge professionally and provide constructive safeguarding advice to staff.
- Ability to prioritize and manage a high-volume safeguarding caseload while maintaining statutory compliance.
How To Apply
We will review applications as and when they are received.
To Apply Please Visit Our Website
Please complete the 'support staff' Application form, when completed, please email to:
If you need any more information on the role, please email:
St Mark's Church of England School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This role requires an enhanced DBS.
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