Safeguarding risks are often heightened when SEND is involved, with many overlaps between the two. As such, joined up working is key. Sara Alston looks at some key principles


There is often an overlap between the children supported by the SENCO and the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) in schools.

For the first time, Keeping children safe in education 2022 made the importance of these two professionals working together explicit (DfE, 2022). This joint working is vital for both effective safeguarding and SEND support.


Increased safeguarding vulnerabilities for SEND children

We know that those with SEND have an increased vulnerability to safeguarding risks and that “additional barriers can exist when recognising abuse and neglect in this group of children” (KCSIE, 2022). Some of these are explicitly identified within KCSIE 2022 (paragraph 199):

  • Assumptions that indicators of possible abuse such as behaviour, mood and injury relate to the child’s condition without further exploration.
  • These children being more prone to peer group isolation or bullying (including prejudice-based bullying) than other children.
  • The potential for children with SEND or certain medical conditions being disproportionally impacted by behaviours such as bullying, without outwardly showing any signs.
  • Communication barriers and difficulties in managing or reporting these challenges.

In the latest September 2022 iteration of KCSIE, a fifth bullet point was added to this list:

  • Cognitive understanding – being unable to understand the difference between fact and fiction in online content and then repeating the content/behaviours in schools or the consequences of doing so.
  • The impacts of domestic abuse, attachment issues and experiences of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) can be easily confused with some indicators of autism.
  • Language and developmental needs can be caused by neglect and other abuse.
  • Behaviour and mental health difficulties can be a communication and indicator of abuse.

To be able to safeguard children effectively, we need to understand how these vulnerabilities might affect both individual children in our care and those with SEND as a group. This requires the DSL and SENCO to share their expertise, knowledge and understanding of the children in their school and their needs.


Concern that SEND needs can mask safeguarding needs and vice-versa

Too often children become the responsibility of either the DSL or the SENCO. Their needs are then considered in the light of the expertise and focus of their lead practitioner. There is a danger that this can lead to their needs in other areas being ignored or disregarded, for example:

We need a holistic and professionally curious approach, including an awareness that both SEND and safeguarding needs may be present. The DSL and SENCO need to work together, so that both can be considered, supported, and kept on the agenda.


The need to advocate for the children

As KCSIE 2022 highlights, it is more difficult for those with communication difficulties to manage, report or share safeguarding concerns. Often, the expertise and experience of the SENCO is needed to support children’s communications and identify the best ways for them to communicate.

Further, school staff need to be able to advocate for children and where needed to challenge their own and other professionals’ understanding of children’s needs and difficulties, including what is normal for them.

Too often social workers and others have a limited understanding of special needs and fixed ideas of how to engage with children with specific diagnoses, which may not be appropriate to the individual. It can take the intervention of special needs experts to ensure that the voice of the child is heard, listened to, and understood, including highlight the needs of children without specific diagnoses.


Entitlement to support under Early Help

Paragraph 20 of KCSIE 2022, lists a number of groups of children who might potentially need or benefit from Early Help support. This includes a child who:

  • Is disabled or has certain health conditions and has specific additional needs.
  • Has SEND (whether or not they have a statutory Education, Health, and Care Plan).
  • Has a mental health need.

Often to identify the need for and access this support will require the involvement of the SENCO and DSL.


Specific risks

Online safety: Online safety is the responsibility of the DSL. It is an on-going concern across most school communities. Additionally, we need to identify and understand the additional risks for many children with SEND as identified, in part, in the new fifth bullet point in KCSIE.

It can be difficult for children, particularly those with SEND, to understand the risks, including that of possible radicalisation, with their online behaviour, or act on this understanding consistently. They need additional support through a joint safeguarding and SEND approach to build their skills and understanding of the connections between actions in the on and offline worlds, and safe and appropriate behaviours in both.

It is essential that this important area of education is presented in a way that is appropriate and accessible to all children, particularly the most vulnerable.

Child-on-child abuse: Children with SEND are more at risk from child-on-child abuse and bullying than their peers: both as victims and sometimes as perpetrators. Expert SEND input for incidents that involve these children is important. We need to ensure that we understand any underlying issues around social communications and understanding, so we can promote an appropriate safeguarding response that fits with the child’s needs and ensures their and others’ safety.


Access to appropriate RSHE

Fundamental to supporting all children, particularly those with SEND, to be able to identify, respond to and ask for support with safeguarding risks on and offline is robust and effective teaching of relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE).

However, too often a “one-size-fits-all” approach means that the teaching is not accessible for many with SEND. Worst still, the demands of the curriculum mean that intervention groups may take place during less “academic” subjects, such as RSHE, so these children are not even in the room when it is taught.

This needs to be a focus for the DSL and SENCO. It is key that all staff are given the skills and understanding to be able to deliver this key curriculum effectively for all and that it is embedded across the wider curriculum, not just presented in a few standalone sessions.


Making relationships work to support families

Many families develop strong relationships with the DSL or SENCO because of their degree of contact with them. It is important the DSL and SENCO work together so that the messages are consistent, and families are not being asked to repeat their story.

We need to be aware of the possible risks and impacts for other family members when there is a child with SEND – for example other children becoming young carers.

Further we need to be aware of the risks of disguised compliance where family actively avoid engagement with particular practitioners, share different information with different people or play them off against each other. This is far easier where there is not effective communication within school.

There is also a significant risk of children falling through the gaps where staff think that someone else has acted on a concern, so either that no-one acts, or the actions taken work against each other. We can only ensure effective safeguarding work through robust joint working.


How to make this practical

First, ensure that the DSL is aware of who is on the SEND register and their needs. Equally, the SENCO should be informed of all safeguarding concerns about children with SEND, including ensuring the SENCO receives alerts for all children on the SEND register for any electronic safeguarding reporting system. In this way both can contribute evidence, have supportive conversations, and are not left having conversations without the appropriate information.

Second, establish regular information-sharing meetings between the DSL and the SENCO.

Third, work together to build chronologies. If you have concerns about a family but are struggling to reach local authority thresholds for support, it is important to consider the whole family and link SEND, attendance, behaviour records, parent interactions, and safeguarding concerns to identify the needs effectively.

Fourth, share and analyse data together to identify patterns and plan support.

Both SENCO and DSL can be lonely jobs in school and carry a huge weight of responsibility. Promoting joint working shares the load. The SENCO and DSL need to work together to ask the key questions about how we would regard the behaviours, mood changes, or injuries of a child with SEND if they did not have SEND – are they evidence or communication of a safeguarding need?

We need to consider if our focus on SEND means that we are missing communications of potential abuse. Alternatively, are we disregarding children’s SEND due to our focus on meeting their safeguarding needs.

Working together to safeguard children (DfE, 2022) is one of the key pieces of statutory guidance. While its focus is multi-agency working, we need to remember the key principle of “working together” is also fundamental within organisations, including schools, to ensure effective safeguarding practice.

Joint working gives another point of view for the difficulties and challenges that are part of both the SENCO and DSL roles and enables us to build a wider picture of children’s holistic needs. It is key to meeting children’s needs and ensuring they receive the right support at the right time.

  • Sara Alston is an experienced SENCO and safeguarding lead who also works as a SEND, inclusion and safeguarding consultant and trainer. Sara’s book Working Effectively With Your Teaching Assistant will be published in February 2023. Visit www.seainclusion.co.uk, follow her on Twitter @seainclusion, or read her previous articles for SecEd via https://bit.ly/seced-alston


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