Page 75 - Security Today, May/June 2022

encouraged to report all the concerns they witness without having to decide whether it is serious enough to need to be addressed. Record keeping is a critical part of the Safeguarding process. Through detailed records, other educators have background information on students, which makes it easier to keep up-to-date on specific students’ behaviors that might need to be addressed with the support of other educators, administrators and families.
With a designated Safeguarding Lead at each school empowered to review and manage submitted concerns, educators and non-certified staff are no longer pressured to make on-the-spot judgment calls.
These best practices take some of the pressure off educators and provide a clear sense of roles and when to address potential issues.
How Do Educators Monitor their Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being?
Schools and districts must take a proactive approach to monitor students’ mental health and well-being. This requires making the most of data and involving local communities. Educators need to meet with their colleagues on a regular basis to discuss trends and concerns that stem from students’ data. As a practice, Safeguarding helps schools and districts monitor and address concerns around students’ mental health and well-being, but connecting with others helps educators identify where additional support is needed. When
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successful, Safeguarding is a true team effort.
Involving local communities and families is important to
Safeguarding, as well. Schools and districts need to work with families to provide local resources, connect on questions or concerns and keep in touch with families. While students spend a significant chunk of their time at school, there’s also a lot of time spent at home. Local outreach and working together with local communities and families create a web of support—at school and home.
Just like a good school improvement plan uses data as the basis for strategic academic growth, successful implementation of Safeguarding begins with identifying the core needs and concerns students currently face while strategically organizing to address those needs. Safeguarding works best as a comprehensive, integrated system based on sound principles that put students at the center, not a collection of independent activities in separate silos. Through understanding Safeguarding, implementing best practices and working with local communities and families, schools and districts can monitor and address students’ well-being and mental health needs—setting students up for non-academic and academic success.
Curtis Linton is the Executive Director of Safeguarding in the U.S.A. at The Safeguarding Company, a provider of software and training to systemically protect students’ well-being.
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