IPPN

Published: 18 November 2021

The following changes have been made to the mandatory template that schools must use for their child safeguarding statement:

• Heretofore there were two separate templates one for risk assessment and one for child safeguarding statement (mandatory template 1 and mandatory template 2).
  These have now been combined into one template which includes both the child safeguarding statement and the risk assessment (mandatory template 1)
• The English language template is available in landscape and portrait versions here
• Tá an leagan Gaeilge anseo
• The child safeguarding statement must be signed and dated once it is adopted by the board and then each year to indicate that the review has taken place
• The requirement to sign it annually applies even if the school has made no change to the statement including the risk assessment arising from the review
• These changes were announced in April 2021 and came into effect for schools when their next annual review was due. Therefore if a school completed its annual review on March 1st 2021, they can continue to use the existing templates for child safeguarding statement and risk assessment until March 1st 2022 at the latest.

Following recent engagement with our education partners, Parents and Learners Unit have decided to provide a further lead in period between now and 31st January 2022 for schools to use the new mandatory template. From 31st January 2022 schools will be required to use the new mandatory template from the date of their next annual review.

The Inspectorate has been informed of PLU’s decision to provide a further lead in period. These means that a school will be found compliant with the following check ‘the Child Safeguarding Statement has been ratified by the board and includes an annual review and a risk assessment’ If the child safeguarding statement has been reviewed by the board but is on the old mandatory template.

Schools that reviewed their child safeguarding statement and continued to use the old mandatory template will be expected to use the new mandatory template 1 from the date of their next annual review.