Forward thinking international schools using tech to tackle rise in Safeguarding concerns says Tes

• New report suggests increase in safeguarding concerns across international education sector. 
• Schools relying on traditional ‘face to face’ methods of reporting concerns are experiencing an increasing pressure on frontline staff.
• Forward thinking international Schools are adopting new technological solutions to release the pressure and provide transparency for teachers, schools and parents. 

A new report from Tes suggests that many International Schools face being left behind and are seeing increasing pressure on their staff unless they adopt new methods to tackle the increasing rise in safeguarding concerns.

The international report revealed 70% of all respondents, and 83% of safeguarding leads said they were seeing more safeguarding concerns than five years ago. These figures stayed consistent regionally, in Asia (70%), Europe (67%) and Africa (74%).

As the number of safeguarding concerns increases, a growing number of schools are leading the way by putting in place robust, manageable processes and procedures backed by technology. Many however, are at the risk of unsustainable pressure on staff, as well as safeguarding concerns potentially slipping through the gaps as traditional approaches remain in place.

Tes predicted more international schools will follow the lead of the 24% of respondents who have already adopted a technology-supported route to safeguarding in their school, meaning robust, quick, and transparent approaches encourages staff and pupil wellbeing.

The news came as a huge majority (88%) of respondents stated that children spending more time online has made safeguarding harder, and simply relying on face-to-face communications was no longer enough, or even practical.

Tes’ Safeguarding and Pastoral care lead, Dawn Jotham, said;

“These results suggest that international schools are starting to experience trends mirrored elsewhere as safeguarding concerns increase as a result of new challenges such as those created by smart phones and social media. But as the number of concerns increases so do the solutions for tracking and reporting, and schools can then act quickly if they see patterns emerging.
The international schools that are using new technology are helping to make raising concerns easier so aiding in the process of promoting a whole school approach to safeguarding. This builds confidence amongst pupils, staff, and parents.”

Staff confidence was being further affected by a lack of adequate training with more than half of respondents saying their training needed improvements. With safeguarding training now easily available online to support teacher training at any time, Tes expects to see a trend change.

Jotham continues: “Staff across all schools care deeply about the wellbeing and safety of the children they teach. With Technology providing many of the solutions available, we expect to see more and more international schools invest further in this field, not only to support their students and staff, but to also demonstrate that commitment in front of parents and communities.”