Keeping children safe comes first in everything we build. Here is how our tools and our charity protect the pupils who use them, and our full safeguarding policy in full.
Teacher-led and supervised. Class meetings run in the classroom, led by pupils with their teacher present.
No private messaging. There are no in-app chats, direct messages or ways for pupils to be contacted by strangers.
No pupil names published. We do not publish pupil names or class details, and names typed into a comment are removed before the record is stored.
Data sharing agreement. Schools sign a Data Sharing Agreement before using the Class Meeting Tool, in line with UK data protection law.
Smart School Councils is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect everyone we work with to share that commitment.
Smart School Councils Community. Registered charity in England and Wales, number 1156110. Last reviewed September 2025. Next review due September 2026.
The Smart School Councils Community is a registered charity that works to promote active citizenship and democracy in schools by improving school councils and pupil voice.
We work in schools throughout the UK and occasionally overseas. The great majority of our work does not involve us being directly responsible for any children, because we work through schools and their staff. We always work within the safeguarding arrangements of the school we are in.
We aim to ensure the safety and protection of all children, young people and vulnerable adults involved in our work through our Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Protection Procedures. We are fully committed to this aim, and it overrides all other concerns. Every other policy we hold is written and reviewed so that it complements this one.
This policy and its procedures are available to all staff and volunteers, and for the scrutiny of teachers, schools and anyone else we work with.
We believe that:
We developed this policy so that we are well equipped to understand and deal with any safeguarding issue, and so that the children and young people we work with have a happy and safe experience. It is put into practice through training and through the induction of new staff, volunteers and young people. It applies to all staff, volunteers and young people we work with.
All Smart School Councils staff and volunteers are required to have an enhanced DBS check before any involvement with our work.
All paid staff and volunteers entrusted with the care of children and young people are subject to the full range of pre-employment checks. When we take on someone who will have contact with children, we ask them to complete a form covering any past convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings, any pending cases, and whether any complaint of abuse has ever been made against them.
We also check suitability for the role by:
All staff and volunteers are given this policy as part of their induction, and take part in safeguarding training. Health and safety procedures are covered in induction too. Through this training, staff and volunteers can recognise the signs of abuse and know the reporting routes set out below. Staff also receive guidance on how to respond to a disclosure of abuse.
New staff and volunteers are supervised and their progress reviewed regularly. It is the role of staff and volunteers to make sure everyone involved with us, including young people, parents and carers, knows this policy exists and how to use it.
Good practice guidelines are given to staff and volunteers in their induction pack. Because our work happens mainly in schools, they focus on what is appropriate in that setting. They cover:
All staff and volunteers are trained on the four recognised types of abuse so they know what they are and how to recognise them.
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, ill health in a child they are looking after. Physical abuse can result from an act of commission, and equally from an omission or a failure to act to protect.
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child, such as to cause severe and lasting adverse effects on their emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless, unloved or inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may involve age or developmentally inappropriate expectations, interactions beyond a child's capability, overprotection, limits on exploration and learning, or preventing normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of someone else, or serious bullying that frequently leaves a child frightened or in danger. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment, though it can occur alone.
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, penetrative or non-penetrative. They may include non-contact activities such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. Boys and girls can be sexually abused by males and by females, by adults and by other young people.
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical or psychological needs, likely to result in serious impairment of their health or development. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger, failing to ensure adequate supervision, or failing to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include unresponsiveness to a child's basic emotional needs.
Changes in behaviour that can also indicate physical abuse include fear of parents being approached for an explanation, aggressive behaviour or severe temper outbursts, flinching when approached or touched, reluctance to get changed or wearing long sleeves in hot weather, depression, withdrawn behaviour, and running away from home.
Changes in behaviour that can also indicate emotional abuse include obsessions or phobias, sudden under-achievement or lack of concentration, inappropriate relationships with peers or adults, being unable to play, attention-seeking behaviour, fear of making mistakes, self-harm, and fear of a parent being approached about their behaviour.
Changes in behaviour that can also indicate sexual abuse include sudden or unexplained changes in behaviour, becoming withdrawn or aggressive, fear of being left with a particular person or group, nightmares, running away from home, sexual knowledge beyond their age or development, sexual drawings or language, bedwetting, eating problems, self-harm, saying they have secrets they cannot tell anyone about, substance or drug misuse, unexplained sources of money, not being allowed to have friends, and acting in a sexually explicit way with adults.
Changes in behaviour that can also indicate neglect include complaining of being tired all the time, not seeking medical assistance or failing to attend appointments, having few friends, and mentioning being left alone or unsupervised.
The NSPCC has more detail on spotting the signs of child abuse.
All staff and volunteers are given the following guidance.
Any disclosure made in confidence is recorded factually as soon as possible, whether or not the matter is taken to another authority. An accurate account is made of:
Reports are made on our standard form, which is available to all staff. Completed forms and any written safeguarding information about individuals are kept in a secure locked place to maintain confidentiality.
If staff or volunteers encounter abuse, or a situation that concerns them, the first step is to discuss it with our designated safeguarding person, who then takes the appropriate action. Where a concern relates to a pupil at a school, that will normally mean working with the school's own designated safeguarding lead and, where necessary, referring to the children's social care service for the area the school is in, or to the police. This is why recording information impartially and accurately matters: it may be needed as evidence.
If the designated person and the deputy are both unavailable, contact the NSPCC helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000. If it is thought that returning home would put a child in immediate danger, advice should be sought from the NSPCC or from children's social care straight away.
We maintain confidentiality on a need-to-know basis, and only where it protects the child. We do not discuss an incident with anyone other than those who need to know.
We have guidance for staff and volunteers to share in confidence, with the designated person, any concern they have about another member of staff or volunteer. All staff and volunteers have a duty to share such concerns, and to report them immediately.
We assure all staff and volunteers that steps will be taken to fully support anyone who, in good faith, reports a concern that a colleague is or may be abusing a child. The person raising the concern is treated as a witness, not a complainant, which helps everyone separate the message from the messenger.
Allegations of abuse against a member of staff or a volunteer are fully recorded and reported appropriately. Every effort is made to maintain confidentiality for all concerned, and consideration is given to what support may be appropriate for children, parents, staff and volunteers. If there is any uncertainty about how to proceed, immediate advice is sought from children's social care or the NSPCC.
We make sure a safe and suitable environment is provided for everyone taking part in our activities and projects. Our health and safety policy and procedures cover our own premises, and we carry out a risk assessment for all away days and trips. When we work in schools, we work within the health and safety policies of those schools. We keep a first aid kit and an accident book on site.
We consider the kind of support that children, parents and members of staff may need. Helplines, support groups and open meetings help maintain an open culture and support the healing process. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy maintains a directory of therapists.
Beyond our organisational policy above, the product itself is built so that safeguarding risks are designed out rather than managed after the fact.
Our Data Protection Impact Assessment covers this processing in full and is available to any school, trust or local authority on request: email greg@smartschoolcouncils.org.uk.
Greg Sanderson is the Designated Person for Safeguarding Children at Smart School Councils. He undertakes training, keeps up to date on safeguarding, and is the first point of contact for advice and support. He understands and is accountable for the reporting procedures above. Rebecca Gittins is the Deputy Designated Person when Greg Sanderson is not available.
This policy was last reviewed and updated in September 2025 by Greg Sanderson, Director and Designated Safeguarding Lead. It is next due for review in September 2026.
Questions about safeguarding?
See also our privacy notice for how we handle data.