‘Is this one for the DSL?’ prompt sheet

Most of what you handle is behaviour, and it stays with you. Some of it is a safeguarding concern, and that goes to your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

Probably a behaviour issue (you handle it)

• A child broke a class rule, was rude, refused work or lost their temper
• It fits your normal behaviour policy and the de-escalation steps
• Nothing about it makes you worried for the child's safety or welfare

You log it (Tool 3), follow the policy, and where useful talk to parents (Tool 5).

This one's for the DSL

• Something a child said or showed that worries you about harm, neglect or abuse
• An injury, a disclosure, or a change you can't explain by ordinary behaviour
• Anything that makes the hair on your neck stand up about a child's welfare

What you do with a safeguarding concern

1. Report it to your DSL or deputy DSL, straight away. If, exceptionally, neither is around, don't sit on it: go to a senior leader and/or ask children's social care for advice, then tell the DSL as soon as you can.
2. Don't investigate. Don't question the child to 'get the full story'. You raise the concern, they decide.
3. Don't promise to keep it secret. You can't, and you shouldn't say you will.
4. Write it down: what was said or seen, in the child's own words where you can, dated and signed.

If a child is suffering or likely to suffer harm, the referral to children's social care (and the police where appropriate) is made immediately; in an emergency, call 999. FGM is yours by law: if you discover it appears to have been done to a girl under 18, report it to the police yourself (101), then tell the DSL. Source: KCSIE 2026, paragraphs 46, 58 to 61 and 65. Your safeguarding policy names your DSL and the steps. ⚖ Check your school's policy and current statutory guidance.

Behaviour issue, or safeguarding concern?

Most of what you handle is behaviour: yours to manage with sanctions, routines and a word home. The moment something worries you about a student's safety or welfare, it stops being a behaviour question. You don't weigh it up alone, investigate or sit on it. You pass it to your Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Manage as behaviour (your job):

• Low-level disruption, answering back, off-task, refusal.
• Lateness, missing equipment, not following routines.
• One-off rudeness or a lost temper, no welfare flag behind it.

Pass to the DSL (a possible safeguarding concern):

• Something a student tells you, or you see, that worries you about their safety.
• A sudden, marked change: withdrawn, frightened, marks, hungry, exhausted.
• Disclosure of harm or neglect, or anything that makes you uneasy and you can't explain away.
• A behaviour pattern with what looks like a welfare cause underneath.

Report a concern to your DSL or a deputy, and act on it straight away. If, exceptionally, neither is available, speak to a senior leader and/or take advice from children's social care, then tell the DSL as soon as you can. If a student is suffering or likely to suffer harm, the referral to children's social care (and police where appropriate) is made immediately; in an emergency, 999. KCSIE 2026, paragraphs 58 to 61 and 65.

Don't promise confidentiality, and don't investigate before you report. If in doubt, record what you saw or heard in the child's words, dated and factual, and tell the DSL straight away; the DSL decides what happens next. Who your DSL is, how your school logs concerns and its thresholds are in your safeguarding policy and staff handbook. Find them before you need them. ⚖ Check your school's policy and current statutory guidance.