What’s the most powerful thing an adult in school can say to a child to help them feel safe and supported?

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The aim of this questions is to:

• Shift focus from policy to daily practice
• Encourage empathy and child-centred thinking
• Promote consistent, safe messaging across staff
• Spark practical reflection and real-world application
• Reinforce that every adult plays a safeguarding role

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This week's question is about responding to incidences of harmful sexual behaviour between pupils

How should staff respond if they witness or are made aware of harmful sexual behaviour between pupils, even if the pupils involved say it was just a joke?

Even when pupils describe inappropriate sexualised comments, gestures, or physical actions as “banter” or “a joke,” staff must not dismiss or downplay the behaviour.
These incidents could be signs of harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), and must be treated seriously, following school safeguarding procedures.
Staff should:

• Respond calmly and sensitively.
• Reassure the child that they were right to speak up.
• Record factually what was said or observed (no interpretation).
• Report to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) immediately.

It’s essential that schools create a culture where children understand boundaries and that all inappropriate behaviour is challenged consistently.

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As we start the new and final term of the academic year:

What is one thing we could change as a school this term to strengthen our safeguarding culture; and what might that look like?

For example, one practical starting point could be:

Introduce regular safeguarding-focused reflective prompts into team meetings, briefings, and staff communications.
For example:

• “What’s one thing you’ve noticed this week that made you pause, even slightly, about a child’s wellbeing?”
• “Is there a student or situation you’re holding in mind at the moment?”
• “How are we modelling safe, trusted adult behaviours today?”

Other examples might include:

Refresh the displays of safeguarding information around school so that it stands out and doesn’t just become ‘wallpaper’

Be ready to ask a ‘professionally-curious’ question like:

• I’ve noticed you’ve seemed a bit different lately — is there anything going on that you want to talk about?
• Who do you talk to when things feel tough — is there someone in or out of school?

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If a child tells you something concerning about another pupil but asks you to ‘promise not to tell,’ how should you handle it?

Answer: Even if the child is sharing a concern about someone else, you should never promise to keep it a secret. The fact that the concern is about another child does slightly shift the emphasis, but not the core principles. You might say: “Thank you for telling me. I can’t promise to keep it a secret, because I might need to share it with someone who can help. But I’ll only tell the people who need to know.”

Key points:

• Reassure the child that they’ve done the right thing by speaking up.
• Avoid pressing for more information or asking leading questions.
• Be clear that your role is to help keep everyone safe—not to keep secrets.
• Record what was said accurately (which will include noting the exact words the young person used) and report it to your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) - don't wait!
• Whether the concern is about themselves or another pupil, your role is always to listen, reassure, and report.

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This comes from an article authored by The Council of International Schools (1 May 2024)

What are Deep Fakes?

A deepfake is an image, video, audio file, or GIF that has been manipulated by a computer to use someone’s face, body or voice artificially. This could be done with or without the subject’s consent.

• Research from UNICEF in 2021 found that one in five girls and one in thirteen boys globally have been sexually exploited or abused by the age of 18, with technology featuring in almost all cases.
  
  
• Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of “deep fake” images on the web, growing from roughly 14,000 to 145,000 from 2019 to 2021.
  
  
• According to a Sentinel report, the majority of “deep fake” (96%) non-consensual pornographic images, 90% of which were targeted at women.

Recent (2023) international examples of how AI generated deep fakes are a safeguarding issue:

1. El Pais reported a story from Spain where dozens of girls reported their deep-faked AI-generated nude photos being circulated in their community.
2. Teenage boys at a high school in New Jersey targeted their female peers in the same way,
3. A school in Rio de Janeiro, reported students creating and sharing deepfake pornographic images of around 20 of their classmates.
4. A teacher in Texas was targeted by a student who digitally created fake revealing photos of her, then shared the explicit images online.
5. High school students in New York City made a deepfake video of their Principal shouting racist slurs and threatening students of color.

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This week's question is in the theme of Generative AI - it is designed to be a talking point in a briefing or staff meeting‍What do these terms means in the context of AI, and why might each of these ideas pose a risk to children and young people?

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1. Deep fake (see page 8 of the report)
2. Hallucination (see page 7 blue box)
3. Anthropomorphism (see page 13 of the report)

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These words have been taken from the NSPCC report 'Viewing generative AI and children's safety in the round' (January 2025)

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