Devon Schools Section 175 Safeguarding Audit

The annual safeguarding audit for all Devon schools will go live from 4^th November to 3^rd February 2025.

The purpose of this audit is for the Local Authority to provide evidence under S175 of the 2002 Education act, that all schools, including maintained, academies, independent or any who are registered with the Department for Education are fulfilling their statutory safeguarding responsibilities. In essence, this directly links to the requirements within Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE).

The audit should be completed by the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), or in their absence the Deputy DSL. Schools are encouraged to see this as an excellent opportunity to undertake an annual audit of safeguarding across the setting, identifying any areas that the setting may decide to develop further to be included in wider school development or improvement plans.

Involving the Safeguarding Governor in completing this audit is appropriate. The DSL should report the completion of this audit and any areas for development to their governing board.