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Half a million vulnerable children are not attending school

Following the news that almost half a million vulnerable children (who have been allocated emergency school places to keep them safe during the pandemic) did not attend school last week, Justin Reilly, former teacher and CEO at safeguarding specialist Impero Software, says that safeguarding was perhaps overlooked when schools closed, but that there is a practical solution:

Justin Reilly, former teacher and CEO at safeguarding specialist Impero Software:

“I think it’s fair to say that safeguarding wasn’t top of the list of considerations when the government decided to close schools. At the moment, more than half of schools in the UK use paper-based safeguarding reporting systems.

“They’re not fit for purpose – they don’t join the dots and help teachers spot concerning patterns. If this crisis has taught us anything it’s that safeguarding needs to move online so every relevant stakeholder, from teachers to social workers, can access up to date information.

“The sector needs to be discussing the safeguarding here and now, but also the reintegration of vulnerable children into the schooling system, especially, as these figures show, so many of them haven’t been attending during the lockdown.” 


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