Designated safeguarding lead (DSL): model job description

Model job description and person specification

Download and adapt it to reflect the role in your school.

It's based on the requirements in the statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (which we look at in the next section).

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Requirements

Every school should have a designated safeguarding lead (DSL), as set out in paragraph 10 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).

This person should:

• Take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety)
• Support staff to carry out their safeguarding duties
• Liaise closely with children’s social care and other services

You need to make it explicit in a staff member's job description if they're the DSL.

A DSL's key areas of responsibility are:

• Managing referrals
• Working with others
• Managing the child protection file
• Raising awareness
• Training 
• Providing support to staff
• Understanding the views of children
• Holding and sharing information

See what