Since the introduction of the designated teacher for child protection in 1995 – now known as the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) – the demands of this crucial role and the awareness of safeguarding risks and needs of children have grown exponentially. The “keeping children safe in education” statutory guidance that sets out the role continues to grow each year. Keeping up with it is challenging. The guidance says DSLs must be a senior leader and undertake regular training – but that training isn’t regulated. Working with my co-authors Sarah Bloomer and Helen Beattie we have set out to bring some much-needed clarity, creating a new competency framework for DSLs, so that safeguarding leads and their teams can go beyond tick-box assurance. The designated safeguarding lead professional competency framework has been published this week by the Confederation of School Trusts and the National Association of Academy Safeguarding Advisors. But it is a framework for the whole school sector. Through it, we aim to raise the profile of safeguarding practice and practitioners in education and ensure the right support mechanisms are in place for DSLs. Flexible approach It offers a flexible approach to understanding and assessing the knowledge standards, skills competencies and behaviour competencies required to be a DSL in a school. These are the pillars of the framework upon which the pathways, units and competencies are built. The knowledge standards within this framework are intentionally described as standards because they form the essential, foundational building blocks of effective safeguarding leadership. These standards represent the core knowledge that every DSL must hold from the outset, providing the stable base from which all further development grows. Within the sector, the term standards is widely recognised as denoting the minimum expectations that underpin safe and consistent practice. In contrast, the competencies that follow across the skills and behaviours pillars are deliberately developmental. They reflect the professional growth, applied expertise and nuanced judgment that DSLs build over time. While the standards establish the “must have” knowledge, the competencies articulate the progressive journey towards mastery that evolves through experience, reflection and ongoing learning. These three pillars of DSL standards and competencies are then each broken down into “operational” and “strategic” pathways to offer a clear, sequential, manageable pathway to work towards achieving all of the competencies. Ongoing development For a DSL looking to work through the entire programme, it is intended that they would first complete each of the operational pillars and then each of the strategic pillars. The framework seeks to empower school and trust leaders to support DSLs in their ongoing development in a structured, meaningful way. DSLs and deputies can follow specific pathways designed to structure their individual developmental journey or they can approach it with the intention of completing the entire framework (recommended for any appointed DSL as a senior leader). The framework however is cyclical and evolving as the role evolves. The framework does not replace regular training but helps place it in context of the overall needs and responsibilities of DSLs. It enables colleagues to better identify what they know and do well, and areas where they can improve. It sits alongside and supports safeguarding assurance, from governance, from our peers and from Ofsted. We hope the framework will also create a platform from which further discussion can take place about role development and training opportunities, like formal higher qualifications and recognition for the DSL role as a career pathway, ranging from operational safeguarding through to strategic and system leadership. Just as safeguarding will continue to evolve as a discipline, we expect the framework to as well. We welcome feedback to help ensure it meets your needs, and the needs of the children we strive to protect. The designated safeguarding lead professional competency framework has been co-authored by Liberty Trust director of safeguarding Nicola Law, Diocese of St Albans Multi-Academy Trust director of safeguarding Sarah Bloomer, and Reach2 Academy Trust head of safeguarding Helen Beattie. The framework can be downloaded here.