Safeguarding Manager

The International School of Monaco is seeking to appoint a motivated and experienced Whole-School Safeguarding Manager, who will join our Extended Administrative Leadership Team, starting in December 2025.

The role

The Safeguarding Manager plays a pivotal role in the life of the school, taking responsibility for the safeguarding of its students. The Safeguarding Manager is one of the Whole-School Designated Safeguarding Leads, reporting to and working in close collaboration with the Whole-School Deputy Director Wellbeing.

The Safeguarding Manager is a member of the school’s Extended Educational Leadership Team and, as such, plays an important part in shaping the school’s ethos and strategic development in line with International Safeguarding best practice.

The Safeguarding Manager will work closely with the school’s team of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs) and all members of the Wellbeing team.

Role Description

This role description is intended to be definitive rather than restrictive and is subject to review.

Key responsibilities will include:

Responsibilities as Designated Safeguarding Lead

The Safeguarding Manager will take responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety), working closely with the Deputy Director Wellbeing and Director in leading the strategic direction of the school’s safeguarding work, and taking responsibility for the school’s systems and data entry in this area.

As one of the school’s Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), the Safeguarding Manager will execute the responsibilities of the DSL and will ensure that the school fulfils the relevant statutory guidance under Monaco law.

Safeguarding strategy

• Develop, implement and regularly review an ambitious strategy for safeguarding at ISM, ensuring that safeguarding sits at the heart of all ISM does and that all students, parents and staff have a voice within an ever more open, compassionate and inclusive culture
• Work collaboratively with the Deputy Director Wellbeing, the Director, and other members of the senior leadership team on all matters related to safeguarding in the school, maintaining regular communication with the Deputy Director Wellbeing and the Director to keep them informed of safeguarding developments as appropriate
• Lead the strategic evaluation and mitigation of risk in the area of safeguarding, including as safeguarding may relate to other areas of school life, such as Access and Inclusion and DEIJ
• Chair a regular meeting of the DSLs and DDSLs across the school to share best practice, and ensure consistency in systems and practice
• Offer training for ISM as appropriate

Culture, raising awareness and support for staff

• Ensure that the school’s safeguarding ethos and aims are clearly communicated through the school’s policies and the website
• Lead a culture of openness and dialogue within the safeguarding team, where safeguarding concerns are openly shared and supportively discussed and improvements in practice are continually sought
• Promote a culture of awareness across the school, where safeguarding and the care of students are given the highest priority and that all are aware that ‘it could happen here’
• Promote a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings
• Undertake appropriate training to maintain the expertise required to execute the duties of the role effectively and to remain alert to best practice, in particular through completing DSL training every two years
• Working with HR, lead the school’s safeguarding training programme, to ensure that all staff (including volunteers, trustees and other individuals working at the school) receive an appropriate and regularly updated safeguarding induction prior to working with students, and that they complete statutory safeguarding training at the required intervals, offering high quality school-based training on a range of safeguarding topics, both mandatory and elective, including induction training 
• Through planned updates, regularly reinforce with all staff, through both formal and informal means, the key elements of the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring that these are known, understood and used appropriately, e.g. identity of the DSLs, steps to take when receiving a disclosure, steps to take in case of safeguarding concerns or allegations, recording expectations, and ensure that this safeguarding training reflects developments in safeguarding best practice
• Liaise with King’s and other organisations as appropriate to ensure that the school’s in-house training and policy documentation remains current and reflective of broader developments in safeguarding practice 
• Ensure, together with HR, that the school keeps and maintains records of staff training on child protection and safer recruitment procedures
• Ensure that staff whose roles involve particular responsibility for safeguarding are supported, trained and equipped to execute their responsibilities effectively, ensuring that they have access to reflective practice as appropriate
• Offer bespoke training for specific staff groups or individuals as appropriate e.g. coaches, visiting music teachers, graduate students, casual staff

Safeguarding practice

• Lead and oversee safeguarding case management throughout the school; that there is clear and effective follow up of matters arising; that there is effective communication with parents/carers and wellbeing staff, and ongoing dialogue and support as appropriate 
• Ensure that case management is supported by effective record-keeping, including a summary chronology, risk assessments and a decision log as appropriate 
• Maintain and regularly review CPOMS ensuring that this provides a clear overview of the wellbeing/safeguarding issues, that cases are escalated, de-escalated and closed as appropriate, and that clear and regular review points are maintained
• Oversee the work of the DDSL team, ensuring that they work effectively together and develop their safeguarding work in accordance with best practice
• Chair relevant safeguarding meetings 
• Lead inter-agency working, including through making referrals to external agencies taking part in strategy discussions and inter-agency meetings, and contributing to the assessment of children
• In discussion with the Director and Deputy Director Wellbeing, liaise with the Educational Nationale Referent for Harassment as required
• Implement the school’s standard operating procedures for safeguarding, and ensure these are understood and implemented by all relevant colleagues
• Be available to provide advice, support and expertise to other staff on child welfare, safeguarding and child protection matters
• Promote positive outcomes for students for whom there have been safeguarding concerns
• Work with the Wellbeing team and PSHE/SCALE team to ensure that students receive appropriate education about safeguarding risks, including contextual safeguarding risks (e.g. street safety, drugs, alcohol) and understand how to access support, how to share concerns they may have, promoting a culture of openness among students so that they can receive appropriate support
• Be alert to risk factors and vulnerabilities which may affect the wellbeing and safety of children, including being alert to trauma-informed practice
• Undertake investigations as appropriate as per the SOP
• Form part of a rota of staff providing a safeguarding point of contact for students and parents outside of the school term
• Liaise regularly with the Safeguarding Trustees, Director and Deputy Director Wellbeing in relation to safeguarding arrangements in the school, and work with them to audit the school’s safeguarding provision at least annually
• Engage in formal safeguarding supervision on a regular basis

Safeguarding systems and compliance

• Be responsible for the school’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, ensuring that it is updated at least annually, and is as comprehensible and accessible as possible
• Oversee and regularly review other school policies and procedures relating to safeguarding, including CCTV, ensuring that they are relevant, up-to-date, and well-understood
• Ensure that the school’s safeguarding is fully compliant with all ISM accreditation standards (CIS, IB, Optimus etc)
• Maintain and implement the highest standards of record-keeping relating to safeguarding, including reflecting the consideration given to key decisions made on CPOMS
• Oversee the school’s electronic safeguarding and record-keeping system, CPOMS, ensuring that all safeguarding concerns are recorded 
• Maintain the highest standards of confidentiality, while also being mindful of the importance of appropriate information sharing to ensure that students can be effectively safeguarded
• Keep up to date with relevant legislation and statutory and local guidance in the area of safeguarding, and ensure that this is embedded in school practice
• Oversee the transfer of safeguarding records when appropriate, in accordance with legal guidance
• Take lead responsibility for online safety, including the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place, and ensure that safeguarding concerns identified by the school’s internet filtering and monitoring software are responded to in a timely and appropriate manner
• Liaising with the Deputy Director Wellbeing, and Health and Safety Manager, regularly review records and data relating visits to the medical room and wellbeing room, ensuring that trends are analysed, relevant insights shared with pastoral teams, and necessary external agency reports made
• Liaising with the Deputy Director Wellbeing, and Heads of School, make statutory reports and referrals relating to student absence as appropriate
• Working with other staff, maintain relevant whole-school, logs, analysing trends and co-ordinating follow up action
• With the HR department, ensure that the school’s safer recruitment procedures are robust and maintain up to date safer recruitment training
• Contribute to the regular review of the Single Central Register (SCR)
• Review the processes and paperwork for educational visits from a safeguarding perspective and offer training and advice to the trip leader and staff accompanying such visits
• Work closely with relevant staff on all Health and Safety matters relating to student safeguarding and attend the health and safety committee
• Seek to resolve concerns and complaints relating to safeguarding effectively, at an early stage, and respond to learnings as appropriate.

How to apply:

Please send the following documents to recruitment@ismonaco.com:

The ISM is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.