The fundamentals of building strong safeguarding practice across your trust
This course explores how to create the conditions, consistency and capacity to achieve safeguarding excellence across a group of schools, drawing on the principles set out in CST's Safeguarding at Scale.
It offers practical insights in three key areas:
- Creating clear and effective oversight of safeguarding at all levels of governance
- Developing consistency and embedding best practice across schools
- Building, supporting and retaining a strong and skilled safeguarding workforce
Who is it for?
The course is designed for Trust safeguarding leads.
Participants are also welcome to invite their trust governance professional to join them to support ongoing conversations about improving safeguarding; governance colleagues do not need to register at the point of booking or pay a delegate fee. More details will be available on your booking confirmaiton.
What you will gain
This course will give you:
- An understanding of different safeguarding governance structures and the key considerations for your design
- Guidance on how to avoid single points of governance failure and get your relationships and reporting right
- Actionable insight into the three key factors that drive consistency across your schools
- Key questions to ask as part of your safeguarding due diligence when new schools join your trust
- Tips for building and nurturing a one safeguarding team approach across your trust, including considerations around, recruitment, diversity, community need and supporting professional growth
"The Safeguarding at Scale course gave a good basis to feed into a trust strategy plan. The training underpinned this, challenging things that were historical, giving space to think about how to move forward and the opportunity to network."
Course overview
This three-part series gives you in-depth knowledge about the fundamentals of safeguarding in school trusts, developing trust-wide consistency, and building the safeguarding workforce. Our experienced seminar leader, Dai Durbridge, will guide you in how you can create the conditions, consistency and capacity for strong safeguarding at scale.
Session one: Safeguarding governance structures
- Getting your safeguarding governance structure right
- Working with the trust board
- Support, challenge and working with your lead trustee
- Rethinking the role of local governance in safeguarding
Session two: Growing a one team mindset
- Safeguarding due diligence – achieving consistency across all schools
- Sharing expertise from different schools as part of your trust-wide approach
- Effectively onboarding the safeguarding function
Session three: Developing your safeguarding workforce
- Team structure and working as a single cohesive team
- Recruitment and diversity, and understanding community need
- DSL development and professional growth
- Future proofing and succession planning
Course leader
Follow-on masterclass
Leading safeguarding at scale
Having established the key structures and processes through this Building Safeguarding at Scale masterclass, this follow-on course focuses on the leadership required to sustain and enhance safeguarding across a trust.
12:30 pm
16 Nov 2026 11:00 am to
12:30 pm
23 Nov 2026 11:00 am to
12:30 pm
- CST members £280+VAT
- Non-members £340+VAT
