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Expert profile
Name: Vikkey Chaffe
Job title: Head of Community Relations
Best part of my job: I love supporting safeguarding leads, to enable them to safeguard children and young people
What is your background and why have you created this community?
I started my teaching career 15 years ago and swiftly became an Advanced Skills Teacher and then a Safeguarding Lead.
Five years ago I founded the network Primary School Leaders, due to the need for leaders of every level to connect, regardless of their location. There was also a necessity for a place where anyone involved in safeguarding could reach out for support and ask questions, regardless of their sector.
Thus, The Safeguarding Community was created!
Why is there such an urgent need for our ‘safeguarders’ to connect with each other?
Working in safeguarding can involve harrowing cases, demanding situations, challenging conversations and upsetting circumstances, which many Safeguarding Leads must deal with alone. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone, or seek some advice regarding a particular situation you haven’t experienced before.
All of us sometimes need a safe space where we can support each other, learn from each other, share our experiences and talk to people dealing with the same situations.
What does this ‘safe space’ look like?
At The Safeguarding Company we have invested in creating a bespoke platform to host our community, rather than rely on an existing social media platform. Doing this will ensure that our community remains secure, and allow us to better meet the needs of our safeguarders.
We will look to monitor the community closely, and set out ground rules so that all members feel supported and respected.
What are some of the Safeguarding Community’s key features?
We will have three different rooms for different needs. In the ‘Staff Room’, everyone can ask broad questions and share resources, just as they would in their real-world equivalent.
Our ‘International Room’ is for sharing any questions that specifically relate to international safeguarding queries.
Finally, there’s our ‘Safe Room’ – all posts made in this room will be marked anonymous, for discussions around more delicate issues. Members can ask anything in here that would otherwise be considered too sensitive and confidential for the ‘Staff Room’.
Will members need to pay to join?
We care about the people who keep our children and young people safe. To reflect that, the community is free and open to join for everyone involved in safeguarding. We truly believe that giving safeguarding specialists a safe place in which to communicate will make a significant difference to their wellbeing.
We will also use the platform to share legislation and guidance from governing bodies, while also hosting expert-led Q&A sessions. There will be free resources and blogs, but most important of all – the ability to connect with others involved in safeguarding.
Safeguarding solutions – We provide a range of safeguarding solutions to help you with recording and managing safeguarding concerns, safer recruitment, staff allegations and training.
Joining the community – Join the community and connect with others involved in safeguarding who understand how challenging the role can be
Find out more by visiting thesafeguardingcompany.com/the-safeguarding-community/, call 0330 6600 757 or email info@thesafeguardingcompany.com.
