School safeguarding specialist, Leila Holmyard, explains how identity-based harm and the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion intersect with child protection and safeguarding. She also shares student feedback and how schools can take action to support and protect them.
Child Protection & Well-being
CIS is committed to child protection & well-being
CIS educates and supports international school communities to address child protection challenges through our services and resources.
Together, we educate and support international communities to:
- ensure a shared understanding of the signs and risks of child abuse
- know what steps will be taken when allegations and disclosures of abuse are raised
- support and guide educators to work within diverse communities and cultural contexts to prevent and address abuse
- interpret and implement new accreditation standards, developing new policies and practice to strengthen child protection
- learn new recruitment strategies to use when hiring new staff
CIS International Accreditation protocol includes standards that evaluate the school’s child protection policy and practices. A set of comprehensive international standards developed by the International Taskforce for Child Protection provides a framework for the implementation of policies and procedures.
Our team of CIS Affiliated Consultants also help school communities navigate all aspects of child protection—from education and prevention to managing allegations and recovery.
Child Protection & Well-being Workshops
We bring together a team of experts, world-renowned in child protection and mental health & well-being in schools, to deliver in-person and online workshops to support educators learning about critical steps to protect students.
Resources
- View the International Taskforce on Child Protection resource page for more information to support your school.
- Stay up to date with the latest developments and guidance related to student well-being and child protection on the CIS Perspectives blog.
- CIS members can log in to the CIS Community portal and access a library of member-only webinars to support them with a variety of safeguarding and well-being topics.
CIS International Safeguarding Toolkit
The CIS International Safeguarding Toolkit is an online developmental tool to help CIS member schools monitor current practices, understand opportunities for development and growth, track progress, and create a common understanding with school communities on how a school safeguards the students in their care. The toolkit will support a school at any stage of development to improve and manage safeguarding in a school.
Schools will use this toolkit to:
- Identify areas of strength and areas for development. The toolkit content applies to schools in any legal or cultural context, and indicators will point out where schools need to confer with in-country laws.
- Explore resources available exclusively within the toolkit for guided learning within your school.
- Create reviews for each element for communications and reporting within the school community.
- Prepare information and evidence for any accreditation process.
The toolkit is a subscription service available to all CIS member schools. The annual subscription fee is €1,050, which includes an admin login for the school, additional school user logins and two 1–hour virtual meetings during the year with CIS Safeguarding experts who developed the content for the tool.
CIS members can find more information about the toolkit in the CIS Community portal for schools. For schools interested in membership, download a flyer for more information or contact us at membership@cois.org.
Related content
Read more about child protection and student well-being on the blog.
There’s been huge progress over the past 10 years in the ways we protect and safeguard children in our care. However, international schools still face significant child protection risks, and mitigating them can be difficult. Jane Foster, a specialist in managing allegations, outlines eight key priorities for schools.
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The international education world was rocked by the revelation of child abuse by a trusted member of the community in 2014. Existing policies and practices within international education were insufficient to effectively protect young people in international schools from exploitation and abuse. A global collaboration took action to move from reactive to proactive safeguarding.
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How do international schools maintain high-quality records of safeguarding and behaviour concerns while protecting and upholding students’ right to privacy and secure data protection? The International Task Force on Child Protection invites international school colleagues to contribute to a survey on practice in this area.
‘Every generation's experience of youth is different. And ours is framed by social media.’ The quote is from a speech by a 14-year-old keynote speaker at a Childnet Safer Internet Day event in 2023. It makes it clear that young people have a unique experience to share. It's vital that we promote student agency and include their voices in our work to ensure they have the skills to navigate the online world safely, especially in the context of a rapidly changing tech world.
What we're hearing from our school and university community about adapting to sustainable practices, redefining success metrics, engaging parents, and supporting diverse student pathways beyond secondary school.