An apt sub-heading of the children's green paper Every Child Matters could have been "As Does Every Professional". It wasn't just children's well-being that the document placed at the heart of the government's agenda, but also the role of the professionals who work with them.

Without question, that includes the teaching profession. By virtue of their job, teachers are ideally placed to notice whether a child is neglected or abused. But, with longer school hours and heavier workloads, how involved can teachers be in child protection?

Last autumn, the Department for Education and Skills published guidance on the arrangements that local education authorities, school governing bodies and head teachers should have in place to protect children. Safeguarding Children in Education states that all staff working with children need to have child protection training "that equips them to recognise and respond to child welfare concerns".(1)

The detail and depth of this training should vary according to the nature of the staff member's role and the extent of their involvement with children.

As it is, teachers are required to study child protection during their initial training and, after qualifying, refresh their knowledge.

On top of this, since 1988 every school has had a teacher with designated lead responsibility for child protection. These teachers have been trained in interagency procedures to help them work effectively with other professionals. Refresher training for teachers with this responsibility should occur every two years.
However, despite the training, teachers are not always in a position to spot signs of abuse. "Teachers have enough on their plates with their workloads and dealing with pupils in the classroom, so it can be difficult for them to identify issues," says Patrick Nash, chief executive of the charity Teacher Support Network.

In an ideal world, all teachers would receive ongoing training in child protection, he adds. However, time constraints often prevent this. Nash says: "Teachers are increasingly facing growing demands on their time and energy and increased responsibilities with regards to education, support and caring for young people."
Once they are working in schools, the quality of the child protection training on offer to teachers depends on local partnership arrangements. According to David Hawker, chair of the Association of Directors of Education and Children's Services, the best child protection training for teachers is provided through a multi-agency programme. He says although some places can provide this under the auspices of area child protection committees, this is not always the case.

But should teachers be expected to pick up on child protection concerns when their job is to educate?
Stephen Meek, the Local Government Association's programme director for children and young people, says the children's agenda is not about turning teachers into social workers, but about enabling them to intervene and refer children on when necessary.

"In complex child protection cases you don't want teachers to act in someone else's professional capacity," he says. "It is about having greater awareness of being part of an integrated partnership system so it makes it easier, if they have concerns, to engage with appropriate services and professionals."

The government has made clear its intentions to extend the services that are available in schools. Will the wider range of professionals on the school site improve communication about child protection issues?

David Coulter, the NSPCC's policy adviser for employment and education, believes it will. The children's charity operates advice and counselling services in 150 schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Coulter says staff in these services can pick up on the more subtle signs of problems at home.

To an extent, social care professionals have a role to play in helping their education counterparts understand child protection, and closer working is inevitable.

"If we are to deliver better outcomes for all children and young people we need to make sure this happens," says Meek. However, Nash argues that the pressure on teachers to take on child protection responsibilities must result in the government and employers allocating more time and resources to the issue.

As education and social care become more integrated, professionals from both sectors will have to work together on child protection. But the adaptation process could take some time.

As Hawker says: "We have to be patient with it as it's not going to happen overnight. The revolution is under way but it's not a very swift one."

1. Safeguarding Children in Education, Department for Skills and Education, September 2004.

Delicate Information is Disclosed Routinely 

John Wilson is head teacher at Westwood Community Junior School in March, Cambridgeshire. He is also the school's designated lead on child protection. 

If  Wilson is absent, the school's special needs co-ordinator, who has also undergone training in this area, takes over. The remaining 48 staff have also completed child protection training to varying degrees, depending on their involvement with children. This includes the dinner ladies because children trust them and sometimes disclose information, says Wilson.

Child protection has gained such importance that Wilson deals with concerns every day. Sometimes he spends as little as an hour on it, although it can take the whole day. 

Wilson thinks that the issue of child protection has grown more acute in the 34 years since he qualified as a teacher. As a result: "There is more awareness of child protection now and greater demands are placed on all professionals." 

Wilson says teachers are routinely given delicate information by a child or about a child and they have to act upon it. "If this isn't followed through, should anything happen the implications for the child and the professionals would be very serious."

The school has 380 pupils aged seven to 11. Since the start of the year Wilson has attended five case conferences about child protection, including one where a dozen professionals went to the school for a meeting. 

As one-third of his time is spent teaching, Wilson has had to hire supply teachers to cover him while he attends these conferences. At  £150 a day for a local supply teacher and £180 for a teacher provided by a recruitment agency, he says the school has spent more than £700 on cover so far, a figure which is likely to rise. This is money that needs to be found from within the school budget, as no additional resources are available for addressing child protection issues.

If the plans to extend the school day go ahead, more staff will need to be employed and trained in child protection, says Wilson. "This cannot all be put on to teachers."