Skip to main content

Safeguarding Concerns

Tawaasal provides a secure, confidential system for raising safeguarding concerns about students. If you observe or suspect that a student may be at risk, you have a professional duty to report it. This guide explains how to raise a concern through the system.

When to Raise a Concern​

You should raise a concern whenever you observe or are told about something that suggests a student may be at risk. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Signs of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
  • Signs of neglect
  • Peer-on-peer bullying or abuse
  • Online safety issues
  • Self-harm or mental health concerns
  • Signs of radicalisation
  • A student witnessing domestic abuse
  • Anything a student discloses to you
Act Immediately

If a student is in immediate danger, contact your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) directly and follow your school's emergency safeguarding procedures. You can record the concern in Tawaasal afterwards.

Raising a Concern​

  1. Open the student's profile (for example from Students).

  2. Click Record Concern. The form opens with the student already chosen.

  3. If you opened the form another way, search for and select the student the concern is about.

  1. The form opens on Step 1: Select Student.
  2. A reminder that concerns must be reported immediately and are kept confidential.
  3. Search by name to find and select the student.
  1. Fill in the concern details:
    • Category — Choose the type of concern (e.g., Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Neglect, Online Safety, Self-Harm, Mental Health, or Other).
    • Description — Describe what you observed or were told. Be factual and specific. Include direct quotes where possible.
    • Incident Date — When the incident occurred.
    • Incident Time (optional) — The approximate time if known.
    • Incident Location (optional) — Where it occurred.
    • Persons Involved (optional) — Other people who were involved or present.
    • Urgency — Set the urgency level (Low, Medium, High, or Critical).
  2. Click Submit Concern, then confirm, to send the concern to the safeguarding team. If you have to stop part-way, click Save as Draft instead and come back to it later.

Coming Back to a Draft​

Open Record Concern again from any student's profile: your drafts are listed at the top, under Your unsent drafts. Click Continue to pick up where you left off, or the bin to delete the draft. Only you can see and edit your drafts — the safeguarding team, your safeguarding lead included, can't see them until you submit.

Don't let a draft wait

A draft is for when you are interrupted, not a way to report. If a child may be at immediate risk, speak to your safeguarding lead straight away — don't wait until you have finished the form.

What Happens After You Submit​

Once you submit a concern:

  1. The safeguarding team receives a notification and reviews the concern.
  2. The concern is triaged and assigned to a team member for investigation.
  3. The concern moves through a workflow: Submitted, Triaged, Under Investigation, Action Taken, Monitoring, and finally Closed.
  4. Once you submit, the concern belongs to the safeguarding team: you can no longer open it, read its case notes or add to it. If the team decides you need to know, it can share a summary with you — you see that summary, never the case notes or evidence.
Confidentiality

Safeguarding concerns are strictly confidential. Only the safeguarding team and designated staff can access concern details. Do not discuss concerns with other teachers, students, or guardians unless instructed to do so by the safeguarding team.

Concern Statuses​

StatusMeaning
DraftYou have started a concern but not yet submitted it.
SubmittedThe concern has been sent to the safeguarding team.
TriagedThe team has reviewed and prioritised the concern.
Under InvestigationThe concern is being actively investigated.
Action TakenActions have been taken to address the concern.
MonitoringThe student is being monitored following the investigation.
ClosedThe concern has been resolved and closed.

Important Principles​

  • Record facts, not opinions — Write down what you saw or were told, not what you think happened. Use the student's own words where possible.
  • Do not investigate — Your role is to report, not to investigate. Do not question the student beyond what they have voluntarily shared.
  • Do not promise confidentiality to the student — If a student discloses something, explain that you may need to share this information with someone who can help.
  • Report promptly — Raise the concern as soon as possible after the incident. Delays can affect the safety of the student.
  • Do not share with guardians — Unless the safeguarding team specifically instructs you to, do not inform the student's guardians about the concern.

Tips​

  • Save as draft — If you need time to gather your thoughts, save the concern as a draft and return to it later. However, do not delay submission unnecessarily.
  • Be specific about dates and times — Accurate timing helps the investigation process.
  • Follow up verbally — After submitting a concern, speak with your Designated Safeguarding Lead if the urgency is high or critical.

Applies to Tawaasal 2.7.0