Do schools have a duty to record DV somehow?

[Pleasegotobed]

Just that really- if a dv disclosure is made by a parent and the school are provided with a copy of a protective injunction as evidence what is the school legally required to do if anything?

Should it be formally recorded somehow? What is best practise and what is their legal duty? Is it different for private schools?

School should record whatever you have provided on whatever safeguarding platform they use. But it is not their role to get involved in any dispute between parents. They are educators, not marriage guidance or the courts. They are entirely impartial if both parents have PR.

If the school is made aware of a protective injunction (or any legal reason why a particular adult should not have contact with a child) they absolutely must safeguard the child accordingly. My children's school kept photographs in the office of relatives who weren't allowed to pick up etc. They may not be "marriage guidance" 🙄 but they do have a duty of care, and that means being more than just educators. They are in loco parentis and have pastoral responsibilities, so of course they act on safeguarding disclosures.

@ssprigatito where there is a court order it undoubtedly must be followed but where there are allegations without police records or court orders it is inappropriate to take sides.

They abide by any legal paperwork blocking or restricting access.
They can not alter the rights of either parent to access if there is nothing in place.
A DV allegation is just that. School can not decide what is or is not the truth.
They record what parents A says but go on the legal paperwork provided.

Okay but I specifically referenced protective injunctions which are in place. Though actually on a side note - I think if a parent says that they are being abused then the school should record that because it would undoubtedly affect the child! Surely they don’t just dismiss that kind of thing?!

It’s not regarding child contact or who can pick up - but keeping some kind of written record on the child’s file so they can monitor and support any issues they have in their home life which might be impacting them

It is up to the parents to do this not schools and it should not be something that would need to continue because the parents need to ensure the children do not continue living in that environment

Schools can only do so much, parents are ultimately responsible for children and their choices

@pleasegotobed Yes school should keep records of conversations with parents. There should be a general awareness of what a child might be going through. But school should remain entirely impartial in their dealings with parents.

School will keep records on whatever safeguarding platform they use (eg CPOMS etc)

School will absolute keep a record, all teachers who work with the child should be made aware and it will of course have bearing on aspects of the child's behaviour. Dependant on staffing/the school the child may be offered some emotional support, or just have regular emotional check ins with a member of staff.

I think if a parent says that they are being abused then the school should record that because it would undoubtedly affect the child! Surely they don’t just dismiss that kind of thing?!

If course they would jeep a record, they should also refer to social work to assess the current level of risk to the child. Where I am there would be a child protection investigation started.

If police attend a domestic violence incident in my area, the school of any children in the family are informed that it happened so they can support the child as necessary, Children's services are also automatically informed and will assess whether intervention is required.
Any legal documentation- court orders, non molestation orders etc should be shared with the school so that the legalities can be followed by the school.
If a parent discloses domestic violence, they will be given information about the local dV support groups, steps to change, freedom programme etc. a referral to children's services will be made but, quite honestly, unless police are involved it probably won't meet criteria for involvement. And, when allegations are made, the school needs to be impartial but we would carry out low level monitoring and support of the child and their emotional wellbeing.
As an aside, we have around 150 families at my school. I received 8 separate domestic violence reports over the Xmas holidays!

I'm a DSL at a school. I'm a little confused about your post- can I just clarify, are you saying you have a protective order in place against your partner already? Are you also saying that there has been further abuse since this order has been in place?

If this is the case, the safeguarding team at school will hopefully have a good enough relationship with you to already know about the protective order. If you then came in to inform us about further DV we would advise that you phoned the police and offer to support you with that on site, if needed. We would log it on our safeguarding system and then we would do a MARF (multi agency referral form) to social services who would then decide on next steps for the family.

In our area it is as @spanieleyes describes and not @Jellycatspyjamas - child protection would only come after initial assessments.

The police would send a report of any disclosure of domestic abuse to children's services, if there was a counter allegation it would also be shared, at this stage they are allegations only.

If there were bail conditions, a Non Molestation Order or a Restraining Order after conviction I would expect the parent to share with school.

If there are court orders in place in regards to the child, the school records that and puts a plan in place as to what to do if the parent does show up requesting to pick up the child.

If any disclosures are made , they get reported to the DSP, recorded and depending on the issue a SS referral will be made.

Bear in mind that whilst the DSL and a handful of people who actually need to know would be aware, this sort of information isn't routinely shared, so not everybody would know of it - somebody on Reception might see 'must not be collected by...' or 'if x calls, refer to DSL' at most.

Can I ask why you ask OP - it sounds like you have a specific situation that is troubling you and we may be able to help more if that is clearer?

Certainly yes, the expectations on safeguarding are the same in independent schools. A record would be kept of anything that you, the child, or anybody else discloses that has an impact on the safeguarding of that child. There will be one or more trained DSLs (designated safeguarding leads) who can give you more information on this, and the safeguarding policy should be available on the school website.

If you have concerns that the school are not following safeguarding procedure, there are steps you can take, too, depending on the nature of the school. (Is it proprietor owned for example). DM me if you prefer - I can try my best to advise though I am not a legal expert.

As PP said they do keep a record of all these sorts of things and much more in terms of safeguarding.

Two years ago my ex husband was issued with a non molestation order. I informed the school and sent them a copy of the order in the hope that they would understand the family context and be better able to support my child.

Recently, someone senior at the school gave out information about me to my ex. It wasn’t as serious as something like my address but it was still unprofessional and highly inappropriate. I raised this with the head, saying that they were aware of the context. They replied as if I was a huge liar - and said they had no record of any dv.
I just think that seems like a bit of a safeguarding failure? I’d have thought that there was some kind of obligation on them to record it. I do have an email evidencing that I told them.

Yeah that is a failing, I'd make a complaint