New safeguarding software to transform multi-agency collaboration between local authorities and schools

• Referrals to children’s social services by schools have risen by more than 50 per cent in the last eight years
• 129,090 referrals were made by schools in 2022 – the highest number since reporting began in 2014
• New safeguarding software to transform the way local authorities and schools identify and address safeguarding concerns

Market leading safeguarding software company CPOMS has developed a first-of-its-kind solution to transform the way that local authorities work with schools to log and manage safeguarding concerns about children.

John Wild

CPOMS Engage works by allowing local authorities and schools to both use the same system, which provides them with access to dual registered students to receive and request information on specific students via a secured, shared contract.

Different departments within local authorities, including social care, early help and children’s services, schools and virtual schools can input information into one shared system allowing them to build up detailed chronologies relating to a pupil’s wellbeing.

With CPOMS Engage, updates are shared in real-time, eliminating the need for teachers and safeguarding leads to spend time copying and pasting concerns into reports, meaning that more time can be spent focusing on providing children with the support they need.

This method of monitoring, logging and securely sharing even the smallest of concerns will help agencies involved in the care of children to improve the way they communicate, helping to inform joint decision making and co-ordinated interventions that put the safety and wellbeing of children first.

Southway School in Leeds is one of the first schools to pioneer this new software.

Andy Percival, headteacher at Southway School in Leeds, added: “At Southway, we have first-hand experience of some of the challenges around monitoring and sharing safeguarding concerns of children with our local authority partners. We know that effective multi-agency collaboration is key to promoting the wellbeing of children and preventing any child from falling through the gaps.

“CPOMS Engage has already helped us to drastically speed up the way in which we share information with other agencies we work with. It has transformed our ability to work more closely with our partners and ultimately, ensure the children in our care get the support they need in a timely manner.”

John Wild, managing director at CPOMS said: “Schools and local authorities are under more pressure than ever before, and alongside this, the rising number of referrals made to social services highlights that children’s safeguarding continues to be a significant challenge for local authorities.

“It’s therefore vital that processes between local authority departments and schools are as efficient and streamlined as possible – and we’ve worked closely with local authorities and schools to develop a solution that directly addresses the challenges they are facing.

“It’s brilliant to have Southway School in Leeds pioneering this software to address the safeguarding challenges it is facing – and we’re looking forward to seeing more local authorities and schools collaborating in this manner.”

To find out more about how CPOMS Engage can support the secure sharing of safeguarding information across agencies, visit www.cpoms.co.uk/cpoms-engage-for-local-authorities/.