Ysgol Bro Lleu
Author: Gerallt Jones, Headteacher
The Challenge
Safeguarding is of the utmost importance to the staff at Ysgol Bro Lleu. On average the school records 230 substantive concerns per academic year. Prior to adopting MyConcern each of these concerns required the completion of a ‘Safeguarding Questionnaire’ by a member of staff. These surveys usually take 20 minutes to complete, costing staff 76 hours and the school £1596 per year.
On average 75% of these concerns need to be followed up with face-to-face discussions with the Headteacher. Ysgol Bro Lleu estimates that each of these discussions had a staff cost of £34, meaning that this process cost £5882 per year.
Of these concerns, an average of 25% result in a need for meetings between staff and an external agency. Staff spend two hours in preparation for these meetings (gathering data, clarifying chronologies and timescales etc.), meaning Ysgol Bro Lleu was spending a further £1806 in staff time.
Across the year 5% of these concerns will result in formal case reviews. These require a minimum of 2 hours of preparation costing the school a further £84 per year.
The Solution - MyConcern
In total, Ysgol Bro Lleu were spending over £9000 on safeguarding using their previous system. They needed a solution that would streamline their processes, saving their staff time and allowing them to spend their school budget more efficiently. They became one of the first establishments in Gwynedd to adopt MyConcern to manage their safeguarding requirements.
Implementing MyConcern
The “Report a Concern” wizard in MyConcern has reduced the amount of time taken to log staff concerns by 75% from 20 minutes to 5 minutes, saving the school £1197 per year. Further time savings can be gained from the Headteacher’s immediate electronic access to details of concerns as they are created. This has at least halved the duration of face-to-face meetings, saving the school £2941 per year.
The data retention, audit trails and chronologies automated within MyConcern have also reduced the amount of time required to prepare for meetings with external agencies and formal case reviews. These features have resulted in a 75% reduction in staff cost, saving Ysgol Bro Lleu £1355 and £63 respectively per year.
Outcomes
In total MyConcern has reduced the administration cost of safeguarding for Ysgol Bro Lleu by 60%, saving them £5556 per academic year. Even considering the cost of an annual license fee for MyConcern in just one year the system has paid for itself 10 times over!
In addition to these specific costs, Ysgol Bro Lleu feel strongly that these less tangible savings have been significant since adopting MyConcern:
- The ability to securely share data has made meetings with external agencies more effective
- Seeing the bigger picture enables staff to intervene early, reducing the cost of managing
serious issues - Collating data for historic investigation in the future will be easier and quicker
- Because MyConcern is robust and secure, instantly accessible and enables ‘Working
Together’, the school and staff reputation is well protected - The data security credentials embedded within MyConcern mean risks of a data breach are
seriously mitigated compared with paper files The system enables the ongoing monitoring of
concerns and risks in real-time, reducing the
time consumed by at weekly meetings
Solutions
Our suite of safeguarding solutions to support schools is ever growing, so we can help with your safeguarding processes in a number of ways. Explore our products below:
For Concerns about Children and Young Adults
Easy-to-use, centralised, secure record-keeping and case management for all types of safeguarding concerns
Find out moreFor Allegations Against Staff
One of the most sensitive issues facing any leader is how to handle serious allegations about their staff. Confide is the answer
Find out moreFor Multi-establishment Reporting
A powerful reporting tool designed exclusively for multi-establishment safeguarding. Paired with MyConcern and Confide to provide high-level, anonymised reporting across groups of establishments
Find out moreFor Safer Recruitment
A safer recruitment and personnel vetting tool that acts as your Single Central Record. Designed to guide you through the recruitment process and to ensure that no check is missed
Find out moreFor Training and Self-assessments
Our package of safeguarding training and self-assessments to help you build and maintain safeguarding expertise in your organisation
Find out moreWe Are Safeguardians
Let's Work Together
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