2025 was a landmark year for child protection across the Education and Training Board (ETB) sector. With the publication of the new Child Protection Procedures for Schools 2025 and the requirement for full implementation by December 2026, our schools and centres have entered a period of significant change, renewal, and capacity-building. What and who does this involve? Over the last year, our Mulroy College (Milford) Principal, Fiona Temple, has been supporting our schools to manage and implement these changes and in this month’s blog, she tells us more about it.
As a facilitator supporting this transition with Oide (a support service for teachers and school leaders, funded by the Department of Education and Youth) and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), I’ve had the privilege of working closely with school leaders, Designated Liaison Persons (DLPs), Deputy DLPs, teachers, Boards of Management and support staff to ensure that every learner in our care is protected, heard, and safe.
Child protection and safeguarding are central to the mission of every ETB school. While often used together, they describe two connected but distinct responsibilities.
What Safeguarding Means
Child safeguarding is broader than child protection and is about ensuring safe practice and appropriate responses by workers and volunteers to concerns about the safety or welfare of children, including online concerns, should these arise. Child safeguarding is about protecting the child from harm, promoting their welfare and in doing so creating an environment which enables children and young people to grow, develop and achieve their full potential.
Safeguarding refers to the proactive, whole-school approach to keeping children and young people safe. It includes the systems, culture, and everyday practices that prevent harm before it occurs. In a school setting, safeguarding involves:
- Creating safe, inclusive learning environments
- Promoting student wellbeing and resilience
- Providing a curriculum to support and embed understanding best Safeguarding practices
- Ensuring safe recruitment and vetting
- Managing supervision, digital safety, and visitor procedures
- Building a culture where students feel heard and supported
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: every adult in the school community plays a role.
What Child Protection Means
Child protection is the activity of protecting children who are suffering or may be likely to suffer or are at risk of suffering from harm as a result of abuse, including neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. This includes:
- Recognising reasonable grounds for concern
- Reporting concerns to the Designated Liaison Person (DLP)
- Making mandated reports to Tusla
- Keeping accurate, confidential records
- Following the procedures consistently and promptly
The 2025 Procedures strengthen clarity around reporting pathways, documentation, and the responsibilities of what are known as mandated persons, who are all registered teachers in the case of schools.
Key Roles Within the 2025 Child Protection Procedures
Designated Liaison Person (DLP)
The DLP is the central point of contact for all child protection concerns within the school and is usually the Principal. Their responsibilities include:
- Receiving and assessing concerns
- Consulting with Tusla where necessary
- Making mandated reports
- Maintaining secure records
- Supporting staff who raise concerns
- Ensuring the school’s safeguarding documentation is up to date
The DLP role is pivotal in ensuring consistency and compliance.
Deputy Designated Liaison Person (Deputy DLP)
The Deputy DLP supports the DLP and acts in their place when they are unavailable. The 2025 Procedures place renewed emphasis on:
- Shared understanding of responsibilities
- Joint decision-making where appropriate
- Ensuring continuity of safeguarding leadership
Mandated Persons
All registered teachers are mandated persons under the Children First Act. This means they have a legal obligation to report concerns that meet or exceed the threshold of harm. The procedures clarify:
- What constitutes reasonable grounds for concern
- When a mandated report must be made
- How mandated persons work with the DLP
School Leadership and Boards
Principals and Boards of Management hold overarching responsibility for ensuring:
- Policies are compliant
- Staff are trained
- Procedures are implemented consistently
- Safeguarding is embedded in school culture
All Staff
Every staff member, teaching and non-teaching, has a duty of care to learners. This includes:
- Knowing the signs of abuse
- Understanding reporting pathways
- Maintaining professional boundaries
- Contributing to a safe school environment
Building Understanding of the 2025 Procedures
The introduction of the 2025 Procedures marks the most substantial update to safeguarding practice in recent years. Much of my work this year has focused on helping schools understand:
- What has changed in the new procedures, and why these changes matter
- How roles and responsibilities—particularly for DLPs and Deputy DLPs—have evolved
- What implementation looks like in practice, from reporting pathways to record-keeping
- How child protection integrates with wider wellbeing and pastoral systems
Through workshops, cluster sessions, webinars, and in-school facilitation, staff have had opportunities to explore the procedures in depth, ask questions, and build confidence in applying them consistently.
Supporting Schools Through Implementation
Every school is at a different stage of readiness and at a different stage in the review process, but all will have their new Child Protection and Safeguarding statement and procedures in place for December 2026 or beforehand. For each school, this has involved:
- Policy review and alignment, ensuring each school’s Child Safeguarding Statement and Risk Assessment reflect the 2025 Procedures
- Strengthening reporting practices, including clarity on mandated reporting and internal escalation
- Developing staff confidence, particularly around recognising reasonable grounds for concern
- Embedding safeguarding into school culture, not just compliance
Many schools have also begun reviewing supervision practices, visitor management, digital safeguarding, and the role of student voice—areas that feature more prominently in the updated procedures.
Professional Learning and Capacity Building
A major focus this year has been ensuring that every adult working in our schools understands their safeguarding responsibilities. To support this, there have been various sessions and workshops facilitated by Oide and other statutory bodies for example:
- Whole-staff training sessions on the 2025 Procedures
- Specialised workshops for DLPs and Deputy DLPs
- Scenario-based learning, helps staff apply the procedures to real-world situations
- Collaborative sessions where schools shared challenges, solutions, and emerging best practices
The commitment shown by staff across the ETB has been exceptional. The willingness to engage deeply with safeguarding practice reflects a shared belief that child protection is everyone’s responsibility.
Strengthening Collaboration Across the ETB
One of the most rewarding aspects of this year has been seeing schools connect with one another. Through cluster meetings and cross-school discussions, we’ve built a stronger network of safeguarding leaders who can:
- Share expertise
- Troubleshoot challenges
- Support new DLPs
- Maintain consistency across the ETB
This collaborative approach will be essential as we move into the next phase of implementation.
Looking Ahead to December 2026
With the December 2026 deadline approaching, the coming year will focus on:
- Completing outstanding policy updates
- Ensuring all staff have received training aligned to the 2025 Procedures
- Embedding safeguarding into everyday practice
- Strengthening monitoring, review, and quality assurance
- Supporting schools through any remaining implementation challenges
The work done this year has laid a strong foundation. Schools are more informed, more confident, and more connected than ever in their safeguarding practice.
A Shared Commitment to Learner Safety
Child protection is not a one-off initiative – it is a continuous commitment to the wellbeing of every learner. I am deeply grateful to all the staff, leaders, and DLP teams who have engaged so openly and worked so hard throughout the year. Everyone’s dedication ensures that our ETB remains a place where children and young people are protected, supported, and empowered.