Peer-reviewed article
Broader Concepts of Safeguarding: To Teach, Nurture, Care and Protect
Peter D. Sidebotham ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines how Irish primary schools integrate care, nurture and protection into their day-to-day work with children, based on qualitative interviews in 16 schools. Teachers see their role as extending beyond education to include caring for pupils' wellbeing, particularly in disadvantaged and special schools. The study finds that while this care culture contributes significantly to child safety, it remains largely invisible to statutory child protection agencies and is not formally recognized in teacher training, remuneration or inspection frameworks.
Key points
- Schools designated as disadvantaged and special schools showed the strongest emphasis on care, including providing meals, running before and after school activities, and parent support programmes
- Teachers reported strong consensus that school ethos was fundamentally one of caring and that attending to pupils' needs was the priority
- This informal care and protection work falls outside the statutory interagency child protection framework and is not recognized by the Child and Family Agency
- Care practices are neither remunerated, allocated specific time, recognized in training, nor subject to inspection
- The paper raises questions about the sustainability and appropriateness of schools providing care and nurture without formal recognition or resources
Limitations
This is a qualitative study based on teacher interviews in Irish schools only, so findings may not generalize to other countries or educational systems. The document excerpt does not provide detailed findings on outcomes or effectiveness of these care practices for child protection.
Abstract
Cultures of CareThe primary role of a teacher is to teach: to educate, impart knowledge and facilitate learning.It is what teachers are trained to do, and what they do best.And yet, the teachers who tend to stand out are those who see their role as something more than just to teach, but to nurture, care and protect those in their charge.This is the theme picked up in the first paper in this issue of Child Abuse Review.In a qualitative study based in 16 primary schools in Ireland, Margaret Nohilly (2019) explores the care practices and systems that support child protection work in the schools.Ireland differs from the UK in that all teachers (along with other professionals) are mandated to report child abuse, above a defined threshold, which comes to their attention in the course of their professional or employment duties.One of the most consistent findings from their interviews was a consensus 'that the ethos of a school, by its very nature, was one of caring and that attending to the pupils' needs was the priority' (p.267).This emphasis on nurture, care and protection was most prominent in those schools designated as disadvantaged and a special school, and it included providing meals, addressing other care needs, running before and after school activities, and programmes to support parents.This ethos of care seemed to permeate all areas of school life and was felt to contribute in a significant way to pupil safety and protection.And yet, these elements of nurture, care and protection appeared to fall outside the statutory interagency framework of child protection to the extent that it was perceived that the Child and Family Agency was not aware of the care practices established at the school level.This carries some important implications for the value and validity of such care, and raises some important questions for schools.First, to what extent should this aspect of the teaching role be recognised?If this forms a major part of a teacher's role, and yet is neither remunerated nor allocated time, and is not recognised in training, supervision or inspection, how sustainable is it?Second, should such work be subject to inspection as are other aspects of the teaching and management of schools?If it were, what implications would that have for the quality or spontaneity of the care provided?Would it enhance or stifle these elements of a school's ethos?Third, is the provision of care and nurture within a school setting always the most appropriate response to a child in need?Does such an approach merely provide a sticking plaster, patching over the problems and not