Shropshire Safer Schools Award

Safer School Initiative

The Safer School initiative is a school security initiative that encompasses personal safety.

It was created by West Mercia Police and with the support of Shropshire Council, virtually all Shropshire schools are following the process.

The initiative is a practical and realistic risk management approach to the security/safety of school staff, pupils, property and the premises. Following the satisfactory completion of the process, schools receive the Safer School accreditation and this accreditation is reviewed every two years.

No two schools are the same and therefore, it is site specific to individual schools.

The process involves a Safer School meeting, with representatives of the school following a comprehensive package.

Safer School meetings are held annually and parents/carers are informed of progress through newsletters.

The essential elements of the package are as follows: -

• Implement basic security measures applicable at all schools i.e. property marking, and visitor passes etc.

• Consider pro-active security/safety measures for the site/building and/or protecting assets.

• Establish a procedure for recording incidents i.e. anti-social behaviour, vandalism etc.   Any recorded information can then be analysed. In addition, the same recording procedure can be used for surveying a problem i.e. an unauthorised thoroughfare.

• If there are any projects to be undertaken, they are prioritised. Following the implementation of a project, the success of it is reviewed.

• PSHE or education of pupils as per the Safer School pack. 

Please talk to a member of the Business Support Team if you wish to know more about the initiative. 

"It’s 14 years since Market Drayton Infant School became an accredited ‘Safer School’ and as part of a regular review, Mrs Simmons recently held a Safer School meeting. As previously, I was particularly impressed by the hard work of the school in preparation for this review meeting. It illustrated the school’s strong commitment to both the initiative and security/safety/safeguarding.

Involving parents/carers and pupils is an important aspect of the initiative and this was demonstrated by two recent Safer School surveys. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with reassuring compliments about the school by parents/carers and pupils.

At the meeting, we reviewed security/safety, reflected on any issues/concerns and planned for the future. It was also reassuring to hear that there had been no recorded incidents of security on the school site in the past 12 months.  Excellent news. 

An updated Safer School certificate was presented to the school in recognition of the school’s responsible approach to security, safety and safeguarding – Congratulations! A future meeting is planned for Summer 2025".

Ian Bartlett | Safer Schools | Shropshire Council