Setting up safeguarding routing.
A five-minute setup that runs 24/7 alongside your KCSIE procedures.
Set your DSL email
Portal → Settings → Safeguarding. Enter the email address of your Designated Safeguarding Lead. This is the address that receives real-time alerts when the safeguarding classifier fires. Use a shared inbox if you have a safeguarding team rotation.
How the short-circuit works
Every visitor message is checked by a keyword + content-moderation classifier. If it matches a safeguarding signal (self-harm, abuse, bullying, mental-health distress, neglect, peer-on-peer harm) the message is intercepted before reaching the language model.
What happens next:
- The visitor sees a canned response with your DSL contact, Childline (0800 1111) and NSPCC (0808 800 5000). They are told their message has been passed to a real person.
- Your DSL receives an immediate email with the verbatim conversation, timestamp and language.
- The alert email is your record - file it under your existing safeguarding procedures.
What the email looks like
Subject: [SAFEGUARDING] Flagged chat on [Your School] School Assistant. Body includes: school, timestamp, language detected and the verbatim flagged message.
If the DSL is out of office
Use a shared inbox or distribution list as the DSL address so cover is built in. The classifier only sends the alert; it’s your responsibility to ensure that inbox is monitored.
Your record is the email
The alert lands in the inbox you chose, in real time - that email is your record, retained under your school’s own safeguarding procedures alongside everything else in that inbox. Routed conversations also stay visible in the portal’s chat logs for 30 days, labelled “routed to your safeguarding contact”, so office staff have context.
Tuning sensitivity
The default classifier sensitivity is set to err on the side of escalation. If you find specific phrases over-trigger (rare), email info@schoolassistant.co.uk with examples and we’ll tune the rules for your school without weakening the wider net.
What this isn’t
It isn’t a replacement for your KCSIE policy, your safeguarding training, or your CPOMS/MyConcern system. It’s a 24/7 safety net so safeguarding-flavoured disclosures from your website don’t get answered by an AI.