. This role does not offer sponsorship.
As part of our ongoing growth, The Holden School, part of Acorn Education, is seeking an experienced and dedicated Designated Safeguarding Lead and Family Liaison Officer to join our supportive and committed team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in safeguarding pupils and strengthening family engagement within a nurturing school environment.
About the Role
The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) / Family Liaison Officer plays a vital role in ensuring the safety, wellbeing, and protection of all pupils, while building strong, trusting relationships with families who require additional support. This role combines strategic leadership of safeguarding and child protection with hands-on family engagement and effective multi-agency working.
You will lead safeguarding practice across the school, ensuring statutory responsibilities are met, staff are supported, and concerns are responded to promptly and appropriately. Alongside this, you will act as a key point of contact for vulnerable families, coordinating early help, signposting services, and working closely with external agencies to improve outcomes for children.
Key Responsibilities
1. Lead and oversee all safeguarding and child protection activity across the school, including managing referrals, maintaining accurate and confidential records, and ensuring compliance with statutory guidance and school policy
2. Provide advice, guidance, and support to staff on safeguarding matters, including contributing to training, supporting referrals, and leading on complex casework
3. Line manage safeguarding deputies while retaining overall accountability for safeguarding practice and decision-making
4. Act as a key point of contact for families requiring additional support, building positive, professional relationships and promoting engagement with the school
5. Coordinate early help and family support, including signposting and referring to appropriate services, carrying out home visits where appropriate, and attending multi-agency meetings
6. Work collaboratively with senior leaders, staff, and external agencies to ensure safeguarding and family support are embedded across all aspects of school life
This role is suited to a highly organised, resilient, and compassionate professional with a strong understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and a commitment to supporting families to overcome barriers and improve outcomes for children.
About Us
The Holden School is an independent specialist day school for boys and girls aged from 5 to 16, catering for pupils with a wide range of needs in Lancashire, Manchester and surrounding areas. Our dedicated team work together to ensure successful outcomes for pupils who often arrive at the school with a troubled view of education and life. We are a Therapeutic Led, Trauma Informed School providing individualised curriculums for our students supported by our Class Teams, our Pastoral Team and our own Therapists.
We pride ourselves in steering pupils in the right direction, nurturing aspiration to progress them academically and socially, to encourage them to take pride in their achievements. Socially, we build confidence in our students, so they are able to have a greater understanding of the wider community in which they live.
We are part of Acorn Educationand can offer plenty of challenges along with a wide range of opportunities to develop your career. Acorn Education is the UK’s leading provider of specialist education for children and young people with special educational needs. As part of Outcomes First Group, we are leading our sector in creating and delivering innovative approaches that achieve measurable outcomes for those in our care.
We are really proud to say that in 2025, Outcomes First Group were officially certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’ for the sixth year running.
Why join Acorn Education?
We place the outcomes of the pupils and vulnerable young adults in our services at the heart of everything we do, so you’ll wake every day in the knowledge that your role will have a significant positive impact on the lives of others.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and young people. All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful applicants to a fully enhanced DBS.
Benefits
Your health and wellbeing are important to us, so you’ll get an exceptional reward package including:
7. Life Assurance
8. Pension scheme with options to increase your contributions
9. “Your Wellbeing Matters” – access to a wide range of first-class mental health support services and physical health checks
And a market-leading benefit offering through our Flexible Benefits Platform, Vista, enables you to choose the package that’s right for you, including:
10. A wide range of health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits
11. 100’s of discount options valid in the UK and abroad
12. Cycle to Work Schemes
13. Electric Car Purchase Scheme
14. Critical illness cover
15. Family Growth Support - inclusive benefits package covering enhanced maternity and paternity leave, along with paid fertility treatment support.
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.
*You’ll work 80% of your contractual hours for 100% of your pay, giving you more time to do the things that make you happy. 4DWW is subject to successful completion of probation and is not a contractual benefit
Outcomes First Group is committed to carrying out a fair, thorough and efficient recruitment process in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. Whilst we aim to keep applicants informed throughout, Outcomes First Group does not accept liability for any loss of earnings or other associated costs incurred by applicants as a result of delays or changes in the compliance process. All stages of the compliance process are subject to necessary safeguarding checks and compliance with statutory requirements, which may affect timescales.
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