After a school has acted on a self-harm concern through its immediate safeguarding and health procedures, the DSL should keep the follow-up accountable: a factual source, the agreed school action, an owner, evidence of delivery and a review point. Read attendance or SEND context only where authorised and relevant to that action. Connected records can clarify whether support reached the pupil; they can't assess clinical safety. Don't wait for a dashboard, a completed record or a review meeting before taking urgent action.
This annotated follow-up record is for DSLs, deputies and relevant SENCos in England. It concerns school-owned work after the immediate response, without suggesting that the concern is resolved. If there is immediate danger, contact emergency services. Follow the school's safeguarding policy and relevant local safeguarding partnership, children's social care and health routes whenever action is needed.
Agree the school's responsibility before opening more records
Keeping children safe in education 2026 is England statutory guidance, in force from 1 September 2026. Paragraphs 47 to 50 distinguish recognising concerns from diagnosis and direct staff with a mental-health concern that is also a safeguarding concern to the child protection policy and DSL or deputy. Only appropriately trained professionals should attempt a mental-health diagnosis. A school record doesn't establish one.
NICE guideline NG225, recommendations 1.8.3 to 1.8.7, addresses educational settings. It recommends policies, a designated lead, staff support and advice from mental-health professionals when developing a school support plan with the student and family or carers as appropriate. NICE recommendations inform professional judgement; they aren't a statutory school checklist. The designated lead for this work and the DSL may have different roles. Record who owns each responsibility under your arrangements.
Establish the agreed school action and where its instructions are held. Don't create clinical instructions from attendance, behaviour or SEND data. A SENCo can help make an agreed school arrangement accessible within their role. SEND status, disability or a behaviour entry must never become a proxy for harm, intent or parental capacity.
Keep this record beside its authorised source
Use the following fields inside the approved restricted workflow. Keep the concern narrative in its source record. Access to an ordinary pupil profile doesn't grant access to safeguarding or health information. Even a reference, label or the existence of a restricted record must stay hidden from an unauthorised reader. Where another adult needs an instruction, share the minimum necessary information through the school's approved route, with an accountable sharing decision.
- Source and factual starting point
- Record the authorised source reference, event and recording dates, and the reporting role. Preserve what was observed or reported and by whom. Separate later information and professional interpretation. The disclosure recording guide covers the underlying factual record; this follow-up doesn't replace it.
- Agreed school action and boundaries
- State the specific school responsibility, the approved plan or instruction it comes from and who authorised it. Identify the locally governed clinical or safeguarding route for questions beyond the school's role. Don't infer a referral threshold or change an external care plan through this record.
- Owner, cover and intended review
- Identify the responsible staff member, cover arrangement and agreed review point. Confirm that the receiving person understands the task and can access what their role requires. Choose timing through the individual plan and local procedure; this article sets no clinical interval. New concerns require action when they arise.
- Delivery evidence, missingness and the pupil's account
- Distinguish an action assigned, contact attempted, support offered and support confirmed as received. Retain source and date. Record a missing entry as unknown until checked. Ask whether the arrangement was accessible and what the pupil says about it, using their communication needs. A tick doesn't establish benefit or safety.
- Review decision and next responsibility
- Record what was learned, remaining uncertainty, the authorised decision and who now acts. Link the evidence and any approved communication. Completion of one school task doesn't close a safeguarding concern or demonstrate clinical recovery. Keep those decisions in their proper professional and source-record workflows.
Read one invented follow-up through to its review
This short example is entirely invented; it describes no pupil, school or customer. After the immediate response to a reported self-harm concern, a DSL records an agreed school check-in with a trusted adult. The restricted source holds the concern and response. Here we examine only whether that school arrangement reached the pupil.
School action: offer the agreed check-in through the approved support arrangement. Owner: pastoral lead, with deputy cover. First signal at review: the expected delivery entry is missing. Status: delivery unknown. DSL to check the underlying record and ask the responsible adult; follow-up remains open.
The DSL's authorised review finds an attendance entry showing arrival later than the planned check-in. The SENCo confirms that an existing communication adjustment specifies how to offer a conversation accessibly. These records change the question: was the check-in offered at a time the pupil could attend, using the agreed communication approach? Neither record explains the self-harm concern or shows that the pupil is safe.
The pastoral lead checks the delivery gap and follows the approved arrangement for offering support. The DSL records the outcome, the pupil's account where available, any authorised change and the next review point under the local procedure. If a new concern emerges, staff use the safeguarding and health routes immediately. They don't postpone that response while resolving the missing entry.
If delivery is later confirmed, correct the follow-up with the source and correction date. If it remains unknown, retain the gap and the responsible person's next action. Improved attendance, a quiet lesson or a completed task cannot establish recovery, exclude harm or determine a referral. The child and family voice review explains how to retain an attributed account without treating it as the whole answer.
Keep sharing, professional advice and open questions owned
DfE's mental health and behaviour advice supports clear school systems and links with experienced professionals. Its attendance and mental-health guidance addresses support where mental health affects attendance. Use attendance to ask about access to an agreed arrangement; don't use it to assess clinical need.
Working together to safeguard children 2026 sets the England multi-agency framework. DfE's September 2026 Information Sharing Duty statutory guidance replaces the older advice at that publication page. Use its requirements alongside local arrangements and data-protection duties. Necessary safeguarding sharing still needs an appropriate basis, proportionate information, secure handling and an accountable record. Parent or carer involvement follows the pupil's circumstances and safeguarding advice; don't send an automatic notification from this template.
When advice or a partner response leaves a concern unresolved, retain the question, owner and local escalation route. The professional challenge record addresses that separate task. A sent message isn't evidence of a response or action.
Student Radar Safeguard supports concern recording, case management and chronology for authorised staff. Schools can inspect the permitted source records when reviewing follow-up. The record above is a school recording model, not a claim that a self-harm template is built into the product. Software can't diagnose, assess clinical safety, determine harm or statutory thresholds, or make an autonomous referral. Review Safeguard against your access and recording requirements. Before using any follow-up record, check that another authorised adult can identify the source, responsibility, unresolved evidence and next review without seeking restricted details in general pupil records.
Sources and further reading
- DfE, Keeping children safe in education 2026: statutory guidance for England, in force 1 September 2026; paragraphs 47 to 50 and 226 to 232.
- NICE, Self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence, NG225: guideline published 7 September 2022; educational-setting recommendations 1.8.3 to 1.8.7, checked in the official PDF on 14 October 2026.
- DfE, Mental health and behaviour in schools: non-statutory advice, updated 12 November 2018.
- DfE, Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: non-statutory guidance, published 7 February 2023.
- DfE, Working together to safeguard children 2026: statutory guidance for England, published 18 March 2026.
- DfE, Information Sharing Duty: statutory guidance, September 2026; publication page updated 10 September 2026, describing commencement on 30 September 2026.