Designated Safeguarding Lead (m/f/d)

St. George’s the British International School, Cologne, Germany.

St. George’s School seeks an experienced Designated Safeguarding Lead to work across our Primary and Secondary school, starting in August 2025. **This role requires fluency in German. **

The School

Serving the international community in Cologne for almost 40 years, St. George’s School combines an enriching curriculum with family orientated care. The school has grown from small beginnings into a thriving community of over 850 pupils, aged from 2-18 and representing over 50 nationalities.

The National Curriculum is taught throughout the school, and we offer the IB Diploma in our Sixth form.

One of a group of three schools located across Germany, St. George’s offers the successful applicant an exciting range of opportunities for professional development and growth across the school group.

The Location

Located on a new, purpose built campus on the outskirts of Cologne, St. George’s School enjoys direct transport links to the city centre, as well as to the greater area of Cologne-Bonn.

Germany’s fourth largest city, Cologne is a dynamic and vibrant cultural centre, with a large and diverse international community. Situated in the heart of Europe, Cologne offers a high standard of living, as well as numerous opportunities for travel and cultural discovery.

Cologne-Bonn airport is located only 20km from the school, with many daily flights to the UK, and a high speed rail service connects Cologne to London, via Brussels.

The Role

The DSL ensures that safeguarding remains a central priority in the school’s culture, daily operations and strategic planning.

The DSL provides strategic leadership in safeguarding, ensuring that all staff understand their responsibilities and are trained to identify, respond to and report child protection concerns. They ensure the effective implementation of safeguarding policies, aligning them with statutory requirements, international best practices and the school’s internal protocols. The DSL leads a safeguarding team, coordinating with Deputy DSLs (DDSLs), the school counsellors and other key personnel to ensure that safeguarding responsibilities are consistently fulfilled across all areas of school life.

The DSL works in close collaboration with the School Director and other members of the schools senior leadership team to ensure that safeguarding remains a high priority at all levels of operations and governance.

The DSL is responsible for managing safeguarding concerns within the school, ensuring that disclosures, allegations and welfare concerns are handled sensitively and in accordance with established procedures. They oversee the process of reporting concerns to external agencies, including local authorities, social services and law enforcement, ensuring that students receive the appropriate support and protection. It is for this reason that fluency in German language is a prerequisite for this position

To maintain the highest standards of safeguarding compliance, the DSL ensures that accurate, confidential records of all safeguarding concerns, interventions, and outcomes are maintained. They monitor safeguarding trends within the school, using this data to inform practice reviews and to implement targeted interventions aimed at improving student safety and wellbeing.

In addition to leading training sessions, the DSL provides ongoing support and guidance to staff, acting as a source of advice for safeguarding-related issues. They also facilitate discussions on best practices, ensuring that safeguarding remains at the forefront of professional learning and school development.

Please download our application pack for detailed information.

Only applications made through the TES online portal will be considered.

We require additional information for your application, please upload the following via the supporting documents link:

•  A copy of your degree certificate and teaching qualification.
• The name and contact details for your current or most recent Headteacher

All applicants should hold a valid teaching qualification. We consider a degree in education (e.g. B.Ed./M.Ed./Lehramt), or postgraduate teaching certificate (e.g. PGCE) as valid. English language teaching certificates (e.g. TEFL/IELTS/CELTA) are not sufficient.

Applications should be submitted by the closing date of Sunday 29th of June. The school reserves the right to contact outstanding applicants in advance of this deadline.

St. George’s is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. The successful applicant will therefore be subject to enhanced background checks.

With the new EU General Data Protection Regulation, we are legally obliged to provide you with information regarding how the school, as your potential employer, handles your data. This information is here.

For any inquiries relating to this role, please do not hesitate to contact us directly:

Mr Christopher Fraser-Lewis

Head of Recruitment

E-mail: recruitment@stgeorgesschool.com

Tel: 0049 2233 808870