Safeguard-Me Blog

Totally Un-Boring Ways to Share Your DSL Year-in-Review

2025-12-02 11:54
You've spent all year writing serious things: incident logs, chronology notes, risk assessments, reports to governors. Important? Yes. Festive? Absolutely not.
So when it comes to sharing your year-in-review as a Safeguarding Lead, let's agree on one thing:
This does not have to look like another safeguarding report. It's Christmas. You're allowed to have some fun.
Below are creative, light-hearted (but still professional) ways to present your safeguarding achievements from the last 12 months. Pick one, mix a few, or use them as a springboard for your own ideas.

1. The Safeguarding Advent Calendar

Create a 24-day (or 12-day) advent calendar of achievements.
  • Each door (slide, post-it, envelope, email, Teams message) reveals one success from the year.
  • Mix big wins (new policy launched, successful multi-agency work) with quiet victories (a pupil finally feeling safe enough to talk, a staff member growing in confidence).
  • Share one door a day with SLT, staff or your safeguarding team throughout December.
You can do this:
  • On a physical display board with numbered envelopes.
  • As a PowerPoint with one slide per door.
  • In your staff WhatsApp/Teams channel with a daily Safeguarding Advent message.

2. The 12 Days of Safeguarding Song

Play with these lyrics we've written for The 12 Days of Christmas with your safeguarding stats and wins.
On the first day of Christmas, our DSL gave to me...
A culture where it’s safe to speak freely....
  • Two trusted adults
  • Three routes to reporting
  • Four formal reports
  • FIVE DBS checks.....
  • Six policy updates
  • Seven staff first aid trained
  • Eight risk assessments
  • Nine records logged
  • Ten safe online rules
  • Eleven early interventions
  • Twelve Safeguard-Me passports...
Perform it (if you're brave) at a staff briefing or if not print the lyrics as a fun handout. For the really adventurous - Turn it into a short video with slides and background music. Chris East from Cornerstone Safeguarding likes to 'tread the boards', we can see him giving this a go...
Silly? Yes. Memorable? Definitely.

3. The Safeguarding Christmas Tree

Create a visual Christmas tree of achievements.
  • The trunk: your core safeguarding purpose.
  • The branches: key areas (training, pupil voice, early help, partnerships, systems, culture).
  • The baubles: individual achievements, written on coloured circles. Get staff to add their own special moments.
You can:
  • Build it on a staffroom wall or corridor display.
  • Use a digital whiteboard (Miro, Jamboard, PowerPoint) and share it in a meeting.

4. Safeguarding Year in Numbers Infographic

Turn your year into a bright, visual infographic instead of a dense report.
Include:
  • Number of concerns logged.
  • Number of early interventions.
  • Number of staff trained.
  • Number of multi-agency meetings attended.
  • Number of new/updated policies.
  • Number of pupils/families supported.
Add a Behind Every Number section with one or two short anonymised stories that show the human impact.
Use simple icons, colours and minimal text. This can sit on one page and be shared with SLT, governors or staff.

5. The Storybook of Success

Create a short, illustrated story of your safeguarding year.
  • Once upon a time, in a very busy school, there was a DSL who...
  • Each chapter is a key theme: The Year We Got Serious About Online Safety, The Year Staff Started Reporting Earlier, The Year We Listened More to Pupils.
You can:
  • Keep it to 4 or 5 pages, big fonts, simple language.
  • Add doodles, icons or clipart.
  • Share it as a PDF or print a few copies for your safeguarding folder.
It's still professional, but it feels more human and accessible.

6. The Safeguarding Oscars

Host a light-hearted Safeguarding Awards session.
Create fun, appreciative categories, such as:
  • Fastest Form Filler for the colleague who always logs concerns promptly.
  • Early Intervention Hero for the staff member who spots things early.
  • Calm in a Crisis for the person who stays steady when things get intense.
  • Voice of the Child Champion for someone who always brings it back to the pupil.
You can:
  • Give out printed certificates or silly trophies (chocolate coins, mini crackers, paper crowns).
  • Include a short, anonymised story with each award to highlight the impact.

7. The Safeguarding Tube Map

Turn your year into a London Underground-style map.
  • Each line represents a strand of safeguarding work (e.g.Early Help Line, Training Line, Online Safety Line, Policy Line).
  • Each station is a milestone or achievement.
For example:
  • Policy Line: New Policy Draft - Consultation - Training - Embedded Practice.
  • Pupil Voice Line: Survey - Focus Groups- New Worry Box -Assemblies - Feedback.
Its quirky, visual and a great conversation starter.

8. The Festive Safeguarding Quiz of the Year

Run a safeguarding quiz based on your year - Message us, we're happy to build this for you for free as we've built a number of quizzes already.
Include rounds like:
  • Guess the Number: How many safeguarding concerns were logged this year?
  • True or False: We introduced three new ways for pupils to ask for help.
  • Spot the Change: Which of these policies did we update this year?
  • What Would You Do?: Short scenarios based on themes you've actually seen.
Use it in a staff meeting with prizes (mince pies, chocolate, silly hats). You're reinforcing learning while celebrating progress.

9. TheGratitude Garland

Create a paper chain or garland where each link is a note of gratitude or success.
  • You start it with a few examples: Grateful for staff who report early, Proud of our new induction process.
  • Invite staff to add their own links: things they're proud of, moments where safeguarding worked well.
Hang it in the staffroom or corridor as a visual reminder of the years positive impact.

10. The Before and After Gallery

Show how far you've come by creating a Then vs Now gallery.
  • Then: Paper forms, inconsistent recording, low confidence.
  • Now: Clear processes, digital systems, confident staff.
Use photos (where appropriate), screenshots (with data removed), and short captions.
This works brilliantly in a slide deck or on a display board.

11. The DSL Thank You Wall

Not everything has to be about data.
Create a Thank You Wall for safeguarding.
  • You write thank you notes to colleagues: Thank you for always picking up the phone to parents,Thank you for trusting your instincts.
  • Invite colleagues to add thank yous to each other.
This quietly reinforces the message that safeguarding is a whole-school effort, not just the DSLs job.

12. TheSafeguarding Podcast (Mini Edition)

Record a short audio reflection (3-6 minutes) instead of writing another report.
  • Talk through your key achievements, patterns you've noticed and what you're proud of.
  • Add a positive, hopeful tone: what's better now than it was 12 months ago?
Share the audio with SLT or governors as an optional extra alongside any formal paperwork.

13. The One Page, Many Colours Poster

Create a single-page poster with coloured sections:
  • Green: What went well.
  • Amber: What we're still working on.
  • Blue: What we're proud of.
  • Purple: What we're trying next year.
Keep text short and punchy. This can sit in your safeguarding file, on your office wall or in your next SLT pack.

14. The Letter to My Future Self

Write a letter from December You to Next December You.
Include:
  • What you're proud of this year.
  • What you want to remember when things get tough.
  • What you hope will be different or easier next year.
Seal it (physically or digitally) and set a reminder to open it next December. This is just for you but its a powerful way to honour your work.

15. The Safeguarding Escape Room (Lite Version)

Design a mini escape-room style challenge for staff.
  • Eachpuzzle is based on a safeguarding achievement or learning point from the year.
  • For example: decode a message that reveals a new reporting route; match scenarios to the right response; find the clue hidden in a policy extract.
It's playful, but it reinforces key messages and shows how far your systems have come.
None of these ideas replace your formal safeguarding duties or reporting. But they do something just as important:
  • They honour the emotional and practical work you've done this year.
  • They make safeguarding visible, human and hopeful.
  • They give you and your colleagues permission to celebrate progress, not just survive the pressure.
This Christmas, your safeguarding year-in-review doesn't have to be another dry document that nobody reads. It can be creative, memorable and even a little bit joyful while still respecting the seriousness of the work.
You've done a lot this year. However you choose to present it, make sure you actually see it.