Safeguarding and Child Protection
Safeguarding.sa
Supporting safeguarding leadership, professional development, awareness and institutional capability.
Visit Safeguarding.sa (opens in a new tab)Founder
Sajid Khan FCCT
Founder, Safeguarding.sa | Founder & Group CEO, Elite Group
About Sajid Khan
Sajid Khan FCCT is a British education leader, safeguarding practitioner and Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
He is the Founder & Group CEO of Elite Group and Founder of Safeguarding.sa, an initiative established to strengthen safeguarding and child protection capability within the Saudi context.
His professional experience includes educational leadership, pastoral leadership and safeguarding and child protection responsibility, including experience as a Designated Safeguarding Lead.
His work brings together safeguarding leadership, child protection, professional learning, technology, wellbeing and institutional capability, with a focus on strengthening the environments surrounding children and young people.
Why Safeguarding.sa Was Created
Safeguarding.sa was created around a fundamental principle:
Every Child Deserves to Feel Safe.
Saudi Arabia’s continued development across education, sport, youth participation and human capability is creating significant opportunities for children and young people.
Alongside those opportunities comes responsibility.
Schools, sports organisations, youth programmes and other child-serving institutions need leaders and professionals who understand safeguarding, recognise concerns and have the confidence and systems to respond appropriately.
Safeguarding.sa was created to contribute to that capability.
The approach is intentionally contextualised for Saudi Arabia and informed by the Kingdom’s child protection framework.
The objective is not simply to introduce another safeguarding course.
It is to help safeguarding become part of leadership, professional practice and organisational culture.
The Mission
Sajid’s mission is to contribute to stronger safeguarding and child protection capability across Saudi Arabia.
The long-term ambition is for safeguarding to become an established part of organisational leadership and everyday professional practice wherever adults have responsibility for children and young people.
The work extends across:
- Education
- Sport
- Football
- Youth
- Community
- Other Child-Serving Environments
From Awareness to Understanding.From Policy to Implementation.From Training to Professional Capability.From Compliance to Culture.
The focus is on strengthening the leadership, knowledge, systems, professional judgement and culture that help organisations prevent harm, recognise concerns and respond appropriately when children need protection.
Taking Safeguarding Into Sport
Safeguarding Should Follow the Child
Children do not only need safeguarding when they are at school.
They need safe environments wherever they learn, participate, compete, develop and belong.
That includes football clubs, sports academies, federations, youth centres, camps, recreational activities and community programmes.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia was created as the dedicated sport and youth safeguarding initiative of Safeguarding.sa.
Its purpose is to extend safeguarding and child protection capability across the environments in which children participate, compete and develop.
- From the Classroom.
- To the Football Pitch.
- To the Sports Academy.
- To the Youth Centre.
- To the Community.
Wherever children participate, safeguarding matters.
A Connected Safeguarding and Wellbeing Ecosystem
The wider mission is being developed through a connected group of Saudi-focused platforms.
Sport and Youth Safeguarding
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia
Extending safeguarding and child protection capability into sport, football, academies, clubs and youth environments.
Explore Safeguarding SportMental Health and Wellbeing
MentalHealth.sa
Supporting mental health and wellbeing awareness and healthier institutional environments.
Visit MentalHealth.sa (opens in a new tab)Professional Focus
Safeguarding Leadership
Developing the capability of leaders responsible for creating and sustaining safer organisations.
Child Protection
Strengthening understanding and practical implementation of child protection responsibilities.
Saudi Contextualisation
Developing safeguarding approaches that reflect the legal, cultural and institutional environment of Saudi Arabia rather than simply importing another country’s safeguarding model.
Education
Supporting schools, educators, leaders and institutions responsible for children and young people.
Sport and Youth
Extending safeguarding capability into football, sports clubs, academies, youth programmes and recreational environments.
Professional Learning
Developing practical professional development that strengthens professional judgement, confidence and implementation.
Technology and Scenario-Based Learning
Using contextualised scenarios and technology to help professionals strengthen safeguarding decision-making through realistic situations.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Recognising the connection between safeguarding, emotional wellbeing and healthier organisational cultures.
Building for the Future
Safer Environments.Stronger Organisations.Better Protection for Children.
The ambition behind Safeguarding.sa is long term.
It is to contribute to stronger safeguarding capability across the environments responsible for children and young people throughout Saudi Arabia.
The aim is to support organisations in moving beyond safeguarding as a policy or one-off training requirement and towards safeguarding as an established part of leadership, professional practice and organisational culture.