We can't wrap our children in cotton wool - but the authorities do their best to wrap them in protective paperwork.
Today's report from the school inspectorate Ofsted paints a shocking picture of confusion where "Everybody thinks that somebody else is doing this or it is somebody else's job".
But, as the full report, Safeguarding Children, makes clear the inspectors believe that most schools are checking on their staff - it's just that they don't have the paperwork to prove it.
"While it is highly likely that checks have been made, schools which do not have robust record-keeping in place cannot demonstrate that the safeguarding of children is secure," states the report.
This has certainly been the Ofsted approach to schools for years: never mind the lesson, is the lesson plan properly filled in and filed? It's what has driven so many teachers to despair - and driven so many out of the profession.
Of course protecting children from paedophiles is more serious than lesson plans, but Ofsted seems to make no allowance for the cumbersome system of checks schools are supposed to use. Criminal Records Bureau checks take so long that you've lost a term's teaching by the time you can get someone into the classroom.
And surely headteachers are right to expect that a supply teacher will have been checked by the supply agency and not have to duplicate the paperwork - the agencies should be the government's target and, to be fair, ministers are proposing to make it a criminal offcence to send unchecked teachers to schools.
Ofsted concedes: "Checks on staff alone will not prevent harm coming to children. Indeed, as we know from recent findings, the checking process itself is not foolproof."
But the report argues: "However, checks on staff who work directly with children are part of the landscape of safe practices to ensure that children are kept safe."
But the over-reliance on paperwork may well distract schools from their job of looking out for children. Awareness and sensitivity to the behaviour of children and the adults around them are just as important as paperwork. Children are, after all, more likely to be abused by family members than their teachers.
