Safeguarding Bulletin - 2 September 2026

KCSiE 2026 and new laws and guidance related to child safeguarding

We’ve been poring over the final KCSiE 2026 Statutory Guidance and comparing this to last year’s KCSiE, the consultation and the draft, and we’ve set them out in a quick summary article.

The consultation proposed some major changes, updated in the draft and with only slight changes now to the final version. Unfortunately, it’s likely there will be another iteration once the information sharing guidance is published, perhaps at the end of the month. We of course will keep you up to speed with all the changes.

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Our explainer guide details the most significant recent laws and guidance relevant to child safeguarding including:

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

• Crime and Policing Act 2026

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026

• Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education (RSHE)

• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026

• Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework

• Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools

• School suspensions and permanent exclusions

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Supervision – a short explanation for DSLs

Supervision is a complicated word.

In education and training it often is perceived as something or someone who needs support or monitoring to be effective. It can have a slightly negative feel to it and a common misconception is that if you need to be supervised you are doing it wrong. This could not be further from the truth!

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Prevent, violence fixation and the children falling between services

Children referred to the Prevent programme, published in August 2026, examines the experiences of children referred to Prevent and highlights a significant change in those referrals.

This new report from the Children’s Commissioner for England raises some very difficult questions about what happens when professionals are seriously worried about a child but that child does not fit the service they are referred to..

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Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework 2026: summary of requirements

The Department for Education has published the 2026 Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, setting out requirements for learning, development, assessment, safeguarding and welfare in early years settings across England. The framework, which applies to both childminders and group and school-based providers, takes effect from 1 September 2026.

The NSPCC's CASPAR briefing focuses on the framework's safeguarding and welfare requirements, including safe recruitment, managing and understanding children's behaviour, promoting good health, and maintaining records, policies and procedures. Key updates for 2026 include guidance on sleeping arrangements, banned dog breeds, concerns about children's safety and welfare, suitable people, notifications to Ofsted or relevant agencies, and children's screen use.

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Benedict's Law is here - take the new e-learning available now

Benedict's Law is named in memory of Benedict Blythe, a five-year-old who died from anaphylaxis at school in 2021 after mistakenly being given milk he was known to be allergic to. Following his death, his family and allergy charities campaigned for change, and the government has now introduced new statutory guidance requiring every school to take consistent, demonstrable action on allergy safety.

Allergy safety is now a mandatory, whole-school responsibility and sits alongside existing safeguarding and health and safety duties. Everyone working in a school must be trained in allergy safety, it’s not just for first aiders or medical staff.

Safeguarding Network is partnering with Virtual College to offer a new e-learning module: Benedict's Law Training: Allergy Awareness in Schools. Members are entitled to 50% off the price.

• Find out more and take the training

So, did you have a good holiday?

The freedom of the summer break can be difficult for some pupils to navigate, for a variety of reasons.

As we prepare to welcome pupils back, it is worth remembering that opening the first form time with stories of fabulous holidays abroad or setting ice-breaking activities centred around your best holiday moment is not always the most inclusive way to start the academic year... Instead, why not schedule informal check-ins with pupils?

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