Safeguarding Bulletin - 3 September 2025

Online safety and social media

Almost eight years after the death of Molly Russell, the Molly Rose Foundation has published new research on social media algorithms and young people’s exposure to harmful content online - algorithms continue to recommend suicide, self-harm and depression content at scale. Findings include:

• Almost all of the recommended videos watched on Instagram Reels (97%) and TikTok (96%) were found to be harmful: bombarding teens with harmful content in a similar way to what happened to Molly.

• Over half (55%) of recommended harmful posts on TikTok’s For You Page actively contained references to suicide and self-harm ideation and 16% referenced suicide methods: recommended videos included posts that promoted and glorified suicide, referenced suicide methods and normalised intense feelings of misery and despair.

• Harmful content is achieving deeply disturbing levels of reach: one in ten harmful videos on TikTok’s For You Page had been liked at least a million times, and on Instagram Reels one in five harmful recommended videos had been liked more than 250,000 times.

• New high-risk features on TikTok’s For You Page make it even more likely teenagers can discover rabbit holes in a single click: for example, new AI generated search prompts shown alongside recommended content even introduced researchers to new suicide methods.

Read the report here.

Countdown to Youth Martyn’s Law for education settings

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 became law on 3 April 2025. Commonly known as Martyn’s Law, it is named in honour of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack. Martyn’s mother, Figen Murray, campaigned over many years for a new law to better protect the public in the event of a terror attack.

The act will make individuals working at premises and events responsible for minimising the impact of a terrorist attack – this includes all types of education settings.

Find out what education settings need to know.

Non-school alternative provision

Alongside KCSiE 2025 the DfE have released voluntary national standards for non-school alternative provision (formerly known as unregistered alternative provision). The government are looking to build on the current AP guidance and well-established approved lists and quality assurance frameworks already in place in many areas. The standards are written for local authorities, providers, schools and, interestingly, parents who might use non-school AP to supplement elective home education.

Our article details what DSLs should ensure their arrangements for commissioning non-school AP cover and other responsibilities, read it here.

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework 2025 published

The Department for Education's (DfE) latest version of the Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework for England has now come into force (effective from 1st September 2025). The EYFS framework:

• Sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure children learn and develop well.

• Ensures children are kept healthy and safe.

• Ensures children have the knowledge and skills they need to start school.

Read the document.

KCSiE 2025 published

There are only limited updates in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025, with few differences from the draft version released in July. To support both members and non-members, we’ve reviewed the final guidance and created a downloadable summary of the changes, helping you ensure your staff and policies are aligned as the new school year begins.

Find out more and download the document.