Legislation and Guidance
Each country within the UK has its own set of specific guidance that applies to schools and education providers. Often this specific safeguarding legislation is expected to work alongside other guidance and legislation.
In England, schools follow the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance to inform their safeguarding policies and procedures which is updated annually. There is also DfE produced Guidance for Independent Schools.
In Wales, schools follow Keeping Learners Safe in Education. This was last updated in 2021 and you can access our free handbook to manage these changes here.
In Scotland, schools must follow the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. Whereas in Northern Ireland the guidance is set out in Safeguarding and Child Protection in Schools.
For International Schools, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) offers a wealth of resources and advice. Those schools that are members of COBIS, BSME or other organisations should also refer to their respective safeguarding policies. The Council of International Schools (CoIS) and the International Task Force on Child Protection have an agreed set of standards for international schools to which ECIS, NEASC, COBIS and others have signed up to. CoIS also provides a recommended checklist for Safer Recruitment in international settings.
Other safeguarding and related legislation and advice:
- Working together to safeguard children
- Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition – download our free guide here
- Prevent duty guidance
- Safeguarding Children in Sport
- NSPCC - Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU)
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC)
- Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy Education Scotland
- Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland
- Safeguarding in faith communities (NSPCC advice)
- COBIS Safeguarding Policy
- British Schools in the Middle East (BSME) Safeguarding Policy
Best Practice and Safeguarding News
Our team of specialists continually monitor and share best practice about the latest trends in safeguarding and the effective use of MyConcern, Sentry, Confide and Clarity to support practitioners. We pride ourselves on being a trusted source of information and have extensive expertise in the field of safeguarding and child protection. As such, we always keep our finger on the pulse of safeguarding news and essential updates.
Within MyConcern you can also add guidance relevant to your organisation and your own local policies and procedure documents to make sure they are accessible to all staff and even track when these documents have been read.
Safeguarding Resources
We regularly create free resources which are made available online and we also make every effort to summarise larger documents into digestible, bite-sized information in the form of downloadable documents, checklists and blogs.
The requirements of relevant local legislation, statutory guidance, individual school policies and the safeguarding training provided by schools will always remain the definitive source of safeguarding guidance for users of our safeguarding products.
Our Resources
KCSIE 2021: Legislation and Guidance
Find information on all updates and changes to the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 Guidance.
Allegations against Staff, Low-Level Concerns and Reporting them
In this blog, we discuss examples of low-level concerns, the importance of reporting these concerns, a serious case review, and how it is vital establishments have secure systems in place to record and manage these concerns.
