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Whole-school safeguarding training

September 2025

This training’s aim is to provide a basic overview and for many of you a refresher. By its very nature there will be things that you have covered before, however it is important that we revisit these regularly to ensure that your knowledge remains fresh and up to date as it is a key part of our roles.

Remind staff that safeguarding training covers difficult and emotive subjects. We may discuss sensitive subject matter that must remain confidential. You may hear things in the training today that are difficult, or that resonate with your own experiences.

In order to engage successfully with this training, it is important that we agree to:

• Listen carefully and sensitively to one another

• Engage fully with the discussion tasks and scenarios

• Challenge and disagree with others respectfully

• Avoid using the names of children or adults that we work with outside of the session

• Maintain confidentiality

• Avoid complicated terminology or jargon

• Take time out if necessary

• Ask questions

Remind staff that who they should speak to if they have any questions or concerns following the training.

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Why is this important?

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What does ‘safeguarding’ mean to you?

Discuss

What is safeguarding?

What is child protection?

What do you do to keep children safe every day?

Ask staff to discuss these questions. During feedback, draw out the difference between safeguarding and child protection and emphasise that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

Safeguarding is a fundamental part of the work that we undertake, with all of us having a vital role to play from the governors / trustees who are looking at the strategic response, that how we are meeting the expectations placed on us, what areas we need to develop further and how we are going to do that, through to those of you who are with our students all day every day, watching them grow, learn and develop.. Child protection is the part of safeguarding which is necessary when there is suspicion or evidence of a child being abused or harmed, and specific action is required to protect that individual child or sibling group. ��How do you keep children safe every day?>

Answers may include listening to children, noticing changes, following policies, staff behaviour, staff code of conduct, policies around relationships, site security, visitor sign in systems, risk assessments, DBS/Safer recruitment checks, reporting concerns, attending meetings, making referrals to other agencies, training, preventative curriculum, filtering and monitoring systems, challenging poor practice, etc.

E.g.

Providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge.

Recognising the signs that a child might be in need of help or support.
Getting to know parents and carers.
Knowing children well.

Points should link to responsibilities in Part 1 of KCSIE – alert to signs of abuse, follow school procedures, understand which children might benefit from early help, know how to refer and report, acting in best interests of children, follow code of conduct and safer working practice, culture of transparency etc.

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Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as..

Providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge.

Protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online.

Preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development.

Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.

Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. (KCSIE 2025)

So what does Working Together 2023 and KSCIE 25 say is the definition of safeguarding…

Safeguarding and promoting welfare is defined by Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children, and essentially it is everything that we do as a setting for all our students. Whilst no single practitioner can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances, we know that if children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. There is nothing within this that we do not already do as individuals or as a setting. We know our students, and if we have concerns, we will act to ensure that they are flagged up and addressed, whether through action within the setting or referral to external services, including the local authority.��. As part of our role, we therefore need to be prepared to think the unthinkable, keep an open mind, not make assumptions or accept things at face value and always be mindful that it could happen here (whatever ‘it’ may be) … in short, we need to be professionally curious, always asking ”what if” and challenging our perceptions.��Part one of Keeping Children Safe in Education explains the role very clearly, stating that “School and college staff are particularly important, as they are in a position to identify concerns early, provide help for children, promote children’s welfare and prevent concerns from escalating. All staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.”

A child-centred approach is fundamental to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child. All practitioners should follow the principles of the Children Acts 1989 and 2004. These Acts make clear that the welfare of children is paramount and that they are best looked after within their families, with their parents playing a full part in their lives, unless compulsory intervention in family life is necessary.

Our responsibilities extend beyond the school gates. As neighbours, friends, family members or just people in the community, we have the responsibility to pass on information if we are concerned about the safety and welfare of a child. This also includes our own conduct and behaviour beyond the school gates, including conduct online.

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Developing a ‘culture of safeguarding’

Discuss…

What does this mean in practice?

How do you achieve this in your setting?

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Developing a culture of safeguarding

SEND and inclusion

Curriculum (including RHSE and PSHE)

Online safety

The school environment

Risk assessments

Security

Health and safety

Code of Conduct and Acceptable Use

Training

Whistleblowing

Governance

A culture of listening

Behaviour

Safer

recruitment

Visitors

Concerns and complaints policies

Attendance

Early Help

Parents

Senior leaders

Partnerships

Accountability and leadership

Reflection and supervision

Embedded in all areas of the school

Discuss suggestions briefly, take feedback. Mindmap is not exhaustive.

Ideas

Setting has strong child protection policies and procedures which include information on cameras, social media, phones allegations, whistleblowing

Staff understand the policies

Good record keeping

Children able to identify trusted adults have strong attachments

Staff are supported

Staff promote positive behaviour

Risk assessments in place –physical environment safe

Safer recruitment procedures in place

Good communication with parents and carers

Enriching learning opportunities that promote good behaviour and engagement

British values

Healthy meals

Pick up protocols in place

Emergency contacts – at least two for each child

Good information sharing

Training for staff

Attendance procedures

Staff know the indicators of abuse, risks presented by radicalisation, risks associated with the use of technology

Staff know what actions to take if concerned about a child

Staff can name the DSL and deputy

Referrals, concerns are shared immediately with the appropriate people

Staff on same page,

Staff are updated regularly on safeguarding issues by the DSL

Supervision

As a setting, we have multiple people visiting on a daily basis, including external contractors, student teachers, supply staff, volunteers, etc. We also have other safeguarding professionals such as social workers, police, health professionals, all of whom potentially need to speak with specific students whilst on site.��Regardless of who the visitor is, we need to ensure that our site remains safe – this means that unless we have completed the necessary checks to allow them to walk around unsupervised there should always be someone with them. It means that we expect them to understand and follow our safeguarding procedures should they have a concern. It means that, in the same way we do, they should always be wearing some form of identification.��It also means that we should challenge if we are not sure – for example if we see someone walking around unaccompanied that we do not know, we should challenge them as to who they are and where they are going. It means that if another professional is asking to see a student to talk to them, we need to either know that it is agreed with the relevant team (e.g. safeguarding, SEN, etc.). Just because someone is in a position of authority does not mean that they have the right to speak to a student (e.g. the police still need agreement to speak with students on site).

Make it clear that all of this contributes to a culture of safeguarding, which means that children are better supported and the environment promotes safer working practice.

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Reminders: What should you read?

Keeping children safe in education (2025) – Part 1 and Annex B
Our school safeguarding policy
Our school code of conduct for staff
Our school behaviour policy
Our procedures for children missing education
Our procedures for minimising and responding to child on child abuse

You should also understand the role of and know the identity of the designated safeguarding lead and deputies.

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Our designated safeguarding lead: Julie Cassiano

Our deputy designated safeguarding lead is: Hannah Bailey, Jess Palmer Trujillo & Star McGuire (Hannah Edwards – training role)

Our designated teacher for Looked After and previously Looked After children is…Hannah Bailiey (Alison is handing this role over)

Our senior mental head lead is…Jess Palmer Trujillo

Our senior attendance lead is…Julie Cassiano

The role of the designated safeguarding lead

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The role of the designated safeguarding lead

The DSL

Senior member of staff

Lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection

Provide advice and support

Making referrals

Early Help

Contribute to assessments

Work with other agencies

Work with others in the school

Record keeping and information-sharing

Policy and training

Promoting educational outcomes

Understanding the views of children

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What is Abuse?

Maltreatment of a child.

Inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm.

Can be physical, non-physical or by witnessing ill treatment of others.

Can occur in a family, organisation or community setting.

Can be done by those known to the child or, more rarely, by others.

Abusers can be an adult or adults or another child or children.

It can happen on online, or abusers may use technology to facilitate offline abuse.

Maltreatment is defined as the “act of treating someone cruelly or violently.” (1). We also need to recognise that abuse can occur not only as a result of a deliberate act towards a child or young person, but also through adults (or others) failing to step in to protect, for example, if two adults are in a fight and one is holding a child, not removing the child from that situation is a failure to protect the child and therefore putting them at risk. ��Abuse can be physical, non-physical (for example neglect), emotional (for example witnessing ill treatment of others) or any combination of these – and can occur not just in the family home, but could occur in an education setting, a youth group or other groups that children and young people attend, or in extended family settings, to name a few.��Research tells us that the majority of abuse is perpetrated by someone known to the child or young person. Some abusers are strangers, however this is rare, although the opportunity for strangers to groom children and young people for the purposes of abusing them is increasing with children leading more and more of their lives through technology. We used to talk about online and offline, however for many children and young people nowadays, the two are interconnected and there is little differentiation. This means that there are also potentially no safe spaces for children and young people to escape their abuser if the abuse is also using technology. ��Overall, there are many forms of abuse and many ways to inflict it – we must therefore be aware and alert to this and not dismissing any signs, suggestions or indicators of something that is concerning.

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Types of abuse �

There are four main types of abuse. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.
Any child can be abused, from any background, race, religion or income bracket. Anyone can abuse a child.
Extra-Familial Harm is now recognised in national and local safeguarding guidance. It is important that you consider the likely harm posed to children from outside of their family also.

Explain that children who are being exploited may experience different forms of abuse and it is important to recognise this type of harm.

We are likely to all be aware of the four main categories of abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Physical harm may be one act or a series of acts where a child is physically harmed (e.g. through hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating). We must also remember that it can also be through a parent or carer fabricating or deliberately inducing illness in a child.��Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. It may involve contact with the abuser, or non-contact activities such as being made to watch sexual acts taking place.��Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child so it has severe and adverse effects on their emotional development and can include making them feel worthless or unloved, inadequate, of limited use, etc. It can also include a child seeing or hearing the maltreatment of another person (e.g. a child witnessing domestic abuse) and can also involve serious bullying or exploitation.��Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and / or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. This can include not only a failure to feed or clothe, but also to protect them from harm, supervise them properly or get medical care when needed.��These categories and definitions can help us think about what we are seeing and hearing, and help us to think about what might be happening for the child or young person in front of us, however we need to be careful that we do not get so caught up looking at something in a particular way (for example focusing on something being physical abuse) that we ignore other things that may be happening for the child or young person (for example they may also be being emotionally abused).

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Child criminal and sexual exploitation

Both CCE and CSE are forms of abuse that occur where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance in power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child into taking part in criminal or sexual activity. It may involve an exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator and/or through violence or the threat of violence. CCE and CSE can affect children, both male and female and can include children who have been moved (commonly referred to as trafficking) for the purpose of exploitation.

What are the signs and symptoms of CCE and CSE?

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��Extra- Familial Harm /�Exploitation��

Extra-familial threats might arise at school and other educational establishments, from within peer groups, or more widely from within the wider community and/or online.
These threats can take a variety of different forms and children can be vulnerable to multiple threats, including:
sexual abuse (including harassment and exploitation),
domestic abuse in their own intimate relationships (teenage relationship abuse),
exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups such as serious youth violence and county lines
trafficking,
online abuse;
sexual exploitation
the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation

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�Signs and Symptoms of Exploitation �

A change in behaviour or emotional wellbeing
May have new clothing, possessions, mobile phones and money
May change their appearance
May use drugs or be found with large quantities of drugs in their possession, or may carry weapons
Missing episodes or missing from education
Changes in behaviour, including mental health issues or behavioural issues
Withdrawing from usual friendship groups and activities and associating with others involved in exploitation
Having hotel card keys or keys to unknown locations
Have injuries or signs of physical abuse and may refuse to explain injuries

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Domestic Abuse and Children

In the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, children are now recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.

A child is regarded as a victim of Domestic Abuse in the following circumstances:

Where a child sees or hears the abuse

Experiences the effects of the abuse

Is related to the person being abused or to the perpetrator.

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What makes children more vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation?�

Children living in homes where the ‘trio of vulnerabilities’ are present. Children living with other types of abuse or neglect Children who are Looked After, are living in residential care or have returned home from care Their race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender identity or sexuality	Poor living conditions, temporary accommodation or homeless If they have mental health needs If they are a young carer If they have family members in prison If they are in the court system If they are privately fostered If they need, or have needed a social worker Children with SEND

Explain why they need to know this. This prompts questions about practice. Considering the needs of children in their classroom and who could be more vulnerable to abuse and neglect. We refer also to vulnerability of exploitation due to the prevalence within society. Within Northamptonshire exploitation is a high priority safeguarding topic due to the significant risks and numbers of children vulnerable to this form of abuse.

*What factors might make children more vulnerable to abuse? Table discussion/feedback*

REVEAL

Abuse can happen to anyone. But research shows that some children who have experienced abuse share similar risk factors. This means they may be more vulnerable.

Having one or more of these risk factors doesn't automatically mean a child will experience abuse or neglect – and not having any of them doesn't guarantee that a child will never be harmed.

‘trio of vulnerabilities’ – a term used to describe the overlapping of issues of domestic abuse, parental mental ill-health and substance abuse – research suggests there is a heightened risk of children experiencing abuse and neglect if these three factors are present.
Children living with other types of abuse or neglect
Children who are Looked After, are living in residential care or have returned home from care
Their race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender identity or sexuality
Poor living conditions, temporary accommodation or homeless
They live in poverty or extreme deprivation
If they frequently go missing from home or care
If they or their parents have mental health needs -
If they are a young carer
If they have family members in prison
If they are in the court system
If they are privately fostered
If they need, or have needed a social worker

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Why are children with SEND more vulnerable? Discuss…

May have less understanding of what is happening to them.
May have communication challenges.
May not have the language they need to verbally disclose abuse.
Misunderstanding signs or symptoms of abuse.
Misunderstanding or incorrect explanation of physical injuries.
Parent is the ‘expert in the room’.
More isolated – less social contact out of school.
Dependent on others for care.
Less opportunity to disclose abuse.
Their ‘voice’ isn’t heard.
May need greater differentiation in their safety curriculum.

A high proportion of children with a learning or physical disability are victims of abuse, bullying, exploitation and neglect. They need our special focus.

Make it clear that additional needs can be very varied and each child is different. Link back to knowing children well and taking personalised approaches to support.

Misunderstanding signs or symptoms of abuse – attributing behaviour or physical presentation to needs rather than thinking beyond.

Misunderstanding or incorrect explanation of physical injuries – Attributing injuries to lifting children/restraint/fits etc.

Parent is the ‘expert in the room’ – parent is over-relied on to provide information about a child’s needs and critical thinking not applied.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT CHILDREN WITH SEND? WHAT ELSE COULD YOU DO?

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/2607/keeping-safe-process-evaluation-in-special-schools.pdf

SRE guidance

INCLUDE IN POLICY how delivery of the content will be made accessible to all pupils, including those with SEND

mindful of the SEND Code of Practice when planning for these subjects.

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Discuss: What do you think might prevent a child from disclosing abuse?

Lack of awareness/understanding
SEND including communication difficulties
Fear of not being believed
Feeling of shame or guilt
Feeling embarrassed
Awareness of possible implications. Sense of loyalty to the abuser
Lack of trusted adults or unsure who to turn to
Grooming , Coercion and perceived consent
Age
Cultural or societal pressures.

Children and young people can face many barriers to telling us that they are being hurt in some way. Some of these are shown on screen.��It may be that they have made a disclosure before and not been believed (this being echoed in Lucy Faithfull research), or they may feel that they will not be believed, and it will be dismissed as nothing. They may not realise that they are being harmed but equally may be ashamed that they are letting themselves get hurt (for example, research shows that boys who experience sexual exploitation feel that they should be able to deal with it without getting others involved as that is “what men do”). If the abuser is a family member or close adult they may feel some loyalty, and equally they may worry that by asking for the abuse to stop they will tear their family apart. ��It may be that they do not know who to trust, or that they do not realise what is happening to them is abuse (for example in some cases of sexual abuse the child is lead to believe it is a normal part of what happens in childhood).��Additional needs, for example learning needs, disability or neurodiversity may impact on their ability to tell us what is going on, whilst societal and cultural expectations may be such that the child believes that to say what is happening will introduce stigma for them or their family.

We place a large emphasis on children ‘Telling’ us as professionals about what they are experiencing, rather than recognising early indicators, signs and symptoms as we discussed earlier.��As you can see, some of these barriers are significant, even for us as adults. Therefore, when a child does choose to tell us what is happening for them, we should listen. Barriers should not prevent you from having a professional curiosity and speaking to the safeguarding team if you have concerns

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HOW CAN WE GATHER THE VOICE OF THE CHILD?

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Valuing the voice of the child.

Verbal and non-verbal communication.
Children are active participants in their lives.
Respect and value their feelings, opinions and experiences.
Check your understanding of what they are saying- use their words to clarify the meaning
Take note of behavioural changes- what could these indicate? Remember, every behaviour is a form of communication.
It may take them some time to build up to what they really want to tell you.

There are lot’s of ways to listen to a child’s voice – across all ages and stages and needs. Not all communication is verbal, children can communicate in a variety of ways including (but not limited to) verbally, sign languages, symbol languages, drawings, and the language of behaviour, with any one of these being a means of telling you that something is happening for the child. Understanding the child’s point of view is crucial in developing an effective culture of safeguarding. In order to support children, we should aim to ensure that all children have a trusted adult, that they feel that they are listened to and understood, and they believe that their feedback is acted upon. This is developed at a whole-setting level. ��Children and young people should be able to contribute directly to decisions that are made that impact them. A core part of this is establishing a child’s wishes and feelings , including an understanding of both a child’s lived experience and their feelings about their lived experience. ��The child’s voice may also be through electronic means - today’s young people are often described as digital natives – in 2020, around 90% of UK children had their own smartphone at age 12 Texting has become a primary mode of interaction, with surveys indicating adolescents send and receive an average of 67 text messages per day, making text-based messaging “the dominant mode of communication between adolescents”. Research also shows that they can adjust their language to fit the situation (e.g. the difference in language between a text and speaking to you as a member of staff). For some young people, the language they use is a means of signaling their membership of a certain community. There are times when things that we are told seem unintelligible – make time (using open ended questions) to establish what the child means and ensure their meaning correlates with yours.��We also need to be aware that sometimes children and young people may initially talk about something completely unrelated to what they actually want to talk to you about. This is part of the process of them trying to get an understanding of how you may react – then once they feel as though they are in control they will move onto the subject that they really want to talk about. This is why we need to be an active part of every conversation, not just idly listening whilst doing / thinking of something else.

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What to do if a child makes a disclosure

Listen to what is being said without displaying shock or disbelief.
Accept what is being said and allow the child to talk freely.
Reassure the child, but do not make promises which it might not be possible to keep.
Never promise a child that you will not tell anyone - this may not be in the best interests of the child.
Reassure them that what has happened is not their fault and stress that it was the right thing to tell.
Listen, only asking questions when necessary to clarify (open questions, not leading questions).
Don’t criticise the alleged perpetrator.
Explain what has to be done next and who has to be told.
Make a written record.
Pass the information to the Designated Safeguarding Lead without delay (working in line with your school’s reporting system). Alternatively, if appropriate, make a referral to children’s social care and/or the police directly and tell the DSL as soon as possible that you have done so.

Responding to a Child's Disclosure of Abuse | NSPCC Learning (youtube.com)

Ask staff to share their understanding of ‘open questions’ vs ‘leading questions’. Provide examples.

�E.g. ‘What happened?’ vs ‘Did your mother hit you again?’

59. The designated safeguarding lead or a deputy should always be available to discuss safeguarding concerns. If in exceptional circumstances, the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy) is not available, this should not delay appropriate action being taken. Staff should consider speaking to a member of the senior leadership team and/or take advice from local children’s social care. In these circumstances, any action taken should be shared with the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy) as soon as is practically possible.

Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years. It is important that all concerns are reported (not just child protection concerns) so that we can intervene and provide support as required.

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What happens next?

Once you make a safeguarding report, the DSL will consider the information, speak to children or parents as appropriate and then options will include:

managing any support for the child internally via the school’s or college’s own pastoral support processes;
undertaking an early help assessment; or
making a referral to statutory services, for example as the child might be in need, is in need or suffering, or is likely to suffer harm.

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KCSIE 25-updates

Remarkably little has changed.
Part one / Annex A have not changed.
Links updated in Annex B.
Inclusion of additional areas to cover

when considering online risk.

Amendments to links and minor wording

changes.

The latest update to Keeping Children Safe in Education bought about very few changes, with the Department for Education calling it an administrative update. Of note is that Part one has not changed, this being the section that everyone must read and understand (with the same going for Annex A for those individuals who have agreement to just read Annex A). Little has changed in Annex B, with links mainly being updated.��Perhaps the biggest change is addition of further areas that need to be considered when talking about online safety. Keeping Children Safe in Education identifies that there are four areas of risk online, namely content, contact, conduct and commerce, with the requirement that online safety is an interrelated theme that runs through policies, procedures and the curriculum.��To reflect the ever-evolving situation in relation to online safety, the description of the word content has now been updated to include misinformation, disinformation (including fake news) and conspiracy theories.

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What’s New in the Updated EYFS Framework (Sept 2025)?

Key changes aim to strengthen safeguarding, enhance child safety, and clarify best practice.

Key Updates for settings with children under 5
Safer Recruitment: References must be obtained before hiring; safeguarding policies must outline steps to ensure only suitable people are recruited.
DSL Role Strengthened: The “lead practitioner” is now the Designated Safeguarding Lead, with clearer responsibilities and accountability.
Safeguarding Training: Must be renewed every 2 years, with evidence of how it’s implemented and supported in practice.
Whistleblowing and allegation procedures: All settings must have clear procedures for staff to raise safeguarding concerns, and how these will be handled.
Child Monitoring & Absence: Prompt follow-up on unexplained absences is now required, including contacting emergency contacts.
Emergency Contacts: Providers are encouraged to hold more than two emergency contacts per child.
Safer Eating & Nutrition: Stronger requirements for allergy management, safe eating practices, choking prevention, and introduction of solids.
Privacy in Personal Care: Nappy-changing and toileting policies must respect privacy and dignity, while ensuring safeguarding.
First Aid & Staff Ratios: Volunteers (17+), students, and apprentices (16+) must have valid Paediatric First Aid to count in ratios

What’s New in the Updated EYFS Framework (September 2025)? The Department for Education has released the updated EYFS framework, following strong sector support from the 2024 consultation. Key changes aim to strengthen safeguarding, enhance child safety, and clarify best practice.

Full framework: https://gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

� Key Updates for Leaders: -Safer Recruitment: References must be obtained before hiring; safeguarding policies must outline steps to ensure only suitable people are recruited. -DSL Role Strengthened: The “lead practitioner” is now the Designated Safeguarding Lead, with clearer responsibilities and accountability. -Safeguarding Training: Must be renewed every 2 years, with evidence of how it’s implemented and supported in practice. -Whistleblowing: All settings must have clear procedures for staff to raise safeguarding concerns, and how these will be handled. -Child Monitoring & Absence: Prompt follow-up on unexplained absences is now required, including contacting emergency contacts. -Emergency Contacts: Providers are encouraged to hold more than two emergency contacts per child. -Safer Eating & Nutrition: Stronger requirements for allergy management, safe eating practices, choking prevention, and introduction of solids. -Privacy in Personal Care: Nappy-changing and toileting policies must respect privacy and dignity, while ensuring safeguarding. -First Aid & Staff Ratios: Volunteers (17+), students, and apprentices (16+) must have valid Paediatric First Aid to count in ratios

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Tackling misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories

New Safeguarding harms included in KCSIE 25 for the first time

R	Reputation
E	Evidence
V	Verification
I	Intent
E	Emotions
W	Weigh it all up

Our students are growing up in a world where information is increasingly disputed, as are the overarching narratives that information sits within. The current geopolitical situation provides ongoing fuel for highly contested, often binary debates which people want to make sense of through compelling accounts, explanations that speak to the reality of their daily lives, and suggestions for future action that allow them to believe they have control over their own lives. We are living through significant and frequently polarised political upheaval in the UK, the US and Europe, which has only compounded these desires. This is occurring against a backdrop of low and falling trust in democratic institutions and politics more broadly.��2025 research by the Pears Foundation (1) suggests that this problem is best tackled, at least in part, by schools, identifying that “Adolescents may be particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories due to high social media usage, developmental factors, and social isolation. Adolescence is a period during which critical thinking skills are still developing, and many young people turn to social media as their worldviews begin to take shape. However, research specifically exploring adolescent belief in conspiracy theories is limited. Teachers report that conspiracy theories are disruptive in school environments, finding them a form of disruption that teachers are uniquely unprepared to handle.”��The research also found that there are significant differences in the sources that young people and adults (school staff and parents) use to receive news and search for information, and therefore differences in the sources that inform their world views, with young people tending to use less traditional channels, such as TikTok with this potentially being driven by its accessibility and immediacy.��How do we address the requirement of tackling misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories. Educate against hate suggest using the acronym review. We will have a look at a video that, whilst five years old and aimed at young people explains this in more detail.

Resources:

(1) Commission into countering online conspiracies in schools – Pears Foundation (2025) - https://counteringconspiracies.publicfirst.co.uk/Commission_into_Countering_Online_Conspiracies_in_Schools.pdf

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Filtering and monitoring: Our in school procedures

Our filtering software is called: Talk Straight School Broadband

Our monitoring software is called: Netsweeper - Safeguarding Daily Report v2

Every device is scrutinised and a daily report is sent to the Headteacher

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Filtering and monitoring: Your responsibilities

Report to the DSL immediately if…

You witness or suspect that any unsuitable material has been accessed by pupils, staff or visitors.
You find that you can access unsuitable material on school devices.
You think there could be a failure in the software or abuse of the system. 
You think there could be unreasonable restrictions that affect teaching and learning or administrative tasks. 
You notice any abbreviations or misspellings that allow access to unsuitable material.

Filtering and monitoring programs support safeguarding, but you are crucial to keeping children safe online

Let the DSL know in advance… if you are teaching topics which could create unusual activity on the filtering logs so that we can work to ensure that children are safe and websites accessed are appropriate.  

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Radicalisation and extremism

The ‘Prevent Duty’

Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the Act) places a duty on certain bodies to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This includes schools.

Schools make the most ‘Prevent’ referrals nationally.
We are in a unique position to spot concerning signs because we see children regularly and get to know them and their families well.
We have a responsibility to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and respond immediately if we have any concerns.

The Prevent Duty statutory guidance for schools was updated in December 2023.

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What to look for?

Making extreme or racist statements or sharing extreme views.
A sudden change in behaviour, including a disrespectful or superior attitude towards others.
Increased levels of anger, generalised or directed at an individual or a group.
Transitional stages in life.
Feeling of grievance or injustice/Ideology
Need for identity, meaning or belonging.
Withdrawing from their usual friendship groups or isolating themselves from their family.
Social networks involving extremism.
Talking as if from a scripted speech.
Unwillingness or inability to discuss their views.
They might become more secretive, especially around internet use or access extreme material online. Significant changes in appearance, including marks or tattoos, hairstyles or more conservative religious symbology.
Writing about or creating artwork using extremist symbols or ideas.

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Accurate, effective recording

Record keeping is an important part of safeguarding.
Effective records can help identify patterns and concerns which might be missed if we didn’t have systems in place.
Every piece of information might be part of a bigger picture.

The records that we keep are important. They not may not only form part of a bigger picture or contribute to a chronology of events but may also be relied upon some time after the actual incident that they are written about occurred. They therefore need to tell the narrative of what happened, allowing the reader to know who said and did what and how information was clarified. The records may be seen by other agencies, for example police and courts (both family court and criminal court) dependent on what the concerns are, as well as potentially being seen by parents and the children themselves (the children could make subject access requests). Don’t write anything that you wouldn’t want to read about yourself. ��Records therefore need to be accurate, effective and free from emotive language. We need to separate fact from opinion and utilise our prescribed recording system. Whilst data protection legislation does not prevent the sharing of information where there are concerns for the welfare of a child or young person, normally you should discuss any requests to share safeguarding information with your safeguarding team.

Presenter notes:

You may wish to add information about your settings recording system.

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Record-keeping: What should you be looking for?

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Accurate, effective recording

Sam said he did nothing wrong, however he was sad and scared. Even though he never said it, from what he was saying it was his father that he was scared of.

It is clear that his dad is an alcoholic and that he does not look after Sam, instead flying into rages when drunk with Sam as the target of his anger.

Ask participants to look at the text on screen. This is a recording from a conversation between a fictitious member of staff and Sam, a student. Ask participants their thoughts on the quality of the recording, for example does it separate fact and opinion clearly, does it contain enough information about what Sam said, does it use Sam’s own words.

The recording as it stands is heavily based in opinion with very little information about what Jonas said to back up the opinion. Fact and opinion should be separated and opinion clearly marked as such.

Ideally, this recording should read something like: “Sam told me that he did nothing wrong. He told me that he was scared about what might happen when he gets home. He said that his father drinks 6-8 cans of lager every night followed by several glasses of whisky. Sam said that his dad then gets really angry and Jonas goes and hides in his bedroom, with the hope that he stays out of the way. My concern is that based on the information available, Sam is at risk of physical and emotional harm, linked to his father’s drinking.”

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Factual

Ensure all information is based on fact, and where opinions are needed, they are clearly identified as such.

Analysis

Why is this a concern?

What is the reasoning for this?

Child’s voice

Making sure there is a clear summary of the concerns including the words of the child wherever possible.

Timely

Ensure records are made in a timely manner on the same day.

Share

Make sure all concerns are shared with the DSL following your setting’s procedures.

F

A

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Safer working practice

We maintain safe environment by:

Ensuring we follow safer recruitment procedures.
Adhering to the school safeguarding and child protection policy.
Ensuring we always follow the code of conduct.
Having a transparent approach, where anyone can raise a question or concern.
Reporting low level concerns and allegations to the headteacher.
Having an ongoing culture of vigilance.

Amend to reflect your reporting procedures for low level concerns if necessary.

We have already spoken about the need to ensure that the site is safe. We know that our students may not necessarily tell their teacher or tutor what is going on for them and may tell another, seemingly random, adult in the setting. We therefore need to ensure that every adult in the setting is a safe adult and will respond appropriately. We also need to know that all adults on site will listen to what they are being told by students and respond in a manner that does not minimise their concerns, make them feel ashamed for making a report, and reassures them that they will be taken seriously.��Whilst this sounds like common sense, a recent report into sexually harmful behaviour by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation identified that students told them that all settings have unsupervised or poorly supervised spaces - such as corridors, toilets, changing rooms, playgrounds and classrooms, that there was a strong ‘anti-snitching’ culture, fear of reputational damage, lack of belief from staff and perceived ineffectiveness of school responses (e.g., lenient sanctions or no follow-up), all of which served to discourage reporting. Some students felt that their prior behaviour records made them less credible in the eyes of those to whom they would report, while others felt the accused were protected over the alleged victim/complainant. Do we know how our students feel?��As part of having a safe culture, we follow safer recruitment principles, so you will all have had a DBS check, you will all have been interviewed and filled in a standard application form. However, no system is 100% perfect, and therefore it is also important that we maintain an open mind in relation to what we are seeing and hearing from our colleagues. You will have seen in the news headlines about staff in education settings having relationships with students for example.��Having an “it could happen here” approach means that we maintain an open mindset to both the chances of individual children needing help and support and also to the chance that a member of staff may be acting in a concerning manner.

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What is a

‘low-level concern’?

Remind staff of what low-level concerns are, why they should be reported at the school policy.

All staff should understand reporting mechanisms.

Give additional examples of low level concerns if required.

Such behaviour can exist on a wide spectrum, from the inadvertent or thoughtless, or behaviour that may look to be inappropriate, but might not be in specific circumstances, through to that which is ultimately intended to enable abuse. 432. Low-level concerns may arise in several ways and from a number of sources. For example: suspicion; complaint; or disclosure made by a child, parent 109 or other adult within or outside of the organisation; or as a result of vetting checks undertaken. 433. It is crucial that all low-level concerns are shared responsibly with the right person and recorded and dealt with appropriately. Ensuring they are dealt with effectively should also protect those working in or on behalf of schools and colleges from becoming the subject of potential false low-level concerns or misunderstandings.

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What is an ‘allegation’ against a member of staff?

Guidance on allegations applies where it is alleged that anyone working in the school or a college that provides education for children under 18 years of age, including supply teachers, volunteers and contractors has:

behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she may pose a risk of harm to children; and/or
behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children.