Introduction
Part one of KCSIE
Summary of changes
NASUWT’s concerns regarding the latest KCSIE guidance
Lack of clarity with regard to online searches as part of safer recruiting
Looking ahead to KCSIE 2024
Next steps
Operation Encompass

Introduction

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) is statutory guidance from the Department for Education (DfE). It sets out the legal duties that govern all schools and colleges in England when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under the age of 18.

The latest version of the guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023, came into force on 1 September 2023. The guidance applies to headteachers, teachers and staff, as well as governing bodies, proprietors and management committees.

The substantive changes made from the previous version and published in KCSIE 2023 are listed below. These are divided to align with the relevant sections of the KCISE guidance. A list of the substantive changes can be found in Annex F of the published 2023 guidance.

The NASUWT recommends that this briefing is read alongside the updated guidance.

Since 2021, the guidance has made it clear that KCSIE now applies to providers of post-16 education, as set out by the Education and Training (Welfare of Children) Act 2021.

Alongside the updated KCSIE, the DfE has published an updated version of the Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Between Children in Schools and Colleges guidance. This came into force on 1 September 2021. It covers important information that links directly to safeguarding, including schools’ and colleges’ legal responsibilities and how to respond to reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The NASUWT remains concerned that a number of outstanding issues raised by the Union have not been addressed in the latest version of the guidance. These are set out in a later section of this briefing.

The DfE has recently published the KCSIE guidance for 2024, which will come into force on 1 September 2024. A brief summary of the substantive changes has been listed at the bottom of this briefing for information only at this stage.

Part one of KCSIE

The guidance remains clear that governing bodies and proprietors should ensure that all staff who work directly with children read at least Part One of KCSIE. Part One must also be read by those staff who do not work directly with children.

Since 2021, a condensed version of Part One, which forms Annex A of the guidance, has been provided as an alternative for those staff who do not work directly with children.

The onus is on the school or college to determine which area of the guidance - the full Part One or the condensed version at Annex A - these staff should read to fulfil their legal obligations.

KCSIE 2023

Summary of changes

Part One - Safeguarding information for all staff

• Paragraph 13 has been updated to make a clear link to the DFE's Behaviour in Schools Guidance;

• additional text has been added to raise awareness of the existing expectation that relevant staff will understand filtering and monitoring. The full explanation of applicable roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring is located in paragraph 141.

Part Two - The management of safeguarding

• An additional reference to filtering and monitoring has been added at paragraph 103;

• new text has been added to make clear that staff training should include an understanding of roles and responsibilities in relation to filtering and monitoring;

• a reference has been included to child protection policies and appropriate filtering and monitoring on school devices and school networks;

• a new section is included that refers to the recently updated filtering and monitoring standards. The standards have been created with a view to supporting schools to meet their duty to have appropriate/effective filtering and monitoring systems in place;

• this section now refers to cyber security standards;

• a reference has been added on keeping children safe in out-of-school settings;

• clarification is now provided on the difference between children missing education and children absent from education;

• additional signposting has been included to specialist organisations for children with SEND.

Part Three - Safer recruitment

• A footnote has been added to clarify that it is good practice for schools to inform shortlisted candidates that online searches will be carried out.  

Part Four - Allegations made against/Concerns raised in relation to teachers, including supply teachers, other staff, volunteers and contractors

• A new heading and paragraph has been added (paragraph 377) covering allegations relating to organisations or individuals using school premises

Part five - Child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment

• A link to London Grid for Learning’s ‘Undressed’ guidance has been added.

• A new paragraph highlights the importance of ensuring children understand that the law on child-on-child abuse is there to protect them rather than criminalise them.

• A bullet point has been added to emphasise the importance of understanding intra-familial harms and any necessary support for siblings following incidents.

• A paragraph has been added to emphasise the need for schools and colleges as relevant agencies to be part of discussion with statutory safeguarding partners.

Annexes

• Annex A - Safeguarding information for school and college staff has been revised to reflect the changes made to part one;

• Annex B - Further information Children absent from education has been revised to reflect the difference between children absent from education and children missing education;

• the section on Forced Marriage in Annex B now reflects the change in law from February 2023;

• also in Annex B there is a new reference to multi-agency practice principles with regard to Child Exploitation.

NASUWT’s concerns regarding the latest KCSIE guidance

We welcome the addition of information, advice and, where appropriate, resources to KCSIE, as it is vital that those governed by statutory guidance are provided with as much detail as possible.

In addition, the latest edition of the guidance states low-level concerns should not be included in references. This is something we advocated for and are therefore pleased that the DfE has reflected this in the 2023 version.

The same is true for the guidance also stating that ‘any repeated concerns or allegations which have all been found to be false, unfounded, unsubstantiated or malicious should not be included in any reference’. We raised this as an issue over its absence from the guidance.

This aside, the NASUWT remains concerned that there are a number of elements of the guidance that are lacking clarity or omitting information that we feel is key.

Lack of clarity with regard to online searches as part of safer recruiting

Information was added in 2022 and remains in the 2023 guidance, stating that schools should consider online searches as part of their due diligence checks on shortlisted candidates.

Despite representations from the NASUWT, there is a distinct lack of detail to this suggestion in KCSIE. We believe that for this to be justifiable and meet the obligations a school has under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), the use of online searches needs to be contextualised, addressing points such as what is searched for, how it is searched for and how the information gathered is used.

We argued that a strict list of criteria needs to be developed to ensure that schools are not inadvertently or knowingly penalising candidates unfairly based on indistinct standards of what is and is not acceptable in their online presence.

Given the unclear position created by the DfE’s lack of further guidance, we have developed a framework for conducting these types of searches if schools decide to undertake this as part of their safeguarding checks.

The Condensed version of Part One

The NASUWT does not support the provision of a condensed version of Part One of the KCSIE guidance. The Union believes it is hard to define those staff who do not regularly work with children. Both the terms ‘regularly’ and ‘directly’ present challenges as to how these are determined and are open to different interpretations. If the onus is put on schools and colleges to decide who should read the condensed version of Part One, a situation will inevitably ensue where there is a lack of consistency amongst educational establishments.

It is also unclear how it has been determined what are, and are not, the core messages that need to be included in the condensed version.

Given these concerns, the NASUWT is recommending that members read the full Part One rather than the condensed version in Annex A.

No standardisation of appropriate training

As with previous iterations of KCSIE, the guidance refers to the requirement of ‘appropriate training’ being provided to all staff in schools and educational settings. However, there still remains no detail in the guidance on how this training can be standardised across all settings to ensure consistency and effectiveness. The NASUWT would argue that it is unreasonable for schools to have to source this training on an individual basis, as opposed to a national provision, given the nature of the issues the training is expected to cover.

Lack of child protection policy template

The NASUWT has consistently argued that as all employers should have a child protection policy and it is disappointing that the DfE continues to fail to provide a template to aid consistency and ensure that any such policy is fit for purpose.

Concerns over effectiveness of multi-agency working

The guidance makes regular references and referrals to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance. While the NASUWT agrees this is an appropriate referral and supports the principles of multi-agency working, the Union has significant concerns over the effectiveness of multi-agency working. It is widely recognised that multi-agency working is highly variable across different local authorities and, in many cases, falls short of acceptable standards.

This is in no small part due to systems and structures that were in place prior to the taking of office by the Coalition Government in May 2010, which supported and sustained impactful multi-agency working, having been dismantled and not effectively replaced. The NASUWT has raised these concerns in previous consultation responses and in our wider communications with the DfE and other government departments.

Unclear expectations over online safety in the curriculum

The guidance sets out that online safety should be considered whilst planning the curriculum, but does not make explicit recommendations as to how this could be achieved. While the introduction of statutory requirements in relation to relationship and sex education (RSE) and health education and accompanying guidance may be helpful, the DfE has not made clear its expectation is this respect.

No set allocations of leadership and management time for the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

The NASUWT has argued on a number of occasions that the KCSIE guidance needs to explicitly state the allocation of leadership and management time that needs to be given to the DSL in order to discharge their safeguarding responsibilities. As the guidance states that any deputies should be trained to the same standard as the DSL, an allocation of leadership and management time also needs to be set for this role.

Furthermore, the NASUWT is advocating that those undertaking the role of DSL are remunerated appropriately.

Safeguarding and the specific issues of supply teachers

While some clarifications have been made in the KCSIE guidance to address specific issues facing supply teachers in relation to safeguarding issues, there are further matters that have not been considered.

NASUWT supply teachers often report that when undertaking an assignment at a school, they are often given very little or no time within the school day to read and become familiar with key safeguarding arrangements in the settings to which they are deployed or to be briefed accordingly by appropriate staff. In addition, supply teachers are often denied access to central school databases that contain important safeguarding information to which directly employed staff have access. The Union maintains that this is unacceptable and that specific requirements on settings in this respect should be set out in KCSIE.

Further, supply teachers typically work for a number of different agencies. It can often be the case that agencies insist on supply teachers accessing their own safeguarding training despite the fact that many will have received training from other agencies that addresses similar issues and is of a comparable standard. Given that supply teachers are often required to pay for such training, they are frequently subject to excessive and avoidable additional expense.

The introduction by the DfE of a common training programme for supply teachers would avoid the unnecessary duplication of training, reduce costs and give agencies confidence that the supply teachers they engage have accessed training that meets common DfE-set standards.

Looking ahead to KCSIE 2024

The new version of Keeping Children Safe in Education will come into force on 1 September 2024. The changes are minimal and mainly technical amendments, including adjustments to align KCSIE with the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 guidance.

The DfE is currently running a Call for Evidence on Safeguarding Children in Schools and Colleges, looking to take the views of schools, colleges and other professionals on safeguarding practice development and direction. It is an opportunity to share your reflections, experiences and suggestions with regard to the DSL role or safeguarding more broadly.
 
This information is being sought in advance of the development of KCSIE 2025, which is due to be substantively updated encompassing wider changes using a range of data and feedback.

Part one: Safeguarding information for all staff

• The definition of ‘safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children’ has been amended to reflect the updated 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023’;

• at paragraph 18 the section ‘early help’ has been amended to reflect the Working Together guidance;

• additional text has been added to the indicators of abuse and neglect at paragraph 24;

• the term ‘deliberately missing education’ in safeguarding issues, paragraph 29, has been amended to reflect the revised definition of ‘unexplained and/or persistent absences from education'.

Part two: The management of safeguarding

• At paragraph 92, text has been added in reference to compliance with DPA and UK GDPR requirements;

• text has been added to paragraph 171 looking at alternative provision, making clear that a school remains responsible for pupils they place in alternative provision;

• links have been added to NSPCC advice on protecting children with SEN and deaf/disabled children and young people;

• a disclaimer has been added to paragraphs 205 to 209 regarding children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning their gender. Additional text includes further clarification to comply with the gender questioning children guidance terminology.

Part five: Child-on child sexual violence and sexual harassment

• The text on early help at paragraph 497 has been amended to reflect the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 guidance.

Annex B: Further information

• ​​​​Two separate age-appropriate guides for schools to support children in the court system are now included in Annex B;

• a disclaimer has been added to the ‘preventing radicalisation’ section, with some small changes to clarify schools’ duties with regard to Prevent.

Annex C: Role of the designated safeguarding lead

• Further guidance has been added to the ‘holding and sharing information’ section regarding the rationale for making decisions.

Next steps

The NASUWT will be continuing to raise with the DfE the concerns we have with the latest KCSIE guidance.

In particular, we will be seeking opportunities to engage directly with the DfE on the issue of correct remuneration for teachers and school and college leaders undertaking the role of DSL.

With regard to the introduction of a common safeguarding training programme for supply teachers, the NASUWT will engage with the DfE on ways in which such a scheme could be implemented.

NASUWT members should contact the Union if they have particular concerns about the KCSIE guidance or safeguarding issues, practice or policies in their school.

Furthermore, if any safeguarding concerns are raised about members or members are concerned that they might be, however minor these may seem, members must contact the NASUWT immediately for further advice and information. You should not try to address these issues without the support of the Union.

 

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