Safeguarding in Education 2026: A Guide for School Staff

Safeguarding sits at the heart of education. Children can only learn, develop and achieve their potential when they feel safe, supported and listened to, which is why safeguarding is not simply the responsibility of a school's Designated Safeguarding Lead. Every adult working in a school has a role to play.

Whether you are a teacher, teaching assistant, cover supervisor, administrator, lunchtime supervisor, site manager, volunteer or supply member of staff, you may be the person who notices that something has changed. A shift in behaviour, a pattern of absence or a seemingly small comment may be the first indication that a child needs help.

For the complete statutory requirements applying to schools and colleges in England, staff and leaders should always refer to the Department for Education's Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance.

What is safeguarding in education?

Safeguarding is the wider action taken to promote children's welfare, prevent harm and make sure children receive the right help and protection when they need it. In an education setting, this covers far more than responding to serious incidents. It includes creating safe environments, recognising concerns, responding appropriately to disclosures, maintaining professional boundaries, sharing information when necessary and following the school's safeguarding procedures.

It also includes areas such as online safety, safer recruitment, child-on-child abuse, exploitation and responding to concerns about adults working in the setting. In practice, safeguarding forms part of everyday school life rather than sitting separately from it.

The Department for Education's Part One: overview for all staff provides a useful quick-reference summary of the safeguarding principles school and college staff need to understand. It is important to remember, however, that this overview complements rather than replaces the full Part One of KCSIE.

Safeguarding and child protection are not the same thing

Safeguarding and child protection are often used interchangeably, but they describe different parts of the same system. Safeguarding is the wider concept. It covers everything schools do to promote children's welfare, create safe environments, reduce risks and respond when something does not feel right.

Child protection sits within that wider safeguarding framework. It relates more specifically to situations where there are serious concerns about a child's safety or welfare and action may be required to protect them from significant harm.

This distinction matters because schools should not wait until a concern becomes severe before acting. Safeguarding is also about early recognition. A concern may begin with something relatively small, such as a change in behaviour, attendance or presentation, and staff should feel confident sharing that information before they know exactly what it means.

Who is responsible for safeguarding in a school?

The simplest answer is everyone.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead has a particularly important role in overseeing safeguarding within the school, supporting staff, managing concerns and working with other professionals where necessary. However, the DSL cannot personally witness every classroom interaction, change in attendance, playground incident or conversation that takes place.

Imagine, for example, that a pupil's teacher notices they have become unusually quiet. The office team may separately be aware that their attendance has begun to decline. A lunchtime supervisor might notice that they no longer eat very much, while another member of staff sees them becoming visibly anxious whenever their phone receives a notification.

None of those observations on its own necessarily explains what is happening. Together, however, they may create a much more significant safeguarding picture. The DSL can only build that wider picture if staff share the information they hold.

Recognising possible signs of abuse and neglect

Safeguarding is not about expecting staff to memorise an endless list of warning signs. It is about remaining observant, understanding the common forms of abuse and being professionally curious when something changes.

Physical abuse may sometimes involve visible injuries, but the presence of an injury alone does not tell you what happened. Staff might become concerned where injuries are repeated, unexplained or inconsistent with the explanation given. The role of the member of staff is not to determine how the injury occurred, but to report the concern appropriately.

Emotional abuse can be more difficult to recognise because there may be no physical signs. A child may become unusually withdrawn, anxious, frightened of making mistakes or excessively eager to please. They might also appear fearful around certain people or show a marked change in confidence. These behaviours do not automatically mean emotional abuse is taking place, but they may be important when considered alongside other information.

Sexual abuse can take place both physically and online. Children may not make a clear or direct disclosure, and staff may instead notice changes in behaviour, attendance, friendships, confidence or emotional wellbeing. Online grooming, coercion, sexual exploitation and the creation or sharing of sexual imagery can all form part of this wider safeguarding picture.

Neglect can also be difficult to identify because it may develop gradually. A child might consistently arrive hungry, tired or in unsuitable clothing, have poor hygiene or show signs that health or supervision needs are not being met. Individual signs may have many explanations, but repeated patterns should not be ignored.

Safeguarding risks go beyond the four main categories of abuse

The safeguarding risks children face are varied and can overlap. Education staff may encounter concerns connected with child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, County Lines, domestic abuse, radicalisation, child-on-child abuse, harmful sexual behaviour, online grooming, cyberbullying, trafficking, modern slavery, female genital mutilation or serious violence.

Children do not always experience harm in neat, separate categories. A young person being criminally exploited, for example, may also be experiencing threats, violence, coercion, poor attendance and online pressure at the same time. This is why it is often more useful for staff to focus on what they have observed rather than trying to decide exactly which category a concern belongs to.

What is professional curiosity?

Professional curiosity is an important part of safeguarding because it encourages staff to look beyond the most obvious explanation for a change in a child's behaviour.

A pupil who suddenly becomes disruptive may simply be treated as misbehaving. A professionally curious response asks whether there could be something else going on. Has something changed at home? Is the child frightened, worried or under pressure? Is there a pattern that other staff have also noticed?

Professional curiosity does not mean questioning a child repeatedly or attempting to investigate the situation yourself. It means noticing changes, remaining open-minded and being willing to share concerns even when you do not yet have a complete explanation.

What should you do if you are worried about a child?

A useful way to remember your role is: Notice. Record. Report.

First, notice what has changed or what has caused concern. This might be something you have seen, something a child has said, a change in attendance, behaviour or presentation, or an interaction that does not feel right.

Next, record the concern accurately and factually. Focus on what you actually saw or heard rather than what you believe may have happened. If a child speaks to you, try to record their words as accurately as possible.

Finally, report the concern through your school's safeguarding procedure. Do not wait until you have proof, do not investigate the concern yourself and do not assume that somebody else will have noticed the same thing.

A small piece of information may become extremely important when it is considered alongside other concerns.

What should you do if a child makes a disclosure?

How an adult responds when a child chooses to speak about something worrying can make a significant difference.

The most important thing is to remain calm and listen carefully. Give the child your attention and allow them to speak at their own pace. Avoid showing shock or disbelief, even if what they tell you is difficult to hear.

You should not promise to keep the information secret. Instead, explain that you may need to share what they have said with people whose role is to help keep them safe.

You should also avoid leading questions or trying to gather additional evidence. Your role is not to investigate. Once the conversation has ended, make an accurate record of what was said and follow your school's safeguarding procedure promptly.

Online safety is a safeguarding issue

Children's online and offline lives are increasingly difficult to separate. Social media, messaging platforms, gaming, livestreaming and other digital spaces can all create opportunities for communication, learning and connection, but they can also expose children to harm.

Safeguarding concerns may involve online grooming, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, coercion, image sharing, exploitation or manipulated and AI-generated content. Staff do not need to become experts in every platform or understand every new technology that appears.

What matters is recognising the type of harm a child may be experiencing. If something happening online raises a concern about a child's safety or wellbeing, it should be treated as a safeguarding issue in the same way as an offline concern.

What about radicalisation and Prevent?

Radicalisation is another area that sits within the wider safeguarding framework. The Prevent duty forms part of the government's counter-terrorism strategy and includes action intended to support people who may be susceptible to radicalisation.

Education is one of the sectors covered by the Prevent duty, and concerns about possible radicalisation should be handled through a school's safeguarding arrangements rather than treated as something entirely separate.

School leaders and staff can refer to the official Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales, while the Home Office also provides official Prevent duty training.

What changes in 2026?

KCSIE 2026 comes into force on 1 September 2026, and one of the most noticeable changes for school staff is the removal of the former shorter Annex A.

Under the new arrangements, all staff, including those who do not work directly with children, should read Part One. The Department for Education has also introduced the new Part One overview for all staff as a complementary quick-reference resource.

Working Together to Safeguard Children was also updated in March 2026, reinforcing the wider importance of agencies working effectively together to help, support and protect children.

For schools, these changes are a useful reminder that safeguarding arrangements should not remain static. Policies, training, induction and staff knowledge need to develop alongside the guidance and the risks children face.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility

Safeguarding can feel complex because the guidance is extensive and the circumstances children experience vary enormously. However, individual members of staff are not expected to solve every concern themselves.

Your responsibility is to notice when something may be wrong, record what you know accurately and make sure the information reaches the right person.

You may only hold one small piece of a much larger picture.

That piece still matters.

Notice. Record. Report.

Official guidance and further reading

For the latest statutory and official guidance, refer to the following sources:

Always follow your own setting's safeguarding and child protection policy alongside national guidance.

Safeguarding in Education 2026: A Guide for School Staff