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Keeping Children Safe in Education Consultation January 2022
With the release of a draft version of Keeping Children Safe in Education on the 11th January 2022, we look at the proposed changes and what this means for schools and Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 is out for consultation. The planned changes are more about bolstering and clarification of existing messages rather than major additions. We will be hosting a free consultation webinar on 2nd March 2022 at 4pm and gathering your views to feed into our own submission to the consultation.
Following release of the updated document, we will offer members free implementation packs to track their changes, support governance of safeguarding and ensure staff are up to date (if you are not already a member, join now for just £99+vat).
You can access the draft guidance here. The changes are listed in Annex F of the document, but you will need to read the document to get a sense of the changed emphasis that runs throughout.
Looking for information about the current version of Keeping Children Safe in Education (2021) – find it here.
What is interesting is what is missing. There is no mention of the consultation questions from 2021 on DSL training, leadership support or supervision, despite very positive responses to these questions last year (over 80% in favour). There is limited ambition in KCSiE 2022 (much of the consultation asks about the impact of changes made within KCSiE 2021), perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge pressures schools, colleges and the DfE itself have been under in the last two years and the concerns about government spending in the wake of the pandemic thus far.
However, these same pressures mean that these areas are still much needed – our supervision services have grown dramatically in 2021 and DSLs hugely value the support they receive. We will certainly feed this back in our consultation response.
Key proposed changes:
Sexual violence & sexual harassment
The DfE sexual violence and sexual harassment guidance has been incorporated into KCSiE 2022. It is helpful that the information is all in one place, and therefore easier for staff to access, although it does mean that there has been a substantial increase to the length of the KCSiE guidance. Terminology throughout KCSiE 2022 has changed from peer-on-peer abuse to child-on-child abuse. This is a welcome change as the term peer-on-peer abuse suggests the abuse is between children of a similar age which is not always the case.
There is a greater emphasis on risks for LGBT children and/or those that are perceived to be. Staff are reminded about that LGBT inclusion is part of the statutory relationships education/relationships and sex education curriculum. Senior leaders are reminded of the crucial part education settings play in preventative education within the context of a whole-school or college approach that creates a culture that does not tolerate any form of prejudice or discrimination, including sexism and misogyny/misandry. The expectation is that schools/colleges' values and standards in this area will be underpinned by their behaviour policy, pastoral support system, as well as a planned programme of evidence based RSHE. The guidance spells out key areas to be included in the latter.
Staff are reminded that children are not always ready or able to talk about their experiences of abuse and/or may not always recognise that they are being abused.
New information has been added to explain the impact of domestic abuse. Information has been added to highlight the potential long term detrimental impact on children's health, wellbeing and ability to learn of experiencing domestic abuse at home or within their own intimate relationships.
Safeguarding Network has free domestic abuse training materials to use with your staff. They're a sample of our wider members' programme that cover every area in Keeping Children Safe in Education. Feel free to try them out and if you like them, join here.
The importance that governors and proprietors properly support the DSL role has been given prominence by adding it to the main body of the guidance and includes an expectation that they should read the full DSL job description in Annex C.
There is a new emphasis on governor/proprietor safeguarding training to ensure their understanding of their important strategic role, as well as their legislative responsibilities, and those set out by their local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. We offer comprehensive Governor training to support you with this.
Relevant parts of Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty have been outlined and explicitly linked to safeguarding, particularly as regards to diversity inclusion, prejudicial and discriminatory bullying and sexual violence & harassment.
Regarding safer recruitment, the guidance clarifies that a curriculum vitae (CV) should only be accepted alongside a full application form. CVs on their own will not contain all the information required to support safer recruitment.
The guidance now states that education settings should consider conducting online searches (including publicly available social media searches) as part of their due diligence during the recruitment process.
Allegations and safeguarding concerns about staff
Learning from all allegations against staff investigations should be incorporated by schools and colleges, not just from those that are concluded and substantiated.
The guidance now makes clear that schools and colleges can choose to whom low level concerns about staff are reported to, so long as it is clear in their policies.
The consultation and full draft guidance document can be found here. We're running a free consultation webinar on 2nd March 2022 at 4:00pm (see below) and will be providing our members with lots of materials to support both the implementation of the guidance through the summer.
Sign up for our webinar below
Keep up to date – Safeguarding Network will continue to share information andanalysis ahead of the g Draft guidance in June – register for our bulletin on the home page to ensure you receive this.
Prepare now – Ensure your staff know what to look for and what to do – with so many demands in your time and areas to cover in KCSiE22 why not join hundreds of settings who are members of Safeguarding Network. For just £99+vat a term you'll get monthly, bite-size training packs to share at staff meetings, along with a raft of other support. Join now – we guarantee you'll find it valuable
Think ahead – plan safeguarding training for your DSLs, deputies and staff for the implementation of the new guidance in September. Contact us to check availability for the end of the summer term or early September.
About Safeguarding Network
Designated Safeguarding Leads have more to do and often less time to do it in. We help by collecting the resources you need into one place with expert advice. Join up with other DSLs to access training resources for your staff, audit tools and more.
Membership to Safeguarding Network includes:
15-minute update training packs
safeguarding news and articles
scenarios to run with your team
heavily discounted online learning
training discounts
initial safeguarding advice
audit tools to check your work
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