Earlier this week, the government unveiled its Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive proposals that were presented chiefly around plans to reform the children’s care home system - something leaders in education have welcomed.
However, within the document were also several notable proposals around wider safeguarding approaches within schools, from enhancing data-sharing and redefining the role of education in safeguarding partnerships to the use of a single identifier for children.
If these reforms go ahead they will have a major impact on school safeguarding policies and systems. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Strengthening the role of schools
Central to this document is a recognition of schools’ unique position in identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns.
Teachers, often the professionals who see children most regularly, are key to ensuring timely interventions. Yet, until now, schools have lacked a formalised statutory role in multi-agency safeguarding. This is set to change.
”We will mandate consistent and effective join-up between local authority, police and health services with schools and other education and childcare settings,” the guidance states.
This would mean schools become statutory safeguarding partners, sitting alongside local authorities, the police and health services. This will mandate their involvement in both operational and strategic decision-making at a local level.
For school leaders, the implications are clear: active engagement in safeguarding partnerships will no longer be optional. Schools must be ready to allocate resources to these efforts, ensuring that their voices are represented and their insights into children’s lives are heard.
2. Single identification system
To support this, the government plans to introduce a Single Unique Identifier (SUI) for every child. The SUI will address a longstanding challenge in safeguarding: ensuring practitioners across different services are talking about the same child.
“An identifier has the potential to increase confidence that practitioners from different agencies are talking about the same child and increase the ease and possibility of linking data together across datasets,” it says on page 9.
This should streamline data sharing, enabling professionals to act on a complete picture of a child’s needs and risks. Although, of course, implementing the SUI will require some adjustments within schools.
3. Improving data confidence
Another key reform tackles barriers around information sharing between agencies which means that, despite legislation allowing information to be shared for safeguarding purposes, practitioners often hesitate due to perceived regulatory constraints.
“We will introduce a new duty that provides absolute clarity on the legal basis to share information for the purposes of safeguarding children,” it states. “The new duty will ensure a focus on safeguarding and provide the impetus for culture change around information sharing.”
This will mean schools have to ensure staff are confident in understanding and applying these clarified responsibilities for sharing safeguarding data both within the school and with other ‘agencies’.
4. Virtual School Heads
The growing importance of Virtual School Heads (VSHs) also stands out. Originally introduced to champion the education of children in care, VSHs will now have their remit expanded to include children on child protection and child-in-need plans, as well as those in kinship care.
This extension recognises the vital role education plays in providing stability and opportunity for vulnerable children. For schools, this will mean working even more closely with VSHs to track and promote the attendance, attainment and progress of these pupils.
The expectation is that schools will not only monitor these areas but also play an active role in removing barriers to education for these children, ensuring they are supported to thrive.
5. Home education
A further reform targets the education of children under child protection plans whose parents wish to home educate. Under the proposals, these parents will need local authority consent to withdraw their children from school to be home educated.
“We propose to introduce a new requirement whereby if a child registered at a school is subject to an enquiry under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989, or on a child protection plan, their parent will need local authority consent to home educate that child,” it states.
This measure is a response to concerns that some vulnerable children risk being further isolated when removed from the school system.
Schools will need to report any safeguarding concerns about children transitioning to home education and work with local authorities to ensure these children remain safe and receive a suitable education.
A step forward
The proposed reforms outlined in Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive represent a step towards a more integrated safeguarding system, with schools playing a pivotal role.
For school leaders, the task is to respond to this - in particular by strengthening their own collaboration with safeguarding partners.
By embracing these changes, schools can ensure they meet their new statutory requirements and provide even better protection and support for vulnerable children.
Luke Ramsden is deputy head of an independent school and chair of trustees for the Schools Consent Project
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