On 3 September 2018, new statutory guidance around safeguarding will come into force in the form of the Department for Education’s revised “Keeping children safe in education” (KCSIE) and “Working together to safeguard children”.

But what do these changes mean, and how can you make sure your policy meets the new guidelines? Here are seven things to consider:

1. Personalised provision

The revisions place greater emphasis on personalising your safeguarding policy, procedures and practice to the setting and needs of your school. For academies, simply adopting a trust-wide policy will fall short of expectations. Each school must develop a policy that reflects the bespoke needs of its pupils, staff and community. This should encompass examples and learnings from any prior safeguarding issues experienced, crime levels in your area and even parental engagement levels; there’s no point developing a policy heavily reliant on parent input if engagement is currently poor.

2. Peer protection

Following much-publicised concerns about peer-on-peer abuse, under KCSIE, your safeguarding policy must state:

• The steps you are taking to prevent this - e.g., curriculum content, raising staff awareness:

• How incidents will be managed and investigated - e.g., what are the immediate steps to be taken; how will you manage the ongoing process; how are you going to define evaluation and review steps and timescales?

• How victims and perpetrators will be supported - e.g., sanctions, restorative practice, peer support.

This section should explicitly include reference to sexual violence and harassment, as the previously published “Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges” guidance is also included in the revised KCSIE (Part 5), giving this previously advisory guidance statutory status.

3. Use of force

The new guidance also places a greater focus on cautious application of force to control or restrain a pupil. To meet requirements, you now have a statutory duty to:

• Create individual plans to minimise the likelihood of challenging behaviour;

• Where such behaviour does occur, implement measures to minimise the use of physical restraint.

With the dissemination of individual assessments and plans, every member of staff should be able to consistently apply de-escalation measures, reducing the need for physical restraint. It is key that staff are able to recognise the signs of escalating anger and approach the student in a calm manner. Recognised de-escalation techniques include verbal strategies, such as maintaining a calm tone of voice and not shouting or verbally threatening the person; and non-verbal techniques, including an awareness of self, body stance, eye contact and personal safety. Use of force should always be a last resort when all other identified measures have failed.

4. SEND

Enhanced practice arrangements are needed for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, recognising the disproportionate risks of bullying, isolation and behaviour and communication difficulties. Close alignment of your safeguarding and SEND policies is essential, directing staff to consider the potential for abuse on an equal footing with meeting the pupil’s SEND needs.

5. New starters

KCSIE significantly raises expectations of the staff and volunteer induction process. Simply cascading information is not enough; there is now a statutory requirement for staff to clearly understand behaviour and child protection policies, the code of conduct and procedures for managing children missing education within the induction process. All staff must read KCSIE Part 1 and Annex A, and should receive training to ensure knowledge is robust.

6. Vulnerable groups

The key revisions to “Working together to safeguard children” strengthen the emphasis on preventative working, expecting early/timely intervention. You should consider pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, including those who are young carers, those at risk of radicalisation and those who demonstrate signs of association with organised crime or gangs.

7. Data sharing

Information sharing is also a key focus, so it’s worth reviewing your processes to determine if:

• You only share information that is relevant to those who need it;

• Information shared is adequate for purpose;

• Information is accurate, up-to-date and clearly distinguishes between fact and opinion. If the information is historical then this should be explained;

• Information is shared in a timely fashion to reduce the risk of missed opportunities in offering support and protection;

• Information is shared in an appropriate, secure way. You must always follow your policy on security for handling personal information. GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 do not prevent or limit the sharing of information for safeguarding purposes;

• All information-sharing decisions are recorded, whether the decision is taken to share or not.

Sam Preston is safeguarding director at SSS Learning