Changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2022: What you need to know
Date 27th Jun 2022
The Department for Education (DfE) has published updated guidance for Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE). This new guidance will come into force on 1 September 2022. It sets out the legal duties that must be fulfilled to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in schools and college. This guidance is for:
- senior leadership teams
- governing bodies, proprietors and management committees
A summary of changes to KCSIE 2022
There are a number of changes in KSIE 2022, with the main changes summarised below to ensure schools are up to date and staff are trained in line with the latest guidance:
Part One – Safeguarding Information for All Staff
- The term ‘peer-on-peer abuse’ within the document has changed to ‘Child-on-Child’ Abuse. The reasons for this are twofold: Primarily, it outlines that this document focuses on the welfare and protection of children and not adult peers in an Education environment.Secondly, the document Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges is merging into KCSIE 2022. Formerly a document for governors, senior leadership teams and Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), this has now become part of the statutory guidance for all staff in education. Accordingly, ‘child-on-child abuse’ keeps the terminology consistent between the two documents.
- New information has been added on Domestic Abuse highlighting that some children may not know how or feel ready to talk about abuse.
Part Two – Management of Safeguarding
- Governors and trustees are to receive an appropriate level of safeguarding and child protection training.
- New guidance regarding the legal duties set out by the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010, and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
- The importance of DSLs and how the senior leadership team should support them.
- Details of the DSL role are condensed and collated in Annex C, to encourage thorough reading by all relevant parties.
- Staff should refer to Clinical Commissioning Groups as Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).
- Information has been incorporated from the Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges document referring to the importance of preventive education in reducing sexual violence and harassment in context of a whole school or college approach .LGBTQ+ information has also been incorporated.
- When children leave a school or college, their DSL should transfer their file to their new school or college within 5 days for an in-year transfer or within 5 days of the start of a new term.
- A school-wide approach to preventative education is key in preparing students for life in modern Britain; it creates a culture of zero tolerance to various forms of prejudice.
Part Three – Safer Recruitment
- More emphasis on CVs alone will not provide all the information necessary for safe recruitment and should only be accepted alongside a full application form.
- Schools should consider online searches as part of their due diligence process in recruitment.
- Safer recruitment comes from thorough due diligence.
Part Four – Allegations made against/Concerns raised in relation to teachers, including supply teachers, other staff, volunteers and contractors.
- Management should consider all cases, whether substantiated or not, as a learning opportunity. For example, if an individual is suspended due to an allegation that is unfounded and they return, how can the process be improved for next time?
- The school/college should implement clear processes for ‘low level’ concerns; the school/college can decide on how and to whom reports are made.
Part Five – Child-on-Child sexual violence and sexual harassment
- The information in this section comes from the Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges document.
Annex A – Safeguarding Information for School and College Staff
- This section has been updated to reflect child-on-child abuse as in Part One.
Note that these changes will come into effect on 1st September 2022, and schools and colleges can find both the current 2021 document and the 2022 KCSIE guidance directly from the DFE.
You can also read and download a copy of the latest the Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges document on the DFE website.