Summary
On 26 June 2019, the Department for Education published a draft version of the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2019 statutory guidance, which is applicable from 2 September 2019. The guidance sets out the legal duties you must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in your School.
All School employees should read Part 1, which is also available as a standalone document (a link can be found under the ‘Useful Links’ of this document).
Part 2 is applicable to, but not limited to, the following: senior leaders, governing bodies, business managers/bursars and individuals involved in the management of and recruitment in Schools.
Who does this apply to?
This statutory guidance is applicable to all Schools, Academies and Free Schools (including Maintained Nursery Schools). It should be read and followed by:
- Governing bodies of Maintained Schools (Nursery Schools and Colleges)
- Proprietors of Independent Schools (Academies, Free Schools and Alternative Provision Academies)
- Maintained Special Schools
- Management Committees or Pupil Referral Units (PRUs)
All bodies listed above must also ensure that all staff read at least Part 1 of the guidance and ensure that mechanisms are in place to assist employees in understanding and discharging their role in accordance with the document.
What has changed?
The key changes that you need to be aware of in relation to HR and employment matters are:
- Part 2 – paragraph 91
Makes reference to the new Ofsted Education Framework. - Part 3 – paragraph 157
Updated wording confirming how overseas trained teachers can apply for qualified teacher status (QTS). - Part 3 – paragraph 173
Clarification that Maintained Schools should carry out a section 128 check before recruiting school governors to ensure they are not subject to a section 128 direction. - Part 3 – paragraph 174
The new paragraph covers associate members appointed by the Governing Body and confirms that enhanced DBS checks are not mandatory for these post holders.
The majority of the changes are of a largely factual and technical nature, including amongst other things, new paragraphs on serious violence, upskirting and a link to the departmental advice on supporting Schools to teach pupils how to stay safe online.
There is also detailed advice to support you in understanding, preventing and responding to reports of a child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment.
A breakdown of the substantive changes in each section are displayed below and in Annex H (page 108) of the KCSIE guidance:
| Where | What |
| Summary | |
| Page 4 | Removed reference to multi-agency “transitional” arrangement from the summary on Page 4 (new three safeguarding partner arrangements must be in place by September 2019) |
| Part one | |
| Abuse and Neglect | A number of paragraphs have been moved in Part 1 to improve the flow of this section. Content has not to be changed but the information covering abuse, neglect and safeguarding issues has been moved to the section, “What School and college staff should look out for” |
| Paragraph 27 | Referencing upskirting included (now a criminal offence) |
| Paragraphs 29-30 | New paragraphs on serious violence |
| Paragraph 53 | Updated the link to the NSPCC helpline |
| Part two | |
| Paragraphs 68-75 | Multi-agency working updated to reflect new safeguarding partner arrangements |
| Paragraph 89 | Updated to reflect the new requirements for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education |
| Paragraph 91 | Updated to reflect the new Ofsted framework. Reference removed to the School Inspection Service as they are no longer inspect independent Schools |
| Part three | |
| Paragraph 122 | Removed reference to section 167A of the Education Act |
| Paragraph 157 | Wording changed for overseas trained teachers and directs to GOV.uk for further information. Removed direct link to guidance as it is currently being revised and GOV.uk will be updated in due course |
| Paragraph 173 | Provided clarity regarding Section 128 checks for school governors |
| Paragraph 174 | New paragraph about associate members appointed by the governing body to serve on governing body committees |
| Annex A | |
| Children with family members in prison | Added clarity that the number of children covers England and Wales |
| So-called ‘honour-based’ violence | Added Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage into the section header to be clear about what it includes |
| Upskirting | A new paragraph was added to reflect the fact that this is now a criminal offence |
| Annex C | |
| Departmental guidance | Added link to new departmental guidance: Teaching online safety in schools. This guidance outlines how schools can ensure their pupils understand how to stay safe and behave online as part of existing curriculum requirements |
What does this mean?
