Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 (KCSIE) - What Your School Needs to Know

While the DfE's new statutory guidance Keeping children safe in education 2022 contains no surprises, it offers new terminology (eg child-on-child abuse in place of peer-on-peer), useful clarification and reinforces some of the changes made last year.

There is also now specific guidance on support for LGBT pupils, and schools should ensure this is properly reflected in their policies and procedures.

Safeguarding Training for All Governors/Trustees

This has been recognised best practice for many years, and was endorsed by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in their residential schools investigation report in March 2022. However, until now, it was not mandatory. KCSIE 2022 provides at Para. 81 that "…all governors and trustees [should] receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection (including online) training at induction" and that this should be "regularly updated". Training should "equip them with the knowledge to provide strategic challenge to test and assure themselves that the safeguarding policies and procedures…are effective".

There are three key points to emphasise in respect of this change. First, the obligation to ensure the correct training is rolled out falls on governing boards, rather than schools generally (ie in a multi academy trust, this would be the board of trustees). Secondly, the training should be delivered to all governors/trustees, rather than only to the governor/trustee with overall responsibility for safeguarding. Finally, the training must include online safety.

In preparation for September, we recommend schools should:

• review the safeguarding and child protection training each governor/trustee has had (including online safety) and now needs to do to satisfy the requirement

• consider how you will check the understanding of governors/trustees in this respect after training has taken place

• ensure the training covers Part 2 of KCSIE, local arrangements (in particular the local criteria for action, and the local protocol for assessment) and the particular risk factors and arrangements in school

• maintain and review training records for governors/trustees as part of your annual review of safeguarding

Online Recruitment Searches

Para. 220 refers specifically to online/social media searches on shortlisted candidates, stating schools should "consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates" when recruiting.

This paragraph does not introduce an obligation to carry out online searches on shortlisted candidates, but asks schools to "consider" doing so. "Should" in this context means follow the advice unless there is good reason not to. As such, we expect online/social media searches to now become a normal (and open) aspect of recruitment in schools.

In preparation for September, we recommend schools should:

• review the school's recruitment documentation to include its approach to online/social media searches

• update the school's privacy notices to reflect the approach to online/social media searching

• consider what information will be searched for, and who will carry out these searches

• consider what information will be recorded, and how long it will be retained

• satisfy yourselves that staff who are involved in undertaking the searches and in recruitment decisions understand what kind of online search results should be taken into account in the context of recruitment decisions, in order to reduce the risk of discrimination allegations, etc

Increased Flexibility for Low-Level Concerns

The previous KCSIE introduced the concept of 'low-level concerns' and the requirement for schools to have a Low Level Concerns Policy in place. It said that low-level concerns should be raised in the same way as an allegation that may meet the harm threshold, namely that in most cases the concern should be raised with the Headteacher or Principal.

However, the wording caused some confusion for some schools who preferred to adopt a different approach to managing low-level concerns, and preferred low-level concerns to be brought to the attention of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or a dedicated safeguarding champion in the first instance.

The new KCSIE introduces increased flexibility for schools to determine their own approach to reporting low-level concerns. Para. 432 confirms that the way low-level concerns are initially shared is a matter for schools to decide. However, it does emphasise that if the headteacher is not the first port of call, they should still be "informed in a timely fashion" of each low-level concern and "should be the ultimate decision maker in respect of all low-level concerns".

In light of this change, we recommend schools should:

• review the reporting mechanism for low-level concerns in their Low Level Concerns Policy - if your policy provides for low-level concerns to be raised differently to an allegation that may meet the harm threshold, you should take care to ensure it is clear that the DSL/safeguarding champion must report all low-level concerns to the Headteacher

• consider what guidance you can offer to staff who are unsure whether a concern is a true low-level concern, or whether it is an allegation that may meet the harm threshold

How Can VWV Help?

• Our specialist lawyers in our Employment team can provide advice on changes to your recruitment process, including online/social media searches, to ensure that you do not do anything that puts you at risk of an Employment Tribunal claim.

• We have a template Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy (which is part of our revised safeguarding suite of policies), which includes a section on allegations and low-level concerns, which is available for a fixed fee, with retainer clients being eligible for a discount.

• We are presenting a Safeguarding Update webinar on Tuesday, 13 September 2022, from 2.30pm to 4.00pm, which is free to attend - register here.

• We can provide bespoke training (via webinar or on-site) tailored to the specific needs, demographics and local procedures of your school(s) for a competitive fixed fee.

• We offer online KCSIE training on our eLearning Solutions platform. Written by our specialist education lawyers, this eLearning ensures your staff and trustees and/or governors are aware of their responsibilities, giving them the confidence they need when interacting with children. Evidence their training with a user-friendly online reporting tool within the dashboard, allowing you to manage the status of, and send reminders to, those who have fallen behind. If you are interested in securing KCSIE eLearning, you can book a demo with our Sales Manager, Imogen Street, who can take you through how the platform works in more detail on a 1-2-1 basis.

If you have a query in respect of anything in this article, or would like more information about ways in which we can help, please contact Yvonne Spencer on 020 7665 0870 or Nicola Tarmey on 07393 149164 in our Regulatory Compliance team, or complete the form below.