Management Information Sheet
Revised Statutory Guidance - 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' (DfE)
Revised Statutory Guidance (May 2016: For Information Only)
On 26 May 2016, the Department for Education (DfE) published a revised version of 'Keeping Children Safe in Education'. The revised guidance is for information only at this stage so that schools and colleges can plan for the commencement of the guidance on 5 September 2016.
Alongside the revised guidance, the DfE also published a response to the consultation held during December 2015 and January 2016: 'Keeping children safe in education: government response'.
Until the new guidance commences on 5 September 2016 the existing statutory guidance, 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' July 2015 is still in force and schools and colleges must continue to have regard to it.
The LA Model Safeguarding Policy and the Single Central Record (SCR) template have been updated to reflect the changes that will become statutory on 5 September. All other forms and templates including the self-review tool and the whole school training package will be updated in due course and will be available for 5th September 2016.
What should schools and colleges do?
- Read the revised guidance alongside the DfE consultation response document
- Review all relevant policy documents and procedures and devise an action plan to implement required changes in preparation for 5 September 2016
- Ensure safer recruitment practices and the SCR are up to date
- Consider what mechanisms are in place to support staff understanding to discharge their role and responsibilities as set out in Part one of the guidance
In order to support settings with this task, the DfE Table of changes (included at Annex H of the revised document) has been amended to provide additional advice and guidance on specific changes.
Schools should access training materials and templates directly from the Norfolk Schools website when updating procedures to ensure that they have access to the most up to date guidance.
If a school or college has specific questions about the logistics of undertaking any safer recruitment checks, they will need to contact their HR provider.