Statutory Guidance

England

New draft Guidance: Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024
Source: Department for Education published on this website Monday June 10, 2024.

It is important to note that this draft Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 publication May 2024, is for information only, pending publication of the final version which does not come into force until September 2024.

Keeping children safe in education 2023 must be used until 1 September 2024.

Substantive changes from September 2023 Annex F

Summary about the guidance
Part One Safeguarding Information for all staff

Page 4 Definition of ‘safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children’ – amended to reflect the updated Working together to safeguard children 2023

Paragraph 18 ‘Early help’ – amended to reflect revised ‘Working Together’ guidance

Paragraph 19 ‘Abuse and Neglect’ – heading amended to include ‘exploitation’ (also throughout the document as applicable)

Paragraph 24 ‘Indicators of Abuse and neglect’ – additional text included ‘including where they see, hear,or experience its effects’ when referring to domestic violence.

Paragraph 29 ‘Safeguarding Issues’ – ‘deliberately missing education’ amended to reflect revised definition of ‘unexplainable and or/persistent absences from education

Part Two The management of safeguarding

Paragraph 92 Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR – paragraph included to comply with DPA/UKGDPR requirements

Paragraph 171 ‘Alternative Provision’ – text added to clarify school remains responsible for the pupils they place in alternative provision

Paragraph 204 Links added to NSPCC advice on protecting children with SEN; and deaf/disabled children and young people

Paragraphs 205 - to 209 ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning their gender’ – disclaimer added, and additional text includes further clarification to comply with gender questioning children guidance terminology

Part Five Child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment

Paragraph 497 ‘Early help’ – text amended to reflect ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023’

Annex B Further information

Page 148 ‘Children and the court system’ – two separate age-appropriate guides for schools to support children in the court system now included

Page 156 ‘Preventing radicalisation’ – disclaimer added, and minimal changes to clarify schools’ duties in relation to Prevent

Annex C  Role of the designated safeguarding lead

Page 170 ‘Holding and sharing information’ – bullet point 3: further guidance added regarding the rationale for making decisions

Inquiry and Review Reports

1 The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has published the findings relating to the provision of residential care for children at Gordonstoun, Moray and its associated junior school, Aberlour.

Gordonstoun was one of the schools investigated in the boarding schools case study and explored in evidence in the course of public hearings. The scope and purpose of this part of the boarding schools case study was to consider evidence about:

• The nature and extent of any relevant abuse at Gordonstoun. That included consideration of any reported abuse at Aberlour – Wester Elchies (1937–64) and Aberlour House (1947–99) – which operated essentially as, and were widely understood to be, Gordonstoun’s prep schools, notwithstanding having distinct legal entity between 1947 and 1999, after which Aberlour became a subsidiary of Gordonstoun Schools Ltd.
• Any of Gordonstoun’s relevant systems, policies, and procedures, their application, and their effectiveness
• Any related matters.

It concludes that children who boarded at both establishments were exposed to risks of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and for many, those risks materialised.

Factors including failures to prioritise child protection; a lack of effective child protection systems; staff without appropriate skills and training; poor recruitment policies; insufficient oversight of pupils and teachers; and failures in governance are all found to have contributed.

Lady Smith, Chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry said:

“I have no difficulty in finding that children were abused at Gordonstoun and Aberlour in a variety of ways over a long period of time. It was assumed the declaration of good intentions by founder Kurt Hahn was enough to ensure the school could be entrusted to provided appropriate residential care. At Gordonstoun, the assumption proved to be ill-founded, largely due to poor leadership. It was only after 1990 and the appointment of a headmaster who understood the importance of pastoral care that abuse eventually began to be addressed and a measure of trust was restored. A dreadfully abusive and, in some houses, extremely violent culture was allowed to take root. Abuse was also perpetrated by staff. The evidence of abuse was clear from the accounts of many applicants.
“Similarly, at Aberlour, the 1960s to 1990s were marked by a similar culture of assumption and naivety, exacerbated by the long and unchallenged leadership. There was a significant failure of governance with no interest in child protection or pastoral care until the 1990s.”

In summary, in relation to Gordonstoun Lady Smith also found:

• Poor leadership resulted in a dreadfully abusive and, in some houses, extremely violent culture was allowed to take root
• A code of silence amongst the pupils was normalised
• Andrew Keir, a physics teacher, was a predatory paedophile. Under the guise of being friendly and caring, he groomed boys with a view to satisfying his sexual desires His behaviour was known about by the boys. The school was also aware but failed to act. Had Gordonstoun acted when it should have done, children would not have been abused by Keir in 1990 or 1991.
• Six other teachers sexually abused children between the 1960s and 1990s. The abuse comprised the repeated rape of a boy by an exchange teacher; the indecent assault of boys by two teachers; indecent assaults on girls by a male teacher (who was subsequently jailed in England for similar abuse); indecent touching of girls by the school chaplain; and voyeuristic practices by a housemaster involving a number of male pupils. That voyeurism was reported, but the school’s response went no further than removing the housemaster from his house. Repeated complaints from a parent finally resulted in his resignation but he was not dismissed
• Racism was widespread
• Sexual abuse engaged in by pupils seems to have been frequent. Whilst, after co-education was introduced in 1972, it was not unusual for girls to form relationships – including sexual relationships – with older boys, they would often do so to protect themselves from others. This was, in fact, a form of grooming.

In relation to Aberlour Lady Smith found:

• Weak recruitment practices and poor judgment by the headmaster meant that unsuitable teachers were repeatedly appointed
• A high proportion of staff sexually abused children at Aberlour
• John Conroy, an English teacher at Aberlour in the 1970s, abused at least four boys The response to the discovery of his abuse was woeful. Conroy was dismissed, but the school did not report matters to the police and nor were other staff made aware of how Conroy had been behaving
• That approach to the discovery of abuse was repeated. Three other members of staff left Aberlour after inappropriate behaviour

Gordonstoun offered a genuine apology for the abuse experienced by children entrusted into its care and acknowledged its moral responsibility for those at Aberlour prior to 1999.

2 Church of England Safeguarding practice review suspended

The review group overseeing the independent review into the handling of alleged safeguarding issues regarding the former Dean of Christ Church, Oxford has announced that it is suspending its work.

The Safeguarding Practice Review was announced in November and commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council and Oxford Diocese. Members of the review group were to consider evidence relating to the alleged safeguarding issues with a view to appointing and instructing an independent reviewer with relevant expertise and experience. That has been unable to happen despite the efforts of the review group members. This has meant no further progress can be made on the review.

Stakeholders have been informed of this development and support has been offered.

3 Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Briefing Paper 3 May 2024 about safeguarding and elective home education is published as part of an ongoing series of publications to share information arising from work undertaken by the Panel with safeguarding partners and others involved in child protection. The purpose of this briefing is to share learning from the panel’s analysis of rapid reviews and Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPRs) to inform the work of safeguarding partners generally to help and protect children who are electively home educated. The briefing explores common themes and patterns identified across reviews and highlights practice issues raised by safeguarding partners from across England

1 Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) finds one in three parents at risk of having their babies removed from their care have learning disabilities or difficulties often not identified until court

A new study suggests that parents with learning disabilities or learning difficulties whose babies are involved in care proceedings are often missing the chance to access and meaningfully engage in pre-birth services that might help them to develop or prove their parenting abilities. Their disabilities or difficulties are often not being identified until cases reach court, and so support has not been adapted for their needs.

Researchers at the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University examined 200 care proceedings cases involving babies (children under one year old) across four different local authority areas, and interviewed professionals and parents. They found that in one third (34%) of the cases one or more of the parents involved had learning disabilities or learning difficulties. This prevalence varied by local authority area (from 44% in a county area to 22% in a London borough) – consistent with Public Health England evidence on the varying rates of adults with learning disabilities within the whole population across different parts of England.

Despite this prevalence – and despite a high proportion (81%) of babies having been referred to children’s social care during their mother’s pregnancy, most in the first and second trimester – in approximately three quarters of the reviewed children’s case files, parents’ learning disabilities or learning difficulties had not been identified until their cases reached court. Professionals of all types interviewed as part of the study thought this was far too late and that there were missed opportunities to identify learning disabilities or learning difficulties at an earlier stage.

The study also suggested that parents are often already known to services. Nearly half (49%) of the mothers and 28% of the fathers were known to have older children already in care. Just over half (51%) of the mothers and just under a quarter (24%) of the fathers were known to have been in care or to have been the subject of a statutory child protection or child in need plan themselves as children.
The main barriers to earlier identification included the costs for local authorities in getting an assessment completed earlier and social workers not having the right training, experience, authority, or time to screen effectively or to trigger a further in-depth assessment.

2 The latest monthly Assuring Transformation NHS Digital data shows that in May 2024:

• 2,025 autistic people and people with learning disabilities are in inpatient mental health hospitals in England
• 1,380 (68%) of these people are autistic
• There are 215 under 18s in inpatient units that are autistic or have a learning disability. Of these, 98% are autistic.

This is the most up-to-date record of how many autistic people and people with learning disabilities, both adults and children, are currently in inpatient units in England. Despite some progress moving people with a learning disability out of hospital and into the community, the number of autistic people in inpatient facilities has increased. In 2015, autistic people made up 38% of the number in hospital, now it is 68%. Additionally, the number of autistic people without a learning disability detained in mental health hospitals has increased by 116% since 2015.

It is widely recognised that for most autistic people, care in an inpatient unit is rarely helpful – in fact, it can be deeply damaging. The average length of stay is around 4.9 years and we continue to hear alarming cases of overmedication, seclusion and unnecessary restraint. The overwhelming majority (92%) of autistic people and people with a learning disability who are detained in hospital are put there using the Mental Health Act 1983. The National Autistic Society and hundreds of thousands of campaigners have been calling for changes to mental health law for years, so it respects autistic people’s rights.

In 2011, shocking abuse was uncovered at Winterbourne View Hospital, an inpatient unit for people with learning disabilities. This scandal led to the acknowledgement that there is a significant number of autistic people, those with a learning disability or both, stuck inappropriately in inpatient settings – largely because services to support them in the community simply do not exist.

The Government’s response came in the form of the Transforming Care programme which aimed to close up to half of the inpatient mental health beds and move people back to their local communities by 1 June 2014. This did not happen.

Several targets have been set since which have not been met. The 2019 NHS Long-Term Plan committed to halving the number of autistic people and people with learning disabilities in inpatient care from 2015 levels by March 2024. In 2022, this target was reaffirmed by the Government in its ‘Building the Right Support Action Plan’. It was revealed in April that this target has been missed by a substantial margin, largely driven by the increase in autistic people being detained.

1 Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) sounds alarm for young people and parents as sharing of nudes becomes ‘normalised’ in UK schools

A new nation-wide campaign Think Before You Share has been launched to help open a dialogue between parents and teens amid warnings the sharing and soliciting of nudes is becoming “normalised” among young people.

The campaign also warns young people about the pitfalls of sharing their own and others’ explicit images. These images and videos can quickly get out of hand and can even end up being shared by strangers on dedicated child sexual abuse websites.

It comes amid warnings that sending and soliciting nudes is becoming “normalised” in UK schools as shown by research from the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI - formerly PIER – Policing Institute for the Eastern Region) part of Anglia Ruskin University. PPPRI warns that pupils are being exposed to unsolicited “dick pics” online on a “very regular basis”. Most of this so-called self-generated child sexual abuse imagery discovered by the IWF features girls aged 11 to 13.

Following the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Sextortion warning to  schools earlier this year SAFEcic would like to remind all those working with under 18s and/or parents and carers about  'Report Remove'
which is a joint initiative run by Childline, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Yoti for reporting and removing any online sexual images or videos of under 18s.

2 New Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 reveals the impact of attacks on schools
Issued by The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) the survey highlights that 71% of secondary schools experienced a cyber breach or attack in the past year, in contrast to 52% of primary schools.

This survey sheds light on the prevalence of cyber-attacks in schools and the measures they are taking to combat these threats. Phishing remains the most frequent type of cyber breach within educational institutions with the survey showing that 92% of primary schools and 89% of secondary schools reported encountering phishing attempts. This aligns with broader findings from 2022, underscoring phishing as the most common cybersecurity threat.

The survey also indicated a decline in other forms of cyber-attacks compared to 2023, suggesting that schools have strengthened their efforts to mitigate these risks. Despite their commitment to cybersecurity, primary and secondary schools were less likely than colleges and universities to seek external advice and resources.

Most schools have proactively identified potential cybersecurity risks by conducting audits, penetration testing, and investing in threat intelligence. Notably, 75% of primary schools and 81% of secondary schools have established cybersecurity policies. Nonetheless, primary schools were found to have less advanced approaches compared to their secondary counterparts.

Securing adequate funding for cybersecurity remains a significant concern for many schools, particularly given budget constraints. This emphasizes the need for cost-effective cybersecurity solutions.

Free resources such as CyberSecure Check for Schools, developed by SWGfL for the Department for Education (DfE), provide UK schools with tools to assess and improve their cybersecurity measures. This self-assessment tool helps schools identify strengths and areas for improvement, promoting consistency in cybersecurity practices across educational institutions.By utilizing CyberSecure Check, schools can better prepare for and manage evolving cybersecurity threats, ensuring a safer digital environment for students and staff.

1 Child Safety Week 2024 is the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s annual community education campaign, acting as a catalyst for thousands of safety conversations and activities UK-wide. CAPT help families build confidence and skills in managing the real risks to children’s safety. They want all children to have the freedom to grow and learn, safe from serious harm.
Families should feel confident that, with one small change, they can stop a serious accident. And be clear what they need to do to keep their children safe.

The aim of Child Safety Week is to reach as many families as possible with important safety advice, but they need your help!

2 Child Accident Prevention Trust and Royal Life Saving Society UK partner for child safety
Figures from 2022 showed a worrying 46% increase in the number of children accidentally drowning in the UK, compared to the 5-year average. In light of this alarming rise in child drownings both charities are joining forces to bring increased awareness around drowning prevention.

The partnership will see a number of projects in 2024, including sharing and amplifying key safety awareness campaigns, exchanging research and insights intro children’s water safety and learning education resources and programmes.

1 Nurse sentenced for viewing child abuse material
A nurse from Ipswich who worked with vulnerable adults has been sentenced for viewing child abuse images.

Anand Chinnathamby, 43, who was the deputy ward manager at a mental health unit in Colchester, Essex, came to the attention of the National Crime Agency after he uploaded 10 indecent images of children to his Gmail account. His account was closed down and reported to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, who referred it to the NCA.

NCA officers arrested Chinnathamby at his home in Ipswich in April 2022 and seized his phone. Despite a large amount of data having been deleted from the phone around the time his Gmail account was disabled, officers found file paths for over 100 indecent images of children that had previously been saved on the device. Evidence was also recovered that proved he had control of the offending account, and had named the email address linked to it after a ward he had previously worked on.

Chinnathamby was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children in categories A-C. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced today [31 May 2024] at Ipswich Crown Court to eight months, suspended for two years.

He has also been dismissed from his job at the care centre.

2 DNA and phone data analysis results in dangerous sex offender being jailed
Khayrul Islam, 29 of Ropley Street, E2 appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday, 5 June where he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault by touching against a 14-year-old girl.

During trial the court heard how Islam, who was known to the victim’s family, had contacted the victim on her 14th birthday and invited her to his home to celebrate. The child went to the address where Islam gave her alcohol until she was drunk and then attacked her.

After the attack the girl managed to run from the address leaving behind some of her belongings. She was distraught and cried out that she had been raped. Thankfully, members of the public came to her A sexual predator has been jailed following an investigation by officers from the Met’s Central East Safeguarding Team in Tower Hamlets.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order with strict conditions that will allow the police to monitor him for 15 years.

3 Operation Stovewood: Seven guilty of abusing teenage girls who were in care
Seven men have been found guilty of a string of child sex abuse offences against two teenage girls in Rotherham in the early 2000s.The trial of the men, at Sheffield Crown Court, was the result of a five year investigation by officers from the National Crime Agency’s Operation Stovewood.

The victims, who were aged between 11 and 16 at the time of the offences and were both in care, were groomed and often plied with alcohol or cannabis before being raped or assaulted.
They would often be collected by their abusers from the children’s homes where they lived at the time.

The court heard how the attacks took place at locations around Rotherham, in a park, in a car in a supermarket car park, in a cemetery, even behind a children’s nursery. In one case one of the girls was taken to a hotel where she was raped by two men. On another occasion the same girl was locked inside one of her abuser’s homes, raped on at least two occasions, and only managed to escape by climbing out of a window.

Following a nine week trial at Sheffield Crown Court, seven men were found guilty of a series of offences on Wednesday 5 June. All seven were remanded in custody Operation Stovewood: Seven guilty of abusing teenage girls who were in care until sentencing, which is due to take place on 12 and 13 September 2024. An eighth man was cleared of rape.

The guilty verdicts mean that 33 people have now been convicted of offences following investigations by the NCA’s Operation Stovewood, which is looking at allegations of abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

It remains the single largest investigation of its kind in the UK, with more than 1,150 potential victims identified.

4 Childminder jailed for killing baby Harlow Collinge
A childminder has been jailed for killing a baby under her care in Hapton. Baby Harlow Collinge suffered injuries consistent with being violently shaken by defendant Karen Foster at her former home in Mill Lane.
The North West Ambulance Service were called at 1.19pm on 1st March 2022 following a report that nine-month old Harlow was in cardiac arrest. He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital where it was discovered he had a significant and non-accidental injury to his brain.

Due to the nature and severity of Harlow’s brain injury and having given a number of conflicting accounts of how this injury was sustained, Foster was arrested at that time on suspicion of Section 18 grievous bodily harm. Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, Harlow sadly died on 5th March 2022 surrounded by his loved ones.

A postmortem examination revealed that Harlow’s cause of death was inflicted traumatic brain injury. Foster was further arrested on suspicion of murder. Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, 62-year-old Foster was charged with Harlow’s murder.

After two years, faced with the indisputable and overwhelming evidence that she was responsible for killing Harlow, Foster pleaded guilty to his manslaughter when she appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court last week.

Foster, now of no fixed address, appeared at the same court today where Mr Justice Cotter jailed her for 12 years and seven months.

5 A former Kent Police officer has been charged with rape, sexual assault and misconduct in a public office.

Jamie Woodhams was the subject of an investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate after a report made to the force in October 2022. The 51-year-old, of Ashford, has now been charged with six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

The charges relate to alleged offences against two women in Kent and elsewhere between 2006 and 2022. He is also charged with three counts of misconduct in a public office, relating to alleged relationships he formed with women he had met during the course of his duties.

Mr Woodhams, who resigned from the force in April 2022, will shortly appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court

6 Former NCA officer convicted over indecent images
A former NCA officer has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, possessing extreme images, and misconduct in a public office. 40-year-old Adam Taylor from Waltham Abbey was arrested by officers from the NCA's Anti-Corruption Unit in April 2022, after it was established that an IP address linked to his home address was accessing illegal content.

Taylor, who joined the NCA in 2014 and was working as an intelligence officer at the time, was immediately suspended. During searches of his home address a large number of laptops, tablets, USBs, hard drives, DVDs, CDs and other electronic storage devices were found. They contained more than 700 indecent images of children, and another 200 images of extreme pornography or bestiality. Some images were found on a computer Taylor had been given for work purposes.

He was later dismissed from the NCA for gross misconduct.

7 Ipswich man jailed for child sex offences
A man from Ipswich has been sentenced to 21 years imprisonment after being found guilty of a series of sexual offences. David Miller, aged 44 and of Hervey Street in Ipswich, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court today, Thursday 20 June, following a nine-day trial after he pleaded not guilty to all offences. A jury found him guilty unanimously on all counts on Friday 14 May.

Miller had denied 16 offences – these were two of rape, two of indecent assault, four of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, seven of sexual activity with a child, and one of sexual activity with a child but was convicted by the jury. All offences relate to three children and took place between December 2002 and December 2019.

Miller was first arrested in October 2020 and following detailed and thorough investigations he was charged in October 2022. He targeted vulnerable adult women with a view to abuse their children, all of whom were boys.

8 Man who was once on the FBI’s most wanted list is convicted of a child sex offence in Kettering
A 67-year-old man who was once on the FBI’s most wanted list has been convicted of a child sex offence in Kettering. James Hemphill, previously of Houghton Conquest, Bedford, was on the American law enforcement’s most wanted list for ten years after he pleaded guilty to a child sex offence in America in 1994 but fled to Scotland before he could be sentenced.

After evading the FBI for ten years, he was finally arrested in 2004, returned to America and jailed. But in April 2008, he was deported back to the United Kingdom where he has been living ever since. At the end of 2022, he was living in Kettering and offended again, contacting a teenage girl and asking her if she wanted him to buy her some underwear. He also asked her if she wanted adult toys and if she wanted them to share a bed.

The girl in question bravely confided in a family member and Hemphill’s offending was reported to Northamptonshire Police. He was arrested and subsequently charged with one count of causing/inciting a girl aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity and one count of failing to comply with the notification requirements of being on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Following a trial which ended at Northampton Crown Court on Monday, June 18, he was convicted on both counts. He will return to the same court in September to be sentenced.

9 Sarah’s Law
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSODS) lets you formally ask the police whether someone who has contact with a child or children:

• has a record for child sexual (paedophile) offences
• poses a risk to the child or children for some other reason

It's not a law, but it is sometimes called 'Sarah's Law'. It gives guidance on how you can ask us to use our existing police powers to share information about sex offenders.

If you’re worried about someone’s behaviour towards a child, or something you've seen, heard or been told, you can use Sarah's Law to find out if that person is a risk via your local police force

Don’t take the bait: Action Fraud urges the public to continue reporting phishy emails, with more than 32 million already reported

The reports have led to more than 329,000 websites addresses being removed by the National Cyber Security Centre. Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, has launched a national phishing awareness campaign, as reporting reached its highest level since the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) launched. New data shows a rise of 44% year-on-year, with almost 11,611,400 reports made to SERS in 2023, up from 8,074,200 reports in 2022.

Alongside emails, there has also been a huge number of text messages reported to 7726. In March 2024, more than 60,000 malicious websites were removed as a result of being reported using 7726. This is a free service, offered by mobile network providers, allowing customers to forward suspicious text messages and help the removal of malicious URLs from messages.

If you think you have received a phishing email or text message, make sure you report it.

You can forward emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,

To report a scam text, forward it to 7726 and then send the sender’s number when prompted.

To report a scam call, simply text 7726 with the word ‘Call’ followed by the scam caller’s number.

Your provider can find out where the text came from and block or ban the sender.

If you’ve lost money or provided financial information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.