Safeguarding
KCSIE, DSL practice, and building a culture of safeguarding.
Safeguarding Early Years Safeguarding 2026: EYFS & KCSIE Changes Explained | Otii
I’ve read a lot of government documents about the early years. Most of them are written about us rather than for us, and you can usually tell within a page or two. When the September 2026 statutory updates dropped—bringing explicit requirements from Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) into the EYFS framework, I took that familiar deep breath. If you operate a setting or lead a team, you probably took it, too. Recently, I sat down with independent safeguarding expert and former LADO Ann Marie Christian and Angelica Sinska on The Voice of Early Childhood podcast to unpack what these September 2026 changes actually mean in daily practice. Because let’s be honest: our sector is tired of top-down mandates, 190-page documents, and being treated like an afterthought. We don't need more fear-mongering; we need clarity, practical systems, and a culture of safety that actually protects children without drowning practitioners in panic. Here is what is really changing this September, why the old ways of logging safeguarding are breaking down, and how we can move forward calmly.
Safeguarding isn't a product. It's a pulse.
Safeguarding is showing signs of becoming another tokenistic industry, badges, apps, one-off training, all promising a quick fix. It was never meant to be a bolt-on. It's a pulse.