Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026: What Schools Need to Check

Why the Start of the School Year Is a Good Time to Review
Safeguarding Information

Safeguarding is always a priority in schools, but the start of the school year is one of the most important times to check that everything is clear, current and easy to find.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 comes into force from 1st September 2026. For school leaders, designated safeguarding leads, governors and office teams, this makes the start of the new academic year a perfect time to review what is published online.

This does not need to feel like a huge project. A few simple website checks can make a big difference to how confidently your school shares safeguarding information with parents, carers, staff and inspectors.

Your Safeguarding Page Should Be Easy to Find

A school website should never make people hunt for safeguarding information. If a parent, carer, governor or inspector needs to find it, the route should be clear. In many cases, the safeguarding page should sit in a predictable place, such as the main menu, the key information section or a dedicated parent area. The wording should be simple too. Clear labels such as Safeguarding, Child Protection or Keeping Children Safe are much easier than creative menu names.

The aim is simple. People should know where to click without guessing.

Check That Key Names and Contacts Are Current

One of the easiest things for school websites to get wrong is contact information. Staff change, governors change and safeguarding roles can move between members of the team.

In the new academic year, schools should check that the website clearly shows the current safeguarding team and relevant contact routes.
• Designated safeguarding lead
• Deputy safeguarding leads
• Governor responsible for safeguarding where appropriate
• Main school contact details
• Out of hours or emergency signposting where appropriate

This helps families understand who to speak to and gives staff confidence that published information matches school practice.

Make Policies Easy to Read and Easy to Check

Safeguarding policies should not be hidden at the bottom of a long page or buried in an old document list. They need to be easy to find, easy to open and easy to review.
It is helpful to show document names clearly, along with review dates where possible. This makes life easier for office teams, governors and inspectors because everyone can quickly see whether the information is current.

A simple, tidy policy area is often much more useful than a page full of mixed documents with unclear titles.

Think About Parents and Carers First

Safeguarding information is not only there for compliance. It is there to help families understand how your school keeps children safe.
That means the language should be clear, calm and easy to understand. Not every parent will know school safeguarding terms. A short introduction can help explain what the page is for and who to contact if they have a concern.

For example, a simple sentence such as, “If you are worried about a child or would like to speak to someone about safeguarding, please contact the school office and ask for a member of our safeguarding team,” can make the page feel much more useful.

Keep Online Safety Visible

Online safety continues to be a major part of safeguarding. Schools should make sure online safety information is easy to access and not treated as a one off awareness day topic.
This could include parent guides, useful links, reporting advice, age appropriate resources and information about how children are supported in school.

A dedicated online safety area can also support wider school communication around AI, social media, gaming, group chats and safe internet use at home.

Make the Website Work for Staff Too

A safeguarding page needs to be easy for visitors to use, but it also needs to be easy for staff to maintain.

If updating a policy or changing a contact takes too long, the website is more likely to fall out of date. This is why a clear website structure and simple content management system matter.

At North East Schools, we design school websites around the way schools actually work. That means thinking about how pages look for parents, but also how simple they are for staff to update behind the scenes.

A Simple Safeguarding Website Check

Schools can use this simple check:
• Can safeguarding information be found in one or two clicks?
• Are the safeguarding team details correct?
• Are policies named clearly and up to date?
• Are documents easy to open on mobile?
• Is online safety information easy to find?
• Is the language parent friendly?
• Can staff update the page without difficulty?

A Practical Way Forward

Keeping safeguarding information current does not need to be complicated. The biggest improvements often come from making pages clearer, removing outdated content and giving families a simple route to the right information.

As schools prepare for Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, it is a good time to look at the website through the eyes of a parent, carer or inspector. If key information is difficult to find, hard to read or out of date, now is the right time to improve it.

North East Schools supports nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools and academies with school website design, hosting and practical digital support. We help schools keep important information clear, accessible and easy to manage throughout the year.

We love working with schools across the North East, if your school needs an updated Website Design, get in touch here and we can start your new project together.