SAFEGUARDING - POLICY CHANGES

An overview of the upcoming changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding requirements

Earlier this year, the Department for Education (DfE) ran a consultation on proposed changes to Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements. The purpose of these proposals, according to the government, was to “make the safeguarding requirements more comprehensive for providers”.

The DfE has now published its response to the consultation and confirmed a number of changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework, which will come into effect on 1 September 2025.

Below is a summary of the key changes:

• Requiring providers to obtain a reference before employment when recruiting new members of staff, in addition to the existing requirements around criminal record checks and the suitability checks carried out by Ofsted and childminding agencies.
  
  
• Requiring providers to follow up on child absences in a timely manner and, if a child is absent for a prolonged period of time or without notification from the parent or carer, to attempt to contact the child’s parents and/or carers and alternative emergency contacts. This will include a requirement to have an attendance policy that is shared with parents and/or carers, which must include expectations for reporting child absences and the actions providers will take if a child is absent without notification or for a prolonged period of time.
  
  
• Recommending that, where possible, settings hold more than two emergency contacts for each child.
  
  
• Replacing the reference to “lead practitioner” in section 3.4 of the EYFS (“The lead practitioner is responsible for liaison with local statutory children’s services agencies, and with the Local Safeguarding Partners”) with “Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)”.
  
  
• Including an annex to both the group and school-based provider EYFS and the childminder EYFS which sets out the minimum requirements for effective safeguarding training. This will include a requirement to renew safeguarding training every two years, though the annex will also state that “providers may consider whether any staff need to undertake annual refresher training during any two-year period to help maintain basic skills and keep up to date with any changes to safeguarding procedures or as a result of any safeguarding concerns that occur in the setting”.
  
  
• Requiring safeguarding policies within early years settings to include detail of how safeguarding training is delivered and how educators are supported to put this into practice.
  
  
• Making it explicit that, in order for students on long-term placements, volunteers (aged 17 or over) and staff working as apprentices in early education (aged 16 or over) to be included in the ratios, they will also need a valid paediatric first aid certificate.
  
  
• Requiring providers to “ensure children’s privacy is considered and balanced with safeguarding and support needs when changing nappies and toileting”.
  
  
• Adding a new safer eating section to the EYFS, including new requirements around allergies and anaphylaxis, introduction of solid foods and choking prevention.
  
  
• Requiring providers to put appropriate whistleblowing procedures in place for staff to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice in the setting’s safeguarding provision. This must include when and how to report concerns and the process that will be followed after staff report concerns.
  

Find out more
The full consultation response can be viewed at bit.ly/U5safeguardingresponse.