# What should a safeguarding chronology include? Source page: https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/chronology Last updated: 2026-10-20 Publisher: Pupil Protect (Glacier Labs Ltd) > A safeguarding chronology is a list, in date order, of the significant events and changes in a child's life, with where each piece of information came from, its impact on the child and what was done about it. It should include key incidents, referrals, assessments, meetings, decisions and positive changes, kept as brief summaries. It shouldn't be a copy of case notes or a log of every phone call. ## What a chronology is for A chronology is a record, in date order, of the significant events and changes in a child's life. Swindon Safeguarding Partnership's guidance calls it "a live tool", used to analyse the history of a case alongside the work being done now. Local guidance gives three main reasons for keeping one: - **To make sense of a child's history.** It helps with assessment and with deciding what to do next. - **To spot patterns.** One incident on its own may look minor. A run of them, set out in order, can show neglect or harm building up. - **To reflect.** It shows where plans have drifted or agreed actions weren't done, including after a serious incident. Nottinghamshire's procedures add that a chronology stops new information being treated as a "one-off" without knowing about earlier concerns. National guidance makes the same point. Working together to safeguard children 2026 says reviews have shown that missed opportunities to record, understand the significance of, and share information in good time can have severe consequences for children (chapter 1, paragraph 29). It also says analysis should build on the history of every child, taking account of family history and cumulative abuse, neglect and exploitation (chapter 3, paragraph 186). ## What to include Local partnership templates usually have the same columns for each entry: - **Date or period of the event** - **What happened**, in a brief, factual line - **Source**: who told you, or which service or record it came from - **Impact on the child**, positive or negative. If you don't know yet, say so. - **Action taken**, by your school or another agency. If nothing was done, say why. - **Date the entry was made**, so late entries are clear Swindon's guidance lists the kinds of events that belong in a chronology. For a school, the most common are: - concerns raised by staff, and disclosures by the child - referrals to children's social care, Family Help or other services, and their outcomes - assessments and their outcomes - child protection conferences, reviews, core group and strategy meetings, with their outcomes - changes in the family, such as a new partner, separation, bereavement, a house move or homelessness - education changes, such as absence, suspensions, exclusions or a change of school - missing episodes, hospital admissions, injuries and missed health appointments - domestic abuse incidents, and police or court involvement - concerns about exploitation, such as child criminal or sexual exploitation - whether the family engages with services or not - key management decisions, with brief reasons - positive changes and improvements Nottinghamshire's procedures say concerns about relevant adults should also go on the child's chronology. They also say that when you're unsure whether something matters, it is "better included than left out". Deciding what is significant is a matter of professional judgement. ## What to leave out Swindon's guidance says a chronology should not include copied and pasted case notes or lists of dates of visits. It should be brief bullet points. It also says: - leave out routine phone calls, and focus on the main events - group repeated events, for example "Between April and June there were 23 incidents of absconding, rising each week", rather than 23 separate lines - don't record events just to "cover your back". Record them because they form part of a pattern. Nottinghamshire puts it simply: a chronology "is not a substitute for a case note record". The full account of each concern stays in the child protection file. ## How to write each entry Keep entries short, factual and in plain English. Swindon's template notes that children and their families may see the chronology, so the language should be non-judgemental. The chronology should be balanced, including the parents' strengths as well as weaknesses. Keeping children safe in education 2026 says safeguarding records should be clear, factual, and distinguish between observed concerns, professional opinion and historic information (Annex B). That applies to chronology entries too. Write "Seen with a bruise on the left cheek" as what you saw, and label any view about what it means as your opinion. ## How chronologies are used Chronologies are used: - by the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) to review a child's case and decide whether to refer or step up help - in supervision, especially when a worker has "a feeling of unease" about a case - in reports for child protection conferences, core groups and other multi-agency meetings - to build a multi-agency chronology, where each agency's entries are merged so patterns can be seen early - in court proceedings, where the chronology may need editing to meet the court's expectations A chronology is only as useful as it is accurate and up to date. Swindon's guidance says it should be reviewed regularly, and updated at multi-agency meetings. Sharing it with the child and family should be part of that review, where it is safe to do so. When a child moves school, KCSIE 2026 says the child protection file should go to the new school within 5 days for an in-year transfer, or within the first 5 days of a new term. It should include a clear, structured summary of current concerns, relevant context and ongoing support needs (Annex B). A good chronology makes that summary much easier to write. ## Rapid reviews and practice reviews When a child dies or is seriously harmed and abuse or neglect is known or suspected, the local safeguarding partners notify the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Working together 2026 sets out three stages (chapter 5, paragraph 385): 1. **Serious incident notification**, within 5 working days of becoming aware of the incident 2. **Rapid review**, sent to the Panel within 15 working days of the notification, to gather the facts and decide next steps (paragraph 392) 3. **Local child safeguarding practice review (LCSPR)**, where the partners decide one is needed, completed within 6 months of that decision. It doesn't follow automatically (paragraph 395) Schools are often asked to contribute. Safeguarding partners can require any organisation to provide specified information, and the organisation must comply (paragraphs 89 and 90). The Panel's guidance for safeguarding partners (June 2025) says education services should be represented in a rapid review when children are of statutory school age. This is where a well-kept chronology pays off. The Panel asks rapid reviews to analyse "significant practice episodes", summarised and "avoiding long chronologies", and asks LCSPRs for "an integrated multi-agency chronology focussed on key practice episodes". A school chronology that already sticks to significant events, with sources and actions, can be shared quickly and merged with other agencies' entries. Write every entry as if a reviewer will read it one day. See [child safeguarding practice reviews](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/cspr) for how the process works. ## Check your local procedures Each local safeguarding partnership sets its own procedures, and many publish their own chronology template. If your partnership has one, use it, so your chronology can be merged with other agencies' when needed. ## Questions **What is a safeguarding chronology?** A chronology is a record, in date order, of the significant events and changes in a child's life. Local safeguarding partnership guidance says it should show where each piece of information came from, the impact on the child and what action was taken, so that patterns can be seen. **Should a chronology include every concern and phone call?** No. Local guidance says to include significant events and key decisions, and to group repeated events together, rather than copying in case notes or listing every phone call or visit. The full detail stays in the child protection file. **Should positive events go in a chronology?** Yes. Local partnership guidance says a chronology should be balanced and include positive changes and the outcomes of help, as well as worries, so that people can see what has worked. **When should a school start a chronology?** Swindon Safeguarding Partnership's guidance says a chronology should ideally be started as soon as a case is open. Nottinghamshire's procedures say every child in need, including children in the child protection process and looked after children, should have one. Check your local partnership's procedures for what it expects. **What is a rapid review in safeguarding?** A short review the local safeguarding partners carry out after a serious incident notification, where abuse or neglect is known or suspected and a child has died or been seriously harmed. Working together 2026 says it should reach the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel within 15 working days of the notification. It gathers the facts, checks children are safe and decides whether a local child safeguarding practice review is needed. Schools are asked for information, often including their chronology. ## Sources - [Swindon Safeguarding Partnership: SSP chronology guidance and template (multi-agency standards for children in need, updated June 2025)](https://safeguardingpartnership.swindon.gov.uk/downloads/download/50/multi-agency_standards_for_children_in_need) - [Nottinghamshire Children's Social Care procedures: Guidance for completing chronologies (updated June 2023)](https://nottinghamshirecs.trixonline.co.uk/chapter/guidance-for-completing-chronologies) - [Working together to safeguard children 2026 (DfE, statutory guidance): chapter 1, paragraph 29, and chapter 3, paragraph 186](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69fb1c28d0e316a40f269a5b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2026_a_guide_to_multi_agency_working.pdf) - [Keeping children safe in education 2026 (DfE, statutory guidance): Part one, paragraph 74, and Annex B, Information sharing and managing the child protection file](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ac3c09c11ed58342ad8e4ac/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2026.pdf) - [Working together to safeguard children 2026: chapter 2, paragraphs 89 and 90 (information requests), and chapter 5, paragraphs 385, 392 and 395 (serious incidents, rapid reviews and local reviews)](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69fb1c28d0e316a40f269a5b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2026_a_guide_to_multi_agency_working.pdf), checked 2026-10-20 - [Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel: guidance for safeguarding partners (June 2025), sections on rapid reviews and LCSPRs](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-safeguarding-practice-review-panel-practice-guidance), checked 2026-10-20 ## Related - [Safeguarding chronology template](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/tools/safeguarding-chronology-template): A free template with the columns local partnerships ask for. - [How to record a safeguarding concern](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/guides/how-to-record-a-safeguarding-concern) - [Child safeguarding practice reviews](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/cspr) - [Pupil Protect Safeguard](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/safeguard): Concerns, actions, meetings and documents on one chronology per child. ## In Pupil Protect In Pupil Protect Safeguard, every concern, action, contact, meeting and document lands on the child's chronology as it happens. You can filter it by entry type or category, or show key events only. [See the chronology in Safeguard](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/safeguard)