Keeping children safe in education 2026 (KCSIE) defines safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as providing help as soon as problems emerge, protecting children from maltreatment inside or outside the home and online, preventing impairment of their mental and physical health or development, making sure they grow up with safe and effective care, and acting so all children have the best outcomes (paragraph 3). "Children" means everyone under 18 (paragraph 2).
For a school, that covers far more than referrals. It includes the curriculum, online safety, safer recruitment, how concerns about staff are handled, attendance, and a culture where children feel able to talk. KCSIE says it is everyone's responsibility, and that every member of staff has a part in spotting concerns, sharing information and acting promptly (paragraphs 2 to 5).
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 uses almost the same definition in its glossary, with one addition: promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or their family network through kinship care, where that is in their best interests.
The common confusion is with child protection, which is one part of safeguarding: the work done for a specific child who is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.