KCSIE 2026 says all staff and volunteers should feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice and possible failures in the school's safeguarding, and know they will be taken seriously by the senior leadership team (paragraph 80). Schools should have whistleblowing procedures for raising such concerns with senior leaders (paragraph 81). Whistleblowing should be covered in the staff behaviour policy, or code of conduct, alongside low-level concerns and allegations (paragraph 123).
If a member of staff feels unable to raise an issue with their employer, or feels their concern isn't being dealt with, KCSIE points to other routes (paragraph 82):
- general advice in the GOV.UK guidance on whistleblowing for employees
- the NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line, for staff who don't feel able to raise child protection failures internally, or who are worried about how their school is handling a concern
Whistleblowing is about the school's practice or systems. A concern about what one adult has done to a child is handled differently: through the harm threshold and the LADO, or as a low-level concern. A concern about a child goes to the DSL.
Workers who make a qualifying disclosure in the public interest are protected in law from being treated unfairly for it. The GOV.UK whistleblowing page explains who is covered.