Safeguarding guides
Plain answers to the questions designated safeguarding leads and school leaders in England ask most. Each one starts with a short answer, is checked against the official guidance, and links to its sources.
- What is a designated safeguarding lead (DSL)?What a designated safeguarding lead does in a school in England, who can be one, deputies, training every two years, the annual refresh and being available, from Keeping children safe in education 2026.Updated 20 October 2026
- How do you become a designated safeguarding lead?The route to becoming a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) in a school in England, what the role needs, the training, and why deputy DSL is the usual step, from Keeping children safe in education 2026.Updated 20 October 2026
- How do you record a safeguarding concern in a school?How school staff in England should write down a safeguarding concern or a disclosure, including the facts, the child's own words, the date and time, signing it and passing it to the DSL straight away, from Keeping children safe in education 2026 and NSPCC guidance.Updated 20 October 2026
- What should a safeguarding chronology include?What a safeguarding chronology is for, what to put in it, what to leave out and how schools and other agencies use it, from local safeguarding partnership guidance, Working together 2026 and Keeping children safe in education 2026.Updated 20 October 2026
- What is the difference between child in need and child protection?Early help, Family Help, section 17 (child in need) and section 47 (child protection) of the Children Act 1989 explained for schools in England, with the threshold for each and what the school does at each level.Updated 20 October 2026
- What are persistent and severe absence, and why do they matter for safeguarding?The DfE definitions of persistent absence (10% or more) and severe absence (50% or more), how absence links to safeguarding and children missing education, and what schools in England must do under Working together to improve school attendance.Updated 20 October 2026
- What must a school's single central record contain?Who must be on a school's single central record, the checks and dates it must show under KCSIE 2026 Part three, what you can add, and the gaps to look for.Updated 20 October 2026
- What is a low-level concern about a member of staff?The KCSIE 2026 definition of a low-level concern, how schools should share, record and respond to them, and when a concern meets the harm threshold and goes to the LADO.Updated 20 October 2026
These guides explain the official guidance. They aren’t legal advice, and your local safeguarding partnership’s procedures also apply.