At the heart of Motional is an abundance of care for children and their felt safety and security, as well as a belief that wellbeing and mental health should shape every policy and decision affecting children.

The Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 document has published changes involving mental health and its links to safeguarding, which can only be a positive step towards recognising wellbeing needs early, and everyone at Motional is excited to see how we can support schools and staff on this journey.

So, what are the key changes across the KCSIE document, what do they mean for you and your school, and how can you best prepare for September 1st?

When you sit down for those two staff training days in September, your most important time will be spent preparing your team for safeguarding your students. The changes to KCSIE affect everyone in your setting and could mean the difference between recognising and supporting a safeguarding issue and not.

KCSIE 2026 Summary: The Key Changes at a Glance

  • Annex A - Becomes Part One and needs to be read by all staff members.
  • Family Help and Early Help clarifications - Working with external support to help children as early as possible.
  • Safeguarding AI - The safe use of generative AI in education.
  • Young Carers - Now recognised as a vulnerable group.
  • Medical Conditions - A new section on neglect involving medical needs.
  • A Question of Gender - Guidance around how to navigate social transition requests.
  • Safer Recruitment - A plethora of updates around all staff working with children.

***A box to state about our webinar in September in here****

In this non-exhaustive list, we will outline the key changes for 2026, where you can find the relevant paragraphs in the KCSIE 2026 document, and what it might mean for your DSL and any associated policies.

Where is Annex A? (Introduction - Page 7)

Your first notable change is that KCSIE 2026 Part One now needs to be read by every member of staff in your setting. Previous systems that allowed some staff to read only Annex A will become outdated and need replacing with procedures that see every member of staff read Part One.

Annex A is still part of the guidance, but it is now the Further Information section that used to be titled Annex B.

With every adult now part of a whole-school approach to safeguarding, and with a greater understanding of the signs of safeguarding issues and concerns, these can now be recognised earlier, providing students with a safer, more understanding education setting. As well as the more obvious enhanced safeguarding benefits, this change also has the potential to improve your students' overall wellbeing, with a heightened sense of safety and understanding.

  • Annex A Policies & DSL duties - Whilst updating any existing references to KCSIE 2025, you will need to state that all staff read Part One and remove any mentions of Annex A. As well as implementing this change, induction materials will need updating along with any training declaration processes.

Family Help (Paragraphs 13-23)

The emphasis here is that schools and staff should be aware that they don’t need to manage and support safeguarding issues alone.

As children’s services adapt and reform, so does the process for accessing help. Using guidance from ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 ’, this section outlines the need for all staff to know the processes for different referrals, even if it is the DSL that will make most of the final decisions.

Family help is a level of targeted support seen to join together any services accessed during early help with the need for statutory ‘Child in Need’ services. 

  • Family Help Policies & DSL duties - Update any referral flowcharts to show local family help procedures and review safeguarding policies and training to reflect this.

Artificial intelligence (Paragraph 34)

As AI becomes more widely used in almost all aspects of life, it becomes a safeguarding issue. One change here is in the terminology within child-on-child abuse to include self-generated intimate images, including using AI.

  • AI Policies & DSL duties - Ensure AI-related safeguarding terms are included in staff training along with updates to the online safety policy.

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing (Paragraphs 224-232)

There is a greater emphasis on mental health across the document. Although poor mental health and any associated ongoing wellbeing needs are not a recognised safeguarding issue, your students' mental health and wellbeing needs should now never be viewed in isolation from safeguarding.

This means that observed behaviours that may previously have been linked to poor mental health may now require a safeguarding assessment as well as mental health support. 

With links to the recent ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper and the ‘Putting Children and Young People First’ SEND reform consultation document, there is an emphasis on early identification of concerns and the need to provide appropriate, targeted support.

  • Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Policies & DSL duties - Your safeguarding policy needs to make clear that mental health concerns may indicate safeguarding concerns and staff should follow the procedures accordingly. Staff aren’t required or expected to diagnose poor mental health but should be aware of associated behaviours and the referral pathways involving their SENCO/ALNCO, pastoral teams, mental health leads and practitioners and the DSL.

Young Carers (Paragraph 246)

This is a new section recognising Young Carers as a vulnerable group. The attendance, attainment, behaviour and wellbeing of young carers can all be impacted by their caring responsibilities. Appropriate support, at the right time, through early identification of needs is essential.

  • Young Carers Policies & DSL duties - Young carers need to be added as a vulnerable group within the safeguarding policy. Ensure there is a clear identification procedure in place and that young carers have access to pastoral and external support where necessary.

Medical Conditions (Paragraph 250)

This is another new section, so it may not yet feature in any safeguarding policy.

It outlines that repeated instances of neglect towards a child’s medical needs may require referral to local safeguarding partners. This can include hiding a child’s medical needs from school staff or not providing essential medication.

  • Medical Condition Policies & DSL duties - Update the policies to include this new section and ensure staff know of any needs relevant to them.

A question of Gender (Paragraphs 252-282)

This is one of the biggest new sections of statutory guidance in this year’s update, and will be an important one for all staff to be clear on the shared language of.

Using their own consultation process and guidance from the Cass Review 2024, this section outlines a cautious approach to social transition, especially in Primary settings.

The key aspects include immediate parental involvement (with procedures in place for when this could lead to further harm to the child), an individualised approach with no automatic or standard response and a clear recording process throughout.

  • Social Transition Policies & DSL duties - As well as reflecting this new statutory guidance with risk assessments, decision-making processes and record-keeping procedures, you may need to implement new procedures and ensure staff are aware of these.

Safer Recruitment (Paragraph 283-329)

Key changes here include a rewrite of what constitutes ‘regulated activity’ when considering who needs a DBS check and to what level, what activities can and cannot be treated as regulated activity, and information on volunteer roles, trainee teachers, and work experience placements.

  • Safer Recruitment Policies & DSL duties - This is a substantial update to your safer recruitment policy. DSLs may wish to complete an audit of all staff that work with children in your setting to ensure they meet the requirements set out within your new policy.

  • How can schools prepare before the deadline?
  • What happens if a school isn't ready in time?

What happens if a school isn’t ready in time?

Whilst there isn’t an on-the-spot penalty for this, there is no period of grace either.

In short, you’re not properly safeguarding your students.

This doesn’t mean everyone has to have read part one by September 1st, but it does mean you need to have the plans in place for when this takes place, how you will record it and when the staff will have training on any other relevant changes.

Your policies will also need to be updated by September 1st, or at the very latest by the time you get together with your team to cover your safeguarding training.

It is important to note that there are further changes to this year’s KCSIE document that may need your attention, which you can find down the bottom in Annex C. Not all of them will require policy change or staff training, but they are worth reading so that you can make the best judgement for your setting.

We will be holding a Webinar on X September with X from X… Sign up to our newsletter to hear more about this and gain access.