The Department for Education issued their annual update of the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance at the start of the month.

The guidance, which came into force on 1st September 2021, sets out the legal duties all staff in education must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in schools and colleges. All staff who work in schools and colleges must read part 1 of the guidance as a minimum.

As expected, given the issues that have been raised recently relating to sexual abuse amongst children in schools, one key area that has been overhauled is peer-on-peer abuse.

Other updates to part 1 of the guidance are outlined below:

You can view and download the full Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance on the .Gov website .