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Safeguarding
KCSIE 2026: What’s New, What Matters, and What This Means for Schools
The KCSIE 2026 consultation guidance has now been released.
Over the past decade, Keeping Children Safe in Education has evolved significantly, reflecting changing risks, growing scrutiny, and increasing expectations around safeguarding practice. The 2026 consultation continues that shift, placing greater emphasis on vulnerability, emerging harms, early intervention, and professional accountability.
From AI-generated abuse and harmful online culture to mental health, harmful sexual behaviour, misogyny and serious violence, the consultation highlights areas schools and trusts will need to understand, prepare for, and respond to effectively.
This session will unpack the most significant proposed changes within KCSIE 2026, explore the safeguarding themes shaping the next phase of practice, and provide practical insight to help leaders strengthen systems, support staff, and prepare confidently for what comes next.
During the session, we will be discussing the following:
- Emerging safeguarding risks in digital spaces, including AI‑generated abuse and harmful online culture
- The stronger emphasis on mental health, harmful sexual behaviour, misogyny, and serious violence
- New expectations for how schools support children questioning their gender
- The role of Early Help and preventing escalation of concern
Let us introduce you to this week's professional speaker
Joanne Bocko
Joanne has a wide range of safeguarding experience, which allows her to understand the differences between schools and the challenges they face. Starting as a primary school teacher, her compassion for those in need led to a move to Police Staff and eventually working in the cybercrime team, supporting schools and students with online safety issues. She headed up campaigns for online offences and appeared on the BBC and Radio One's Newsbeat. Her passion for schools brought her to the Local Authority, where, as a Safeguarding in Education Officer, she provided training and support to all schools in her county. Her motto is ‘if it will make life easier and better for schools, I will do it!’
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