Culture Over Compliance: Leading Safeguarding with Purpose and Impact

This brand-new, essential course is designed for senior leaders, Designated Safeguarding Leads, and their teams who hold the critical responsibility for safeguarding in schools. It is timed specifically to address the strategic and operational challenges emerging in 2026, providing a clear and comprehensive pathway through the latest updates, including the statutory implications of KCSIE and the new inspection criteria of Ofsted’s renewed EIF.Moving beyond simple compliance, this programme explores the complex, real-world issues facing leaders, including the findings of the TES Safeguarding Report on digital safety, staff training gaps, and declining student confidence in reporting. Attendees will leave with enhanced leadership clarity, robust systems for compliance, and actionable strategies for embedding a proactive, whole-school safeguarding culture where every child can thrive safely.

• Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and Deputy DSLs
• Headteachers, Principals, and Deputy Heads
• Assistant Headteachers (Pastoral, Inclusion, or Safeguarding)
• Safeguarding Governors and Trustees
• Multi-Academy Trust DSLs and Safeguarding Directors
• Senior Leaders aspiring to the DSL role

• Strengthen your statutory understanding of KCSIE, including new online safety clarifications (AI, disinformation), attendance, and AP guidance.
• Develop robust procedures for managing complex cases, from digital reporting and mental health crises to effective multi-agency collaboration.
• Enhance leadership confidence in evidencing a proactive safeguarding culture for Ofsted’s renewed EIF, including the new "met/not met" judgement.
• Build stronger staff capability and confidence through effective, scenario-based training models that address the gaps identified in the TES Safeguarding Report.
• Improve DSL resilience and wellbeing by implementing reflective supervision models and strategic leadership approaches to manage workload.
• Embed a truly whole-school safeguarding culture by designing effective systems for student voice and collaborative parental engagement.

• Explore the DSL’s evolving statutory duties, analysing the key clarifications in KCSIE 2025 including new online risks (AI, misinformation, disinformation), attendance as a statutory safeguarding concern, and alternative provision oversight.
• Analyse the critical findings from the TES Safeguarding Report, focusing on the rise in online monitoring challenges, persistent staff training gaps, and the decline in student reporting confidence.
• Evaluate the impact of Ofsted’s renewed EIF, including the move to a "met/not met" safeguarding judgement and the new five-point report cards.
• Differentiate between strategic safeguarding leadership (culture, policy, oversight) and operational management (day-to-day casework) to build capacity and effectiveness.

• Examine high-level, real-life safeguarding scenarios to test decision-making frameworks, risk thresholds, and escalation procedures.
• Develop effective strategies for documenting, escalating, and communicating concerns related to the growing mental health crisis and new online risks, including AI-generated abuse and deepfakes.
• Strengthen multi-agency collaboration by applying principles from 'Working Together to Safeguard Children’, focusing on information-sharing protocols and building trusting relationships with local partners.
• Learn to implement reflective supervision models to manage vicarious trauma, mitigate DSL burnout, and build personal and team resilience.

• Evaluate your current staff training model against the TES report findings and learn to design high-impact, scenario-based CPD that moves staff from awareness to active vigilance.
• Strengthen mechanisms for parental engagement, developing clear, non-judgemental communication strategies to build partnerships for tackling online safety and other out-of-school risks.
• Design proactive systems for capturing the student voice, addressing the reporting confidence gap by using tools and approaches that lower barriers to disclosure.
• Explore the DSL’s leadership role in embedding safeguarding across the entire curriculum, behaviour policies, and school ethos, ensuring it is 'everyone's responsibility'.

• Review effective models for auditing your school's safeguarding provision against the Ofsted criteria using practical checklists and self-assessment tools.
• Learn to leverage digital safeguarding systems (such as TES MyConcern or CPOMS) for robust record-keeping, trend analysis, and identifying emerging risks before they escalate.
• Create a 'live' evidence file that demonstrates a clear line of sight from strategic policy to operational action, ready for inspection scrutiny.
• Develop a strategic reporting framework for governors and MAT leaders, using data (e.g., from TES Clarity) to demonstrate compliance, analyse trends, and secure necessary resources.