Apr
Safeguarding
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026: What Schools Need to Know
Education Adviser at SFE, Nasra Hussain, discusses the DFE’s Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 Guidance and actions to consider…
The Department for Education recently reviewed its “Working Together to Safeguard Children” guidance for 2026. It establishes a comprehensive statutory framework aimed at protecting and promoting the welfare of children.
Replacing the 2023 version, it reinforces the principle that safeguarding is a shared responsibility for all organisations and agencies that work with children, strengthening the expectations for accountability and inclusive practice.
This blog explores the changes for educational professionals to consider when implementing the new guidelines.
Expanded Definition of ‘Children’ and Vulnerable Groups
Working Together 2026 reinforces that safeguarding responsibilities apply to all babies, children and young people.
It strengthens expectations around pre‑birth planning and the needs of specific groups such as children in kinship care, care-experienced young people, adopted children and those in residential or foster care.
A new duty to notify the death of a care leaver up to the age of 24 is also included.
Transition to the ‘Family Help’ Model and Inclusive Practice
This is one of the most significant structural changes in the update. The 2026 guidance combines “Early Help” and “Section 17” support with a unified “Family Help” approach. This aims to streamline the journey, so families experience a single, coherent pathway with a named lead practitioner. This role can be held by social workers or practitioners from partner agencies.
Family Help is designed to be delivered through multi‑disciplinary teams, enabling professionals to collaborate earlier and more effectively, and bringing it in line with the proposed KCSIE 2026 changes. Whilst the changes in Working Together set out national guidance, individual Local Authorities will still have their own systems for referral, so all settings should familiarise themselves with these and be vigilant for any upcoming changes.
As well as this, Working Together 2026 clarifies that leaders and frontline practitioners must actively challenge racism and discrimination as part of effective safeguarding. This applies to assessment frameworks, Family Help planning, child protection procedures and multi‑agency decision‑making.
The NSPCC notes that children from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds often experience bias, stereotyping, cultural misunderstanding and sometimes differential responses within the child protection system. The guidance aligns with this evidence by expecting professionals to understand these impacts and respond with culturally competent, strengths‑based practice.
Domestic Abuse and Operation Encompass
The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 places a statutory duty on Police forces to notify schools and Local Authorities if they believe a child is a victim of domestic abuse through Operation Encompass.
Children are legally recognised as victims if they see, hear, or experience the effects of domestic abuse, regardless of their physical presence.
Through the notification, settings can provide timely emotional and practical support to children and their families.
Extra-Familial Harms and Online Safety
There is an increased focus on harms occurring outside the home, including the role of emerging technologies. Key aspects include:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Practitioners must be aware of how AI and online platforms facilitate grooming and harm.
- Group-based CSE: Defined as exploitation involving two or more individuals associated with facilitating harm.
- Cuckooing: A new awareness of people exercising control over a dwelling for criminal purposes. The guidance clarifies that a child cannot give consent for their dwelling to be used this way.
- Teenage Relationship Abuse: This is explicitly categorised as child-on-child abuse and extra-familial harm, requiring full safeguarding procedures regardless of the parties’ ages.
Settings should ensure staff understand how these risks present and how online and offline contexts often overlap.
Elective Home Education (EHE)
The 2026 guidance strengthens the visibility of home-educated children. Schools have a duty to notify the local authority within five days when a child is removed from the roll at a non-standard transition point and share all pertinent safeguarding knowledge.
This ties in with the proposals in ‘The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill,’ which requires the LA to add that child to the national register, thereby creating a legal record of their status.
From a multi-agency perspective, practitioners are now expected to consult the LA elective home education team during strategy discussions or assessments.
National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and Modern Slavery
Schools need to be confident in recognising the signs of modern slavery and trafficking, and understand that a child’s consent is not required for referrals. Where indicators are identified, schools should refer concerns to their local multi‑agency safeguarding hub (such as MASH) or the police. They will act as the First Responder for National Referral Mechanism (NRM) purposes.
Governance, Accountability and GDPR
There are a few key updates to legislation and practice that settings need to be aware of:
- Strategic Voice: Local Safeguarding Partnerships (LSPs) are encouraged to ensure that education representation is included in high‑level strategic discussions, so that their views inform local safeguarding priorities.
- Right to Erasure: From 31 March 2026, Article 17(1)(g) of the UK GDPR allows victims of malicious stalking to request the deletion of personal data created from an unfounded allegation. While not a routine safeguarding measure, settings should be aware of this process in case such allegations arise in school contexts.
- Serious Incidents: For Serious Incident notifications, the Rapid Review must now be completed and submitted within 15 working days from the point of notification. This tightened timeline means that all partners, including education settings, must respond promptly to ensure compliance and effective multi‑agency learning.
Key Messages
- WTSC 2026 is now statutory.
- Family Help replaces Early Help/Section 17 as a single pathway.
- All settings must understand extra‑familial harm and AI‑enabled risks.
- More emphasis is placed on anti‑racist, culturally competent practice.
- EHE notifications must be made within 5 days.
- Operation Encompass is now statutory.
- Governance responsibilities have strengthened.
Actions to consider
- What updates have been made to your local Family Help referral systems?Â
- Are all your DSLs trained to use the revised framework and do they understand the thresholds?Â
- How will you ensure they are applied consistently? Â
- What are your in-school processes?
- How can these be tightened or streamlined?
- How is evidence of intervention and early help recorded?Â
- Which policies need altering or updating?Â
- Do current systems capture pre-birth data and track specific care statuses (e.g., kinship care vs. special guardianship) accurately?Â
- How will you ensure rigid adherence to the 5-day notification window for EHE?
- If there are concerns around EHE, are staff confident to escalate these?
- Have all DSLs been trained in Operation Encompass?Â
- Are all staff confident in identifying online harm and in-person exploitation, and the crossover?Â
- What does an anti-racist and culturally aware framework look like in your setting?Â
- Are DSLs familiar with the National Referral Mechanism and the role of a ‘First Responder?’Â
- Are there any gaps in provision and how will you ensure it is covered? Â
- Does the online safety curriculum address AI-driven risks, such as deepfakes or AI grooming?Â
- Are extra-familial harms taught in age-appropriate ways?Â
- How is this knowledge built upon and revisited over time? Â
- How will your safeguarding link governor check that all changes are in place?
- What training have your governors had in strategic safeguarding and holding staff members to account? Â
How Services For Education can support your school
Working Together 2026 brings important and far-reaching changes that strengthen safeguarding across all settings. Services For Education offers a wide range of specialist safeguarding support to help schools with its implementation.
Our team can support with:
- Safeguarding training and CPD: High quality training for DSLs, staff and governors aligned with the updated expectations in Working Together 2026.
- Safeguarding audits and quality assurance: Independent audits to review practice, identify gaps and ensure safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements.
- RSHE support: Expert guidance on sensitive curriculum areas, including relationships education and online harms.
- Policy and procedure updates: Support to update key safeguarding policies, such as online safety, safer recruitment, child on child abuse and early help.
- Governor training: Training for governing bodies or trustees to strengthen their strategic oversight and their role as the school’s critical friend in safeguarding.
If any of this has got you thinking and you’d like more support or advice, our expert RSHE and Safeguarding Advisers can help. Contact us on safeguarding@servicesforeducation.co.uk for more information.
If you found this blog useful, you may also be interested in reading the following blogs:
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 About the Author
Nasra Hussain – Adviser, Services For Education
With over 17 years of experience in education, including 15 years as a senior leader, Nasra is a highly respected and dedicated practitioner who has contributed to a wide range of school settings. Her leadership roles have included Designated Safeguarding Lead, Assistant Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Specialist Leader in Education (SLE), supporting school improvement, leadership development and high‑quality teaching and learning.
Nasra has extensive experience assessing National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and has coached and supported leaders and teams at all levels. She currently works as a Consultant Advisory Teacher for the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) and serves as a charity trustee, championing inclusive practice and strengthening community engagement.
A committed advocate for safeguarding and for building strong relationships with families and communities, Nasra brings compassion, clarity and a values‑driven approach to her work. Her expertise also includes serving as a Key Stage 2 moderator and contributing as a regular panel member for the Standards and Testing Agency, reviewing national SATs materials to ensure fairness, accuracy and national consistency.
Nasra’s work is grounded in a deep belief in equity, empowerment and the transformative impact of education. She combines breadth of experience with a collaborative, purposeful approach, making a meaningful difference to the schools and communities she serves.
