Early childhood safeguarding changes 2026: Moving beyond compliance to a culture of safety

Maggie Bolger and Ann Marie Christian explore the changing safeguarding landscape in early childhood, including KCSIE, the EYFS, safer recruitment, reporting concerns and the September changes. They argue that stronger safeguarding is not simply about having the right policies in place, but about creating cultures where children, families and educators are heard, concerns are connected and everyone understands their responsibility for keeping children safe. Read the article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/... This episode is sponsored by Get Otii. Otii helps nurseries stay audit-ready, inspection-proof, and totally on top of their operations – without drowning in paperwork or panic. Track what matters. Get real-time prompts. Never miss a thing. To find out more visit: https://www.get-otii.com/ Our 2027 conference info & tickets: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/... Listen to more: If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like: • The case for systemic change in Ofsted’s approach, by Lucy Lewin: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/... • Ofsted’s renewed early years inspection framework: What educators need to know, by Jayne Coward (Ofsted): https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/... Get in touch and share your voice: Do you have thoughts, questions or feedback? Get in touch here! – https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/... Episode break down: 00:00 – Introduction to the episode and guests 02:10 – Maggie introduces herself and Get Otii 02:51 – Ann Marie introduces herself and her safeguarding background 04:09 – Where is safeguarding in early childhood at the moment? 04:34 – Strengthening safeguarding in early childhood 06:14 – The challenges of guidance for private nurseries 09:12 – Understanding KCSIE and its five parts 10:32 – Part one: safeguarding guidance for all staff 11:31 – Part two: the management of safeguarding 12:28 – Part three: safer recruitment 13:49 – Part four: managing allegations against staff and volunteers 15:01 – Part five: child-on-child abuse 16:42 – References and DBS checks: what has changed? 18:30 – What can be learnt from safeguarding cases and incidents? 19:12 – Recording concerns and creating a clear safeguarding trail 23:15 – Creating a culture where concerns can be reported 24:26 – Safer recruitment and concerns about existing staff 26:15 – Retaining safeguarding information and non-recent abuse 27:05 – The role and responsibilities of the DSL 28:04 – DSL and DDSL co-working and information sharing 29:14 – Creating a shared understanding of safe and appropriate practice 30:07 – Why immediate reporting to the DSL matters 32:06 – Induction, agency staff and making policies accessible 34:17 – Safeguarding as a central responsibility in settings 35:58 – Agency staff, recruitment checks and safeguarding training 37:01 – Going beyond minimum safeguarding requirements 38:09 – Listening to parents and responding to complaints 40:32 – What should smaller settings do before September? 41:33 – Creating a safeguarding checklist and prioritising changes 42:47 – Starting with strategic safeguarding priorities 43:27 – Safer eating, weaning, sleeping and screen use 45:44 – Using guidance, AI and doing your own due diligence 47:23 – The wider consequences of increased safeguarding scrutiny 47:42 – Mergers, acquisitions, insurance and recruitment 49:19 – The potential ripple effect of increased inspections 50:21 – What early childhood can learn from schools 52:10 – Safeguarding responsibility when opening and running a nursery 54:14 – Reputational risk, social media and communicating with parents 55:35 – Profit, ethics and responsibility in early childhood 56:49 – Safeguarding awareness and professional boundaries 58:28 – Balancing safeguarding scrutiny with the positives of the profession 59:18 – Remembering the joy of working with children 1:00:18 – Preparing for the changes and doing your own due diligence 1:00:58 – Final reflections and episode wrap-up 1:01:30 – Ann Marie’s safeguarding workshop at the 2027 conference 1:01:45 – Further safeguarding article and closing thanks For more episodes and articles visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com