Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026: What schools need to know

The much-anticipated update to Working Together to Safeguarding Children shows some significant changes. Building on previous guidance, there is a stronger emphasis on safeguarding being everyone’s responsibility, collaborative strength-based practice, safeguarding from pregnancy, a greater emphasis on Early Help and family focused support.

A stronger emphasis on safeguarding as everyone’s responsibility

One of the central messages of the 2026 guidance is that safeguarding applies to all children, without exception. This explicitly includes:

• children in kinship care, foster care, or residential settings
• adopted children
• unborn children where there are safeguarding concerns

This reinforces the idea that safeguarding begins before birth and continues across all care contexts. Practitioners must consider the full lived experience of the child, not just within the current context and this is a key area highlighted in the Victoria Marten case which we discuss here.

 A clear shift towards anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice

A significant development in the 2026 update is the strengthened expectation that professionals will actively challenge discrimination and inequality. Specifically:

• The impact of racism and bias on safeguarding decisions – which is something we discuss in our Designated Safeguarding Lead training
• The need for inclusive cultures in schools
• The importance of understanding children’s lived experiences

Being culturally informed and sensitive, whilst making sure safeguarding remains the key priority, is crucial. This is explored further in our blog, cultural competence in safeguarding where we discuss what this means for practitioners.

For Designated Safeguarding Leads it will be crucial to make sure policies and procedures are reflective of the enhanced expectations on schools, ensuring all staff are aware and are confident in actively challenging, referring and supporting pupils.

Strengthening responses to hidden harm

The updated guidance places greater focus on identifying and responding to less visible forms of harm, including:

• Child sexual abuse (CSA)
• Coercive control and domestic abuse
• Teenage relationship abuse
• Online risks and exploitation

This is also echoed in the planned changes to sexual abuse reporting guidelines and legislation in 2026, focusing on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse (CSA), enhanced online safety regulations, and updated safeguarding protocols. It is recommended that school ensure their recording systems, such as CPOMS, account for contextual safeguarding issues including hidden harm. As we know, safeguarding leads are required to access in-depth training on safeguarding and contextual issues for their school. Accessing briefings or webinars is a great way to enhance staff understanding of the less visible forms of harm.

The changes to Universal Services and Family Help

Working Together to Safeguard Children introduces the concept of Best Start Family Hubs. These hubs aim to bring together multi agency partners to support families and children age 0-19 (or 25 for young people with SEND). This again emphasises the focus on safeguarding children pre-birth and providing appropriate support for parents and families.

The statutory guidance provides information on Family Help, which involves targeted early help services coordinated by local authorities to address specific concerns within a family. Family Help is a voluntary approach, requiring the family’s consent to receive support and services.

The section covers information on:

• Identifying children and families who would benefit from help
• Effective assessment of the need for Family Help
• Provision of effective services to help families.

You can read further information within the Families First partnership programme guide.

As a Designated Safeguarding Lead, it will be imperative to be familiar with the local Family Help Offer, who lead caseworkers will be and what the expectations of schools are. Although schools are yet to be made statutory partners, the updated guidance appears to give heavier weight to the input of education settings within decision making and input to multi agency discussions.

Learning from Serious Case Reviews

This is something we focus on in all of our safeguarding training at One Education but the new guidance offers a more streamlined expectation on reviewing incidents such as:

• When incidents should be reported
• How reviews should be conducted
• How learning should be embedded into practice

This ensures that lessons are not just identified but are actively considered to improve future safeguarding responses, with a clear 15-day rapid review process. In terms of day-to-day operational reflection and learning, there continues to be encouragement for schools to engage in safeguarding supervision to support frontline staff in schools or multi academy trusts. Safeguarding supervision is becoming common practice for schools and is a great opportunity for staff to reflect on decision making and safeguarding processes with an experienced, trained professional.

The 2026 update to Working Together to Safeguard Children reinforces a clear message: safeguarding is not a standalone task, but a continuous responsibility for everyone.

By strengthening multi-agency collaboration, promoting anti-discriminatory practice and focusing on early help and relationships, the guidance moves us closer to a system that truly meets the needs of all children and families. At One Education we look forward to embedding the changes within our training and consultancy so that all settings are working in line with current statutory requirements.

For information on how to access One Education briefings and training please contact us on 0161 276 0160 or by emailing safeguarding@oneeducation.co.uk