Starting the new academic year - The DSL's Essential guide

As the new academic year begins, the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) has a crucial responsibility: setting the tone for safeguarding across the whole school.

September is the ideal time to re-establish visibility, refresh systems, and ensure that every child, parent, and member of staff is aware that safeguarding remains the school’s highest priority. Drawing on Part 2 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025, here’s a structured look at what should be at the top of every DSL’s agenda.

Training and Induction

Training underpins good safeguarding practice and should be the very first priority. At the start of the term, DSLs should confirm that refresher safeguarding training has been provided to all existing staff and that regular updates will be provided throughout the year. Particular attention should also be given to new staff and governor training, who must receive a full safeguarding induction, including Part 1 of KCSIE (or Annex A, depending on role) and school-specific policies. Setting the expectation from the outset that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility helps to embed a culture of vigilance.

Availability and Visibility

Once training is secured, DSLs must ensure they and all deputies are clearly available throughout the school day. Staff need absolute clarity about who to approach and how, should a concern arise. But availability alone is not enough; visibility matters too. Displaying photos, names, and contact details on staff noticeboards, in pupil planners, and in parent communications ensures the whole community knows who the safeguarding leads are. By actively introducing the DSL and deputies in assemblies, staff briefings, and newsletters helps to reinforce the message that safeguarding support is open, accessible, and approachable.

Reviewing Safeguarding Policies and Procedures

The start of term provides the perfect opportunity to review and refresh the school’s Child protection and Safeguarding policy. This policy should reflect the updates in the latest KCSIE and be formally ratified by governors. Alongside this, related documents, such as procedures or protocols for reporting low-level concerns, safer working practice, whistleblowing, and the school’s online safety approach, should be revisited and communicated to all staff. Ensuring these policies are not only compliant but also clearly understood by the whole community is essential.

Making Early Contact with Vulnerable Pupils

Within the first two weeks back, DSLs should take proactive steps to connect with children already known as having safeguarding concerns. A simple check-in can provide reassurance and help identify any changes in circumstances over the summer. New pupils should also be carefully reviewed to spot potential risks early on. Where children are already known to external agencies, it is important to re-establish contact with external services and confirm ongoing support arrangements. Some families may also benefit from direct communication with the DSL early in the term, building trust and ensuring concerns can be raised quickly.

Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration

Safeguarding rarely sits in isolation, so scheduling early meetings with key colleagues is vital. Meeting with the SENCo helps ensure that children with additional needs have safeguarding considerations fully addressed. Connecting with the Designated Mental Health Lead supports a joined-up approach to pupils with known well-being concerns. A session with the teacher responsible for Looked-After Children ensures those in care, or previously in care, continue to receive tailored attention. Alongside this, the DSL should review all existing Child Protection, Child in Need, and Early Help Plans, checking that the school is fulfilling its responsibilities within each plan.

Online Safety and Digital Safeguarding

In 2025, the scope of online risks continues to widen. DSLs should ensure that filtering and monitoring arrangements are up to date, reflecting emerging concerns such as misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and the misuse of generative AI. Compliance with DfE’s Plan technology for your school - GOV.UK guidance should be checked, ensuring the school is resilient to cyber threats and has robust systems in place to protect children online.

Attendance and Inclusion

Poor attendance can often be an early indicator of wider safeguarding issues. Working closely with the school’s attendance and inclusion teams, DSLs should apply the statutory guidance to monitor patterns of absence from the very first weeks. This proactive approach helps to identify pupils who may be struggling and ensures support is in place before problems escalate.

Site Safety and External Providers

Safeguarding extends beyond policy into the physical environment. Meeting with site and premises staff early in the term allows the DSL to audit visitor management systems, access controls, and emergency evacuation procedures, and general site safety. Equally important is ensuring that external providers working with pupils, such as out-of-school clubs, visiting specialists, or organisations delivering aspects of the curriculum, have the right safeguarding checks in place. This includes verifying DBS clearances, reviewing safeguarding policies, and confirming that supervision arrangements are safe and robust. By doing this, DSLs can be confident that out-of-school safeguarding standards remain consistent, even when pupils are learning beyond the immediate oversight of school staff.

Health and Well-being

Individual Healthcare Plans should be reviewed and updated for the year ahead, ensuring they are accurate and fit for purpose. Any associated risk assessments, whether for medical needs, complex behaviour, or vulnerable circumstances, should also be refreshed to provide confidence that the school is prepared to meet each child’s needs safely.

Oversight of Alternative Provision

Where pupils attend Alternative Provision (AP), DSLs must verify that safeguarding checks are complete and that placements are appropriate. Each placement should be reviewed at least half-termly, with clear records of progress and well-being. If concerns arise, DSLs should be prepared to end placements that do not meet safeguarding standards.

Record-Keeping and Information Sharing

Good safeguarding relies on accurate and secure record-keeping. At the start of term, DSLs should audit child protection files, ensuring that concerns, actions, and outcomes are clearly recorded. For pupils joining or leaving, safeguarding files must be transferred securely within five days, maintaining continuity of protection.

A Structured Half-Term Action Plan

To keep this wide range of responsibilities manageable, DSLs can set out a staged action plan for the first half term:

Beginning a new academic year as DSL is about more than compliance. It is about creating an environment where safeguarding is visible, understood, and maintained on a daily basis. By placing training at the top of the agenda and following a clear half-term plan, checking in with vulnerable pupils, reviewing plans, auditing site safety and external providers, and strengthening relationships, the DSL lays strong foundations for a culture of care that lasts all year.

SSS Learning

15 September 2025