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Safeguarding in early years has never stood still, but the expectations placed on leaders and practitioners continue to evolve. Alongside changes to statutory guidance, increasing scrutiny from Ofsted, parents and growing complexity in family circumstances, Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and managers are expected to create environments where safeguarding is embedded into every aspect of their daily practice.
During a recent webinar we explored the everyday challenges facing early years settings and, more importantly, the practical steps leaders can take to build stronger safeguarding cultures.
Here safeguarding consultant, speaker and author Ann Marie Christian shares three of the biggest priorities every setting should be focusing on.
1. Building staff confidence to identify and report concerns
One of the biggest risks in safeguarding isn’t always one major incident; it can be a small concern that never gets reported or a weak culture of safeguarding in the setting.
Staff working in nurseries and early years settings are uniquely placed to notice early and subtle changes in a child’s presentation, such as a parent who suddenly appears withdrawn or a child whose behaviour changes suddenly or over time. A recurring pattern that, in isolation, may not seem significant but, collectively, paints a concerning picture. This is why is it important to review the child’s holistic needs including monitoring with support if needed and escalate to the appropriate agency or service.
Chronic neglect often develops gradually and may develop over a period. It isn’t always a single obvious event but a series of indicators that only become apparent when staff are confident enough to record everything they observe.
The challenge is that many practitioners still hesitate and may think the concern is too small, or the DSL/Manager is too busy.
Some worry about “making a fuss”. Others question whether what they’ve seen is important enough to record. More experienced staff may unintentionally reassure colleagues that something is “probably nothing” due to their long standing knowledge of child development etc, while newer practitioners can lack confidence in trusting their professional judgement.
The solution isn’t simply reminding staff to report concerns, it’s creating a culture where recording any concerns becomes normal practice.
Leaders should encourage staff to ask themselves:
- Does this make me feel uncomfortable?
- Have I noticed this before?
- Could someone else have observed something similar?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it should be recorded.
Recording concerns isn’t about making accusations. It’s about building a complete picture and culture that enables DSLs to identify patterns that individual practitioners cannot see on their own.
Practical actions for leaders
- Reinforce that no concern is too small to report record.
- Use regular safeguarding discussions during team meetings to review learning and have safeguarding as a standalone agenda in team meetings, supervision and strategic meetings.
- Include real-life case studies during training sessions obviously anonymised.
- Praise good safeguarding practice where staff appropriately report concerns.
- Regularly review safeguarding records to identify emerging patterns at least a few times a month and add your comments and decision making.
When staff understand that safeguarding records tell a story over time, not just document isolated incidents, they become much more confident in contributing to that bigger picture.
2. Navigating referrals, multi-agency working and difficult conversations with parents
Few aspects of safeguarding feel as daunting as making referrals or having difficult conversations with families. This becomes easier the more we share our concerns to the DSL or named person.
Early years practitioners build close relationships with parents. That trust is incredibly valuable, but it can also make safeguarding conversations feel uncomfortable at times when we need to share information about the child.
The key is remembering that safeguarding conversations are not confrontational conversations, and our role is to follow the safeguarding policy and report concerns to the DSL or named person.
They are professional conversations focused on the welfare of the child.
This requires leaders to build confidence in three key areas:
Professional curiosity
Good safeguarding isn’t about accepting explanations at face value but questioning if the parent/carer is being compliant and sharing accurate information or hiding information deliberately from us.
Professional curiosity means respectfully asking further questions, noticing inconsistencies and seeking to understand what may be happening beneath the surface.
It is entirely possible to be compassionate while remaining professionally inquisitive.
Early intervention
Not every safeguarding concern requires statutory intervention, but many require support from the setting or other agencies.
Understanding local Early Family Help pathways, knowing referral thresholds and maintaining good relationships with partner agencies allows settings to intervene earlier, often before concerns escalate.
Confidence in multi-agency working
DSLs should never feel they are managing safeguarding in isolation. They must seek advice from the appropriate agency if they have any suspicions about child abuse or a believe a crime had happened.
Working effectively with children’s social care, health professionals, local authority teams and other agencies ensures information is shared appropriately and children receive coordinated support.
Strong safeguarding leaders also prepare staff for difficult parent conversations by:
- Remaining factual rather than emotional but offering appropriate support.
- Referring to facts and observations rather than assumptions.
- Explaining that recording and sharing concerns is in the safeguarding policy and part of the setting’s safeguarding responsibilities.
- Keeping the child’s welfare at the centre of every discussion.
The more consistently these conversations are handled across the organisation, the more confident staff become.
3. Creating a safeguarding culture that goes beyond compliance
Policies alone do not safeguard children.
The strongest safeguarding cultures are visible every day, in conversations, decision-making and leadership behaviours.
Ofsted increasingly looks beyond documentation to understand how safeguarding is lived throughout a setting.
That means asking questions such as:
- Do staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities?
- Are concerns acted upon promptly without delay?
- Is safeguarding discussed regularly within our daily practice?
- Do staff feel psychologically safe to speak up about any concerns including concerns about colleagues and weak practice within the setting?
- Is safeguarding everyone’s responsibility?
A healthy safeguarding culture is one where challenging conversation are expected, concerns are welcomed and professional curiosity is encouraged.
Encouraging staff and volunteers to speak up
One of the strongest messages from the webinar was the importance of creating an environment where staff feel able to raise concerns about colleagues at any time when necessary.
This remains one of the hardest aspects of safeguarding, due to staff having professional and personal relationships with colleagues and becoming friends and blurring the professional boundaries.
People naturally don’t want to get colleagues into trouble, particularly long-standing friends or respected members of the team.
Leaders can help by reframing this awkward situation and create ongoing open culture of reporting or sharing concerns.
Safeguarding is never about getting someone into trouble, it’s more about sharing all information including the smaller ones. It’s about protecting children and remaining child centred.
Staff should know they can report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, even if they aren’t certain, it constitutes a safeguarding issue both internally and externally to the local authority or even Osted.
Sometimes the smallest concern forms part of a much larger picture.
Keeping safeguarding visible
Effective safeguarding means embedding it into everyday practice, rather than just an annual training exercise or putting reporting posters across the setting.
Successful settings:
- Include safeguarding as a standing agenda item during staff meetings.
- Regularly revisit safeguarding scenarios, lessons learnt and policies or procedures amended if improvements could be made.
- Review safeguarding at least annually and monitored audits throughout the year.
- Refresh policies whenever guidance or legislation changes.
- Discuss learning from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and local and national high profile cases especially within the early years sector.
- Keep safeguarding visible across the setting at all times including on the settings website.
Safeguarding should impact everyday practice, from arrivals and departures handovers to mealtimes, toileting, safer sleep, recruitment, supervision and staff conduct.
Every interaction contributes to the overall safeguarding culture.
Supporting the people leading safeguarding
DSLs and managers carry significant responsibility.
Alongside managing referrals, responding to concerns and maintaining compliance, they are often supporting colleagues through emotionally challenging situations.
Without the right support, this responsibility can quickly become overwhelming.
Protecting DSL wellbeing isn’t separate from safeguarding – it strengthens it.
Leaders should consider:
• Providing regular safeguarding supervision.
• Sharing responsibilities with trained deputy DSLs.
• Creating opportunities to reflect on complex cases including offering emotional support.
• Investing in ongoing professional development.
• Ensuring safeguarding leadership is supported strategically, not just operationally.
Strong safeguarding starts with supported safeguarding leaders.
Safeguarding is built every day
There is no single initiative that creates a strong safeguarding culture.
Instead, it is built through thousands of everyday decisions: encouraging staff to speak up, recording concerns consistently, working confidently with partner agencies and keeping children’s welfare at the centre of every decision.
When leaders invest in these behaviours, they don’t just prepare for inspection. They create environments where children are safer, staff are more confident and safeguarding becomes part of the culture rather than simply a compliance exercise.
CPOMS work with early years settings to support these everyday safeguarding practices. By making it easier to record concerns, identify patterns, support DSL decision-making and facilitate secure information sharing, technology can help strengthen the culture of safeguarding that every setting strives to build.
Ann Marie Christian
Ann Marie Christian is an internationally recognised safeguarding consultant, trainer, author, and speaker with over three decades of experience as a social worker and safeguarding leader across education, early years, and childcare sectors. She has advised schools, early years provisions, and governments in the UK and worldwide while delivering training, consultancy, and keynote presentations on child protection, abuse, violence prevention, and equality. She has worked with Famly, Tapestry, Kinderly, Pacey, IAPS, NMT, CPOMS, Nursery World Magazine Show, Child Care Expo and many more.
Ann Marie contributes to various professional publications and courses, supporting policy and practice development globally, and earning recognition for her impactful work in protecting children and promoting safeguarding excellence internationally through collaborations with charities, authorities and international organisations, influencing best practice standards and safeguarding frameworks across diverse cultural and educational contexts worldwide.
