A lot is changing in the world of safeguarding right now and this edition of the LGfL SafeguardED newsletter covers some of the most significant developments:
Social Media Ban and the Impact on Schools
Image manipulation using AI
New Information Sharing guidance
Crime and Policing Act - implications for schools
If you're already planning your safeguarding training for next year, we've added new sessions for the LGfL Safeguarding training,including Navigating the Gender Questioning Guidance with Confidence and Care.
The Under 16s Social Media Ban:
How will it impact schools?
The Prime Minister has confirmed a ban on under-16s accessing social media, coming into force next year. The details are still emerging, and there's plenty of debate about how it will work in practice, but we've been thinking through what it means for schools. Our latest blog pulls together some key questions worth considering now:
How much do you currently use social media in teaching, for example, YouTube in lessons?
Will your filtering policies need to change to reflect the new rules?
How will concerns about children accessing social media be raised?
How will those who feel isolated as a result be supported, particularly the most vulnerable?
Protecting staff and Pupils from AI Image Manipulation
Sharing images on your website and social media is a great way to celebrate school life, but advances in technology have introduced a real risk: the unauthorised harvesting and manipulation of school imagery.
A particular concern is where images of pupils or staff have been taken and processed using artificial intelligence tools, such as freely available 'nudification' apps, to create non-consensual, synthetic sexual imagery, including AI-generated child sexual abuse material (AI CSAM). In response, new guidance has been issued to help schools prevent this from happening in their communities.
Please read this blog for more on the risks involved, along with practical actions that you can take.
Thedraft statutory guidance has been renamed the Information Sharing Duty, reflecting a genuine shift in approach. Under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act, practitioners are now required to share information to protect children even where formal thresholds for harm haven't been reached.
Our blog summarises the proposed new measures most relevant to schools, with practical guidance on what they mean for your policies, processes, and day-to-day practice. We've also put together a slide deck of proposed changesto help you plan.
The Crime and Policing Act became law in April 2026, although its various provisions will come into effect on a staggered timetable set by the government.
To help schools prepare, our blog summarises the key measures most relevant to schools, covering:
safer recruitment and vetting, digital safety and AI harms, knife crime and pornography restrictions
practical guidance on what they mean for your existing policies, processes, and day-to-day practice.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 includes new guidance on working with children who are questioning their gender. This interactive session, facilitated by sex education specialist Rachael Baker, gives colleagues space to explore the guidance together, considering practical applications and potential challenges of putting it into practice.Separate training sessions are now available to book for mainstream and specialist settings.
