It’s great news to have this well ahead of the summer break, although the flip side is that it’s in force from 1 September, so the turnaround for schools and colleges is tight. Don’t worry, though; we’ve got you covered with our KCSIE Conference 2026 taking place on 8 October at our head offices, with Al Kingsley MBE, Mark Anderson, the Internet Watch Foundation, Traci Gregory, Alan Mackenzie, Alex Dixon, Leah Miller, Andrew Baldock, the South West Grid for Learning and CPOMS.
Takeaways we think are worth commenting on:
- Cyber security is now explicitly a safeguarding responsibility. Protecting personal information and having appropriate cyber security systems in place should be approached as part of your wider safeguarding responsibilities, not left as an IT matter. If your DSL and your network manager have never shared a risk register, that changes now.
- Filtering and monitoring reviews are now annual, documented and evidenced. The review must be carried out at least once every academic year, led by the senior leader responsible, with support from the DSL and IT, with checks that filtering works on every internet-connected device in every relevant location, and a record kept.
- Annex A has gone. Every member of staff, including those who don’t work directly with children, now reads Part One in full. The new one-page summary supports it but explicitly does not replace it. One version, one shared understanding.
- The DSL role is strengthened. “Skills and experience” joins status and authority in the criteria, and schools must have robust cover arrangements so concerns are received, monitored and acted upon without delay when the DSL is unavailable.
- AI is now firmly in the guidance. Harmful interaction with generative AI applications that simulate peer contact sits within the four Cs, and the definition of nudes and semi-nudes now explicitly covers AI-generated imagery, including deepfakes.
- Child protection files must transfer within five days, with a direct DSL-to-DSL conversation named as good practice where concerns exist.
There’s plenty more in there, from the restructured Part five to changes to regulated activity that will affect how you check supervised volunteers. We’ll be unpacking all of it, practically, on 8 October, but in the meantime you can review the update here.