Strengthening Safeguarding in Early Years: The EYFS Reforms
In May 2024, the Government launched a consultation on proposed changes to improve safeguarding in the early years sector. We shared a summary of these proposals in a previous blog, which you can read here.
Since then, working parents of children as young as nine months have started accessing 15 hours of funded childcare each week, and new wraparound childcare options have been introduced for primary school children before and after school.
However, the planned expansion to 30 funded hours by September 2025 comes with some challenges. To meet the demand, we need a rapid increase in childcare places and staff. While the Government is taking steps to make this happen, it’s crucial that the quality of care remains high, and children’s safety stays a top priority.
The proposed changes aim to formalise and enhance existing best practices, acknowledging the great work already being done by early years practitioners. The Department for Education (DfE) wants to ensure everyone in the sector has the knowledge and support to maintain the highest standards of child safety.
The Government has now published its response to the consultation, which you can access here. These changes will come into effect in September 2025, giving you plenty of time to get familiar with the updated guidelines.
The proposed changes to the EYFS safeguarding reforms
The DfE regularly reviews and updates safeguarding requirements for early years settings to ensure they remain strong and effective in keeping children safe. A recent consultation sought feedback on proposed changes to strengthen the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) safeguarding guidelines. These proposals were shaped through close collaboration with providers, health professionals, sector experts, and lessons learned from past incidents.
Here’s a summary of the key proposed changes:
Safer recruitment practices: providers would be required to obtain references before employment and ensure safeguarding policies include procedures to help recruit only suitable individuals.
Attendance and contact details: new rules would require providers to follow up if a child is absent for an extended period and ensure they hold extra emergency contact details.
Safer eating: new requirements to promote safer eating practices would be introduced.
Safeguarding training: an annex outlining safeguarding training criteria will be created. Safeguarding policies would also need to detail how training is delivered and how practitioners are supported to implement it.
Paediatric first aid (PFA) training: early years students and trainees would be required to have PFA training in order to be counted in staff-to-child ratios, based on their level of study.
Nappy changing and toileting privacy: changes would ensure children’s privacy during these activities is balanced with safeguarding needs.
Emergency contacts: there will be a new requirement for providers to hold at least two emergency contacts for each child, ensuring that someone can always be reached in case of emergencies.
New whistleblowing requirements: these will provide clearer guidance on when and how to escalate safeguarding concerns. The aim is to boost practitioner confidence in whistleblowing, ensuring concerns are raised promptly to improve child safety.
Other updates: additional changes to the structure and wording of the safeguarding requirements aim to improve clarity.
For example, for group and school-based providers, the term ‘lead practitioner’ in the EYFS will be changed to ‘designated safeguarding lead (DSL)’. This update brings the language in line with schools and other education settings, helping to avoid any confusion, as ‘lead practitioner’ refers to a different role in other safeguarding documents.
Can nursery management software help with the proposed changes?
Absolutely! Both the Connect Childcare management system and iConnect already offer features to support the new safeguarding requirements. For example, you can easily report and track child absences within the system. Emergency contact details are also stored securely and are easily accessible, so if you need to store extra contacts, you won’t have to worry about where to store the information in your setting or leave the room to find them. With just a click, emergency contacts are right at your fingertips, helping you get in touch quickly and efficiently.
We’re always eager to hear from our customers. If you use Connect Childcare and have suggestions on how we can improve the safeguarding features in the future please follow this link to share your feedback.
In conclusion, these reforms build on practices that many early years settings already follow, aiming to make safeguarding standards consistent across the sector. Experts, such as Jamie (The Childcare Guru), highlight that providers who prioritise strong safeguarding measures likely already have many of these changes in place.
For a more detailed overview, you can read the full Government response here.
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About the Author
Content Marketing Executive at Connect Childcare