EYFS safeguarding requirements – DfE consultation – still time to have your say
This is your chance to have a say on the Department of Education (DfE) on proposals to strengthen the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements.
The consultation proposals include:
- Amendments to promote safer recruitment including new requirements to obtain references and requiring safeguarding policies to include procedures to follow to help ensure recruitment of suitable individuals
- Creation of new requirements for following up if a child is absent for a prolonged period of time and amendments to ensure providers hold additional emergency contact details
- Creation of new requirements to ensure safer eating
- Creation of a safeguarding training criteria annex and a requirement for safeguarding policies to include details of how safeguarding training is delivered and how practitioners are supported to put it into place
- Amendments to clarify that early years students and trainees are required to have paediatric first aid (PFA) training
- Amendments to ensure that children’s privacy when changing nappies and toileting is considered and balanced with safeguarding need
- A small number of other minor changes to the structure and wording of the safeguarding requirements to improve clarity.
These are designed to ensure that the safety of young children remains the utmost priority and changes to the EYFS ensure the safeguarding requirements are as comprehensive as possible to keep children safe.
The consultation is available here: Early Years Foundation Stage Government Consultation – Department for Education – Citizen Space
The consultation will be closing 17 June.