Preparing for the Vital 2025 EYFS Safeguarding Changes

Have you devised a plan to implement them?

As you may already know, the upcoming changes to the safeguarding and welfare requirements in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) are of profound importance. These revisions, to be followed across England from September 2025, are designed to significantly strengthen child safety, modernise current methods, and provide greater clarity for early years providers.

As settings begin to review and update their safeguarding policies to meet the new requirements, many wonder how these changes will be translated into day-to-day practice.

🔄 What's Changing?

The revised guidance brings updates across several key areas, including:

• Safer recruitment, such as the introduction of reference requirements for new staff.

• Child absences, clearer expectations for following up on unexplained absences and holding more than one emergency contact.

• Safeguarding Training Minimum Content – Practitioners must be able to:

• Understand the term "safeguarding."

• Recognise the main types of abuse, harm, and neglect.

• Identify factors and situations that could lead to abuse, harm, or neglect.

• Implement practices that safeguard children from harm.

• Identify early signs of possible abuse, including:

• Noticeable changes in behaviour.

• A decline in general well-being.

• Unexplained bruises or marks.

• Concern about comments or behaviours from children.

• Inappropriate behaviour from staff or other persons in contact with children.

For Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), additional training requirements include:

• Building a safer organisational ethos across staff teams.

• Ensuring safer recruitment practices.

• Developing and implementing safeguarding policies and procedures.

• Collaborating with other practitioners to protect children.

• Understanding local child protection procedures and liaising with statutory agencies.

• Referring and escalating concerns appropriately.

• Managing and monitoring allegations against staff.

• Ensuring internet safety.

📚 Expectations for Training Delivery

Safeguarding policies must detail how training is delivered and how practitioners are supported in applying their knowledge. Key expectations include:

• Providing comprehensive induction training for all new employees.

• Updating training to reflect the newest safeguarding practices.

• Ensuring training is customised to the staff team's roles and responsibilities.

• Support staff in applying safeguarding knowledge effectively in practice.

🚑 Paediatric First Aid (PFA)

• Students must hold a valid PFA to be included in ratios.

🍽️ Practices to Ensure Safe Eating

• Includes managing allergies, weaning, and choking risks.

🚻 Toileting and Privacy

Balancing children's dignity with safeguarding responsibilities.

📣 Whistleblowing

• Clear procedures for raising concerns within the setting.

While many providers may already have robust foundations, the new details in the guidance necessitate an urgent and thorough review and, in most cases, updates to existing policies and procedures. It's crucial to ensure your policies are up to date and in line with the new requirements.

How On the Button Can Support You

At On the Button, we work with early years settings to bring policies to life in daily practice. Our purpose is:

• To support the well-being of the Registered Person and Manager with easy ways to evaluate and respond to a staff member/child/family's whole picture around well-being and safeguarding.

• To give team members an easy way to whistleblow in person or anonymously.

• To give peace of mind—no more forms and bits of paper, as all records are kept together, securely and on a need-to-know basis.

• Generating chronological information in instant report features is ideal for reviewing practice or for sharing comprehensive information with external professionals (Social Care, LADO, MASH, etc.).

• To provide a system that supports the whole team, with a consistent way to record anything they feel uncomfortable about—removing the 'should I or shouldn't I?' uncertainty and encouraging professional curiosity.

• To embrace family complaints as a potential safeguard component, with tools to sort problems early and use them to review and improve future practice.

• Features to maintain DBS checks and training records for mandatory and complementary safeguarding training (e.g., Safety with sleeping, eating, allergies, types of abuse), with automatic reminders for senior staff to renew as needed.

🔭 Looking Ahead

The new EYFS requirements offer a thought-provoking opportunity to refresh and strengthen safeguarding practice. These changes are not just about ticking boxes, but about building confidence and clarity in how settings ensure children's safety.

Whether you're already well underway with reviewing your policies or just beginning to think about what needs to change, rest assured that comprehensive support is available to make the transition smoother.

For more information and updates on our work with early years providers, weareonthebutton.com.

AUTHORS:-  On the Button is developed by early years professionals at Quality Early Years - the creators of the UK's first dedicated software for Well-being, Safeguarding and Complaint Management in childcare. Built from hands-on experience in nurseries. The platform helps teams stay alert, accountable, and prepared to respond. Every missed sign puts a child's future at risk - is your team On the Button?

Built by professionals with frontline experience, On the Button is the UK's first specialist software designed to support early years safeguarding, EYFS complaint management, and early years well-being in a single, intuitive system. We help preschools, nurseries, and children's clubs stay compliant, accountable, and proactive in protecting children. Every detail matters when it comes to EYFS safeguarding.