SAEL vs On the Button - Which safeguarding system is the better fit for an early years setting or group?

A note before you read: We created On the Button, so this is not an independent review. Information about SAEL is taken from on its current public website and comparison pages.

The answer in a few lines

Both systems are designed to help settings record and manage safeguarding concerns.

SAEL is built across a much wider age range, from childminders and nurseries through to primary and secondary schools. Its central child record, secure transfer between settings and cross-setting co-authoring are important parts of its offer.

On the Button takes a different approach. It was built specifically around early years practice, where concerns may begin with a small observation, a change in behaviour, something a parent says, a wellbeing entry, complaint or concern about practice. It brings safeguarding, child, family and staff wellbeing, complaints and anonymous whistleblowing together, with actions, outcomes and chronologies following what happens next.

The question is not simply which system has more technology. It is which one better supports the way your team actually works.

What SAEL is built to do

SAEL describes itself as a safeguarding platform for childminders, nurseries, schools and other settings.

Its published features include concern logging, interactive body mapping, casefiles, a community concern portal, single central record compatibility, staff recording and secure transfer of a child's safeguarding record between settings.

A major difference is its portable child record. SAEL says that a child's safeguarding record can follow them between authorised settings and that two settings can contribute to the same record when a child attends both.

That is likely to matter particularly where continuity between early years and school is a priority.

What On the Button is built to do

On the Button starts with somebody noticing something.

That might be an injury, a change in behaviour, a comment from a child, something a parent says, an unexplained absence, a wellbeing concern, a complaint or a concern about a colleague's practice.

The whole team can record information without being given access to confidential records they do not need to see.

Safeguarding concerns trigger immediate SMS and email alerts to the relevant senior people. Actions, decisions and outcomes remain connected to the original concern and build into a chronology.

On the Button also includes child, family and staff wellbeing, complaint management, anonymous whistleblowing, safer recruitment information, staff training records, attendance information and safeguarding risk evaluation.

It is deliberately designed around what happens before, during and after a safeguarding concern in early years practice.

At a Glance

Question SAEL On the Button
Main purpose Safeguarding platform covering childminders, EYFS, primary and secondary schools. Specialist safeguarding, wellbeing, complaints and connected early years records.
Age range Childminder through secondary school. Early years settings and children's clubs.
Recording concerns Secure concern logging with casefiles and body mapping. Whole-team recording of safeguarding concerns and lower-level observations.
Alerts SAEL provides immediate in-app and email notifications when a concern is logged. On the Button provides immediate SMS and email alerts for safeguarding concerns, helping ensure that the relevant senior people are notified promptly. Immediate SMS and email alerts for safeguarding and complaints; wellbeing reviewed separately.
Wellbeing Safeguarding and wellbeing features are included. Separate child, family and staff wellbeing records alongside safeguarding.
Complaints A dedicated early years complaint-management process is not prominent in the public SAEL material reviewed. Complaint management from first concern through actions and outcome, with links to safeguarding where appropriate.
Whistleblowing Staff logging is included. Separate anonymous whistleblowing route for concerns about staff, policy or practice.
Body mapping Interactive body mapping. Interactive 3D body mapping.
Moving between settings A major SAEL feature. Records can move with the child between authorised settings. Records can be exported and shared securely, but On the Button is not designed to follow a child into school as the same continuing platform.
Groups SAEL supports the sharing of safeguarding records between authorised settings, including when a child attends more than one setting. Its consolidated multi-academy trust overview is listed as in development. On the Button takes a different approach to group oversight, helping leaders monitor actions, patterns and consistency of safeguarding practice across their settings. The precise functionality available depends on each provider's configuration. Group-level visibility supports leaders overseeing multiple settings, helping them track safeguarding and promote consistent practice. Role-based, need-to-know permissions protect sensitive information. Alerts, actions and trends support oversight. Exact cross-site access and reporting depend on the group setup.
Published pricing £550/year for nurseries and EYFS, flat fee per setting. Charity preschool £300. £1 per registered place set-up, £8 per place annually or 73p monthly, with qualifying group implementation credits.

One important difference: specialist does not mean basic

SAEL's own comparison argues that a nursery DSL should have access to the same level of safeguarding technology as a school DSL. That principle is difficult to disagree with.

Where we differ is the assumption that a system built specifically for early years must therefore be a reduced version of something designed for schools.

On the Button was not built by removing functions from a school platform.

It was built around early years practice.

That means making it easy for the people closest to the child to record something as soon as they notice it, distinguishing wellbeing from urgent safeguarding, connecting complaints and concerns about practice, controlling what each person can see and keeping the actions and outcomes attached to the original information.

Simple to use does not mean simple underneath.

The difference between continuity and specialism

One of SAEL's strongest arguments is that its record can follow a child from early years into school.

That is a genuine advantage if that continuity is important to you.

On the Button is not intended to become the child's safeguarding platform throughout primary and secondary education.

Its purpose is different: to support safeguarding practice within early years organisations and children's clubs.

So this is an area where the right answer genuinely depends on what you need - but, are your needs the same as a school? Is it your responsibility to solve a school problem?

Wellbeing should not disappear inside safeguarding

In early years, not everything important begins as a safeguarding incident. A child may become quieter. Attendance may change. A family may be struggling. A practitioner may notice something small but not yet know what it means.

On the Button allows child, family and staff wellbeing to be recorded separately while still allowing those entries to contribute to a wider picture.

That distinction matters because the aim is not to turn every observation into a safeguarding case. It is to stop useful information disappearing because it did not yet meet a safeguarding threshold.

Complaints can also become safeguarding information

A complaint may begin with a parent saying that something does not feel right.

It may remain a complaint.

Or it may reveal a wider issue involving practice, staff behaviour or safeguarding.

On the Button keeps complaint management close to the safeguarding process so that the original concern, acknowledgement, investigation, actions and outcome can remain connected.

When comparing any system, ask to see the full complaint journey rather than simply asking whether complaints can be recorded.

What about groups?

On the Button goes further than simply being able to be used by several settings. The stronger question is: what can the people responsible for safeguarding across the organisation actually see and do?

On the Button Group Picture: Features & Benefits across Multi-sites

• Central visibility across all sites

• Highlighted actions outstanding

• Consistent expectations between settings

• All on a need-to-know basis

• Alerts highlight actions outstanding

• Acknowledgements for accountability

• Setting Welfare Report

• Patterns and Trends

• New site onboarding overviews

How the published prices compare

SAEL publishes a flat annual EYFS and nursery price of £550 per setting. Charity preschools are listed at £300 per year.

On the Button charges:

• £1 per registered place as a one-off set-up fee

• £8 per registered place annually

• 73p per registered place monthly

• minimum charge based on 25 registered places

• no VAT

Registered places On the Button annual subscription SAEL EYFS/nursery
25 £200 £550
50 £400 £550
85 £680 £550
100 £800 £550

So, SAEL is cheaper for some larger individual settings, while On the Button is cheaper for many smaller settings.

But price alone is not a complete comparison because the systems are not identical.

SAEL's flat fee includes its wider platform. On the Button's price includes the safeguarding, wellbeing, complaints, whistleblowing and related early years functions within its offer.

For groups, On the Button also provides implementation credits on qualifying orders.

When SAEL may be the better choice

• you want one safeguarding platform spanning early years and school

• secure continuity of the child's record between settings is particularly important

• a child attends more than one SAEL setting and you want those settings contributing to the same record

• you prefer flat-fee pricing for a larger individual nursery

• you want a system intended to operate across several education phases

When On the Button may be the better choice

• you want a system designed specifically around early years practice

• you want safeguarding, child, family and staff wellbeing, complaints and whistleblowing together

• you want the whole team to be able to record something as soon as they notice it

• immediate SMS and email alerts are important

• you want concerns, actions and outcomes kept together in a clear chronology

• you want safeguarding records alongside safer recruitment, training and attendance information

• you value implementation and ongoing support from people who understand early years practice

• you run several early years settings and want to implement consistency of practice across all

Questions to ask both providers

1. Show me what happens when a practitioner notices something small and records it.

2. Who is alerted, how are they alerted and how quickly?

3. Can bank staff, students and volunteers record concerns without seeing confidential records?

4. How do you distinguish wellbeing from an urgent safeguarding concern?

5. Can I manage a complaint from first concern through to outcome?

6. Can a team member raise a genuinely anonymous concern about a colleague or practice?

7. Show me the chronology with the original concern, decisions, actions and outcome.

8. What does the exported record look like for Social Care, the LADO or Ofsted?

9. What happens when a child moves to another setting?

10. If I run several settings, what can the people responsible across the group actually see?

11. What is included in the price and what costs extra?

12. What happens to our data if we decide to leave?

Final Thoughts

I would not choose between SAEL and On the Button by asking which one is more sophisticated.

That depends entirely on what you mean by sophisticated.

SAEL has a genuine strength in its ability to operate across different education phases and in its portable child record.

On the Button has a different strength. It concentrates on the safeguarding practice surrounding the technology: the small thing somebody notices, who records it, who needs to know, what happens next and whether the organisation can later show that the concern was properly followed through.

The technology matters.

But safeguarding software should ultimately make good safeguarding practice easier to carry out, easier to manage and easier to evidence.

See both systems. Ask both providers to show you the same real-life safeguarding journey. Then choose the one that best fits the way your organisation actually works.

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Sources

This comparison uses the providers’ own descriptions of their purpose and approach: SAEL and On the Button. Product details should be checked directly before making a decision.

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