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Keeping Children Safe in Education (July 2025)- changes and possible actions for schools.
All those working in schools and safeguarding are breathing a big sigh of relief that the draft of Keeping Children Safe in Education has...

Sara Alston
Jul 87 min read


A quick guide to the EEF guidance on TA deployment
In March 2025, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) released new guidance on the Deployment of Teaching Assistants . This is an...

Sara Alston
Apr 118 min read


Rethinking reading for pleasure: A personal view
The National Literacy Trust released their Children and young people’s reading in 2024 report earlier this month, identifying that just...

Sara Alston
Nov 14, 20247 min read


Updates and possible actions for schools from KCSIE 2024
The finalised version of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 was released on September 2nd. There are very few changes from the draft...

Sara Alston
Sep 4, 20245 min read


Planned obsolescence.
I am one of the thousands of people leaving the school workforce at the end of this school year. I am very lucky because a) This...

Sara Alston
Jul 16, 20243 min read


Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023: Summary and possible actions for schools
In this blog, I intend to provide a guide to Working Together 2023 including identifying key themes and changes that are relevant to...

Sara Alston
Dec 28, 202325 min read


Keeping Children Safe In Education 2023: Key points and possible actions for schools.
We were promised the changes from KCSIE 2022 to KCSIE 2023 would be minor. Therefore there was no consultation document for Keeping...

Sara Alston
Jun 6, 20236 min read


KCSIE 2022: Changes and possible actions for schools
Some years Keeping Children Safe in Education brings big changes. This is not one of those years. Nevertheless the document is...

Sara Alston
Jun 3, 202211 min read


The SEND Review: Too much what and very little how
My first thoughts as I read the description of the broken SEND system in the SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time was a...

Sara Alston
Apr 6, 20226 min read


Is the call for volunteers in schools just a paper towel?
In many ways, I have severe reservations about Nadhim Zahawi and the DfE’s plan to ask a volunteer army of retired teachers to return to...

Sara Alston
Dec 26, 20213 min read


Dyslexia: A personal story
Even though it underlies all my work and my approach to education, I have written little about my personal experience of dyslexia. I was...

Sara Alston
Oct 15, 20215 min read


KCSIE 2021: What you need to know and possible actions for schools
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2021 was released on 6th July. It is a weighty tone (168 pages). Not surprisingly, there are...

Sara Alston
Jul 11, 202116 min read


Thoughts on the OFSTED Review on Sexual Abuse in schools
In December 2017, the DfE released their guidance on Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children (updated May 2018). This was...

Sara Alston
Jun 13, 20216 min read


Online learning: Caught between a rock and a hard place
This lockdown is different for schools. It is very hard on teachers, parents and children. We are managing constant government policy and...

Sara Alston
Jan 24, 20215 min read


Life with dyspraxia: A Guest blog from Sam Alston
When I try to explain dyspraxia, I often explain it as a wiring problem. My brain is connected slightly differently to many other people....

Sara Alston
Dec 29, 20203 min read


Consultation for KCSIE 2021
After the aborted consultation on Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020, the government have released a consultation on Keeping...

Sara Alston
Dec 29, 20208 min read


WTSC 2018: More than a few changes
On 9th December 2020, the government issued an updated version of Working Together to Safeguard Children. It is still branded as Working...

Sara Alston
Dec 14, 20205 min read


When bubbles become boxes- Schools in the world of Covid
As we struggle to half term, I find myself reflecting on the impact of Covid and the lockdown on schools. We started this term with a...

Sara Alston
Oct 24, 20206 min read


Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020: summary and possible actions for schools
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2020: summary and possible actions for schools

Sara Alston
Jun 23, 20209 min read


A Sense of Dissonance and the Return to School
The current policy about the return school is not promoting children's education or welfare.

Sara Alston
May 25, 20206 min read
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