settings
.svg){kind=small}
children
With Famly since
In a hurry? Here’s the quick run-down:
To start with, let’s look at the actual changes that are being made to the Early Years Foundation Stage from September, according to the response to last year's consultation.
The new wording in the EYFS around safeguarding falls broadly into the following areas:
I won’t be covering the name change of the ‘lead practitioner’ to ‘designated safeguarding lead - DSL’ or the rule around paediatric first aid (PFA) for students and trainees in this article, but you can find out more about those in the consultation response document.
“DfE continually monitors and reviews safeguarding requirements for early years settings to ensure they are comprehensive and suitably robust to help providers keep children as safe as possible. A consultation was held to seek views on proposals to strengthen EYFS safeguarding requirements.
The safeguarding proposals were informed by extensive engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts and using lessons learned from previous incidents.”
Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding reforms: Government consultation response, October 2024
The changes to the safeguarding guidance in the EYFS are the result of three main factors:
The changes to guidelines around safer recruitment include that:
You can add staff qualifications and certificates to individual staff profiles, keeping them safe and easily accessible for reference. When you add a certificate or qualification in Famly, you have the option to add an expiry date, a certificate number (perfect for logging completed DBS check reference numbers), and how many levels there are.
The changes to the EYFS in 2025 regarding recording and monitoring child absences include that:
When you enter a child’s booking pattern in Famly, this is automatically fed into Famly Home, the room overview, and the Child attendance area of the platform - essentially your all-in-one digital register. You know exactly which children are expected in, as you can see who’s due in, who’s marked as sick, and who’s on holiday.
Because children are signed in and out of their sessions in Famly, you automatically have an entire digital history of their attendance. A summary of sick days and holidays taken is logged on each child’s profile, so you can view past absences at a glance.
Your attendance policy can be shared with parents in the Parents’ Documents section of the platform, so all parents and carers can review it at any time.
If you do notice that a child is absent and their parents and carers have not let you know, you can message them directly in the Famly app. And, if you’re not able to reach the parents, all the child’s emergency contact details are easy to find on their profile, under the ‘Family’ tab.
The foundation of good safeguarding practice is staff education and training. With this in mind, updates to EYFS guidance on safeguarding training include that:
As above, you can add safeguarding training to the certificates section of staff profiles, using the expiry date function to ensure the training is refreshed on time. You can also add your safeguarding policy to the documents section of Famly platform, so all staff can easily access the information they need.
Famly also allows for the easy review of accidents and incident reports, so you can ensure that your safeguarding policies and procedures stay current and effective.
The changes to safer eating are some of the more detailed updates in the document, however, most settings are more than likely already meeting these standards. The changes include:
Each child profile has a specific section dedicated to noting allergies and specific dietary requirements, under the ‘Health’ tab. Educators can also see this information at a glance, from the room planner, using the ‘Show allergies’ and ‘Show dietary considerations’ options. A child’s specific allergy plan can be added to their profile in the ‘Special notes’ section of the ‘Health’ tab or as a document in the ‘Notes’ tab.
Famly even has a pre-built allergies report that updates in real-time, where you get an immediate overview of all children with allergies and their allergens. You can even drill down by specific allergen to support meal planning and alternatives.
Famly also displays the name of the staff member who logged a child’s meal, on their activity feed. This could be used to record the ‘designated’ person “responsible for checking that the food being provided meets all the requirements for each child”.
Should a choking incident occur, these can be recorded on Famly’s incident forms for review.
The new wording around toileting and privacy includes that:
All children’s nappy changes and toileting can be discreetly recorded in the Famly app, removing the need for a shared toileting record sheet or whiteboard. Parents and carers can see exactly when their children were changed or taken to the toilet (and who changed or took them) on their child’s activity feed, so no more toileting talk at pick-up.
Should something go wrong, or things not be operating as they should at your setting, educators need to know how to get it put right. Equally, for leadership, a robust whistle-blowing policy can help you feel confident that bad practice will be immediately reported, so you can tackle it.
The new wording in the EYFS on whistleblowing includes that:
As with other policies, you can add your whistle-blowing procedure to the documents section in the Famly platform. Should educators need to check when and how to report a concern, the information is easily accessible in the app for them to find.
Of course, Famly’s private messaging feature means educators can reach out to leadership immediately, without having to leave the children in their care and go and find a manager in the office.
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.