Safeguarding expert Ann Marie Christian joins Matt and Julia for a frank conversation about keeping children safe in Early Years settings. With over 30 years of experience as a social worker, LADO, DSL, and safeguarding consultant, Ann Marie shares hard-won lessons from real investigations. We cover CCTV in nurseries, the 2026 KCSIE and Safer Sleep changes, spotting grooming, the grey areas of physical touch, and how to build a setting where staff feel safe to speak up.
The September 2026 EYFS reforms introduce stricter safer sleep guidance, particularly for babies under 12 months and under 6 months. The new guidance covers things like:
Ann Marie believes that CCTV is a top-of-mind concern for Early Years settings, particularly in light of recent high-profile cases where footage served as critical evidence. It is viewed not only as a child protection measure, but also as a means of safeguarding staff against false allegations, functioning like an impartial witness.
Ann Marie recommedns that settings
Ann Marie Christian supports CCTV, saying, "If we've got nothing to hide, it will help you like an insurance policy."
Ann Marie notes that a recurring pain point is Early Years providers being unaware of updates to guidance such as Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE),. This leads to inconsistent compliance across settings. Providers tend to stay within familiar regulatory lanes and miss cross-sector obligations.
To solve this problem, Ann Marie recommends that settings designate a Compliance Officer, who us not the manager or owner. This person then monitors and communicates regulatory changes proactively. She further recommends that settings sign up to emails from gov.uk, to stay abreast of changes.
Ann Marie explains that a culture of professional curiosity and vigilance are essential, as grooming behaviours by perpetrators can be subtle. Long-standing staff are sometimes trusted to a fault, so settings must embed safeguarding into everyday practice.
Ann Marie specifically calls out "grey-area" behaviours such as tickling, children sitting on laps, and hide-and-seek activities, as they can potentially be grooming entry points. In order that all staff know exactly what the rules are, Ann Marie recommends that settings create and 9implement explicit policies on physical touch.
"We need to have a belief it could happen here approach... every decision I made in my career, I always thought that before I made my decision."
Ann Marie Christian
Ann Marie encourages Early Years leaders to build multi-channel, psychologically safe reporting structures so that all staff, regardless of seniority or confidence, feel able to raise concerns without fear of reprisal.
Practical measures to supprot this are:
Ann Marie believes that Inclusive practice and safeguarding are inseparable. Eurocentric frameworks can lead to adultification of Black and brown children or cause white educators and practitioners to hesitate raising concerns with families of the global majority.
Ann Marie recommends that settings:
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