Safeguarding basics for children’s activity clubs

Scope: use the guidance for your setting

The Department for Education’s out-of-school-settings guidance applies to England and covers activities, clubs and tuition. It is non-statutory guidance, not a universal safeguarding certificate or a replacement for duties that apply to your organisation. Registered childcare, schools and charities can have additional requirements; check the sources relevant to your provision.

Use the current out-of-school guidance for the overall arrangements and current DBS guidance for role eligibility. The February 2026 out-of-school document predates the September 2026 DBS change, so its older supervised-role examples should not settle eligibility today. Safeguarding systems and reporting routes elsewhere in the UK differ.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026 · Disclosure and Barring Service

A trained safeguarding lead and a route when they are unavailable

DfE guidance recommends a suitably trained designated safeguarding lead (DSL). In a small club this can be the owner, but the person needs to understand concerns, local referral procedures and their responsibilities. Make the contact route clear to staff, volunteers, parents and children in an accessible way.

Plan what happens when the lead is absent or is the subject of a concern. Keep local children’s social care and local authority designated officer (LADO) contacts available. A lone provider should give families an external route to raise concerns. Do not make reaching one person a condition of protecting a child.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• Report child abuse · GOV.UK

Safer recruitment and role-dependent DBS checks

Assess the actual duties of staff and volunteers before deciding which DBS check they are eligible for. Teaching children does not automatically establish eligibility for an Enhanced check with barred-list information. Use current eligibility guidance and applicable sector requirements; do not request information you are not entitled to obtain. Describe a regular helper’s role explicitly rather than leaving it informal.

From 1 September 2026 the supervision exemption was removed from regulated activity with children. Relevant teaching, training, instruction, care or supervision can now be regulated activity even when supervised, if the frequency or overnight criteria are met. This is not a blanket Enhanced DBS requirement for every parent or occasional helper. Our dedicated DBS guide explains the distinctions and links to current official guidance.

DBS checks are one part of safer recruitment. DfE guidance also recommends appropriate references, suitability assessment, induction and ongoing oversight. A certificate does not prove that someone will always behave safely.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• DBS eligibility guidance · Disclosure and Barring Service
• Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026 · Disclosure and Barring Service

Written procedures that people can actually use

Tailor a written safeguarding and child protection policy to your activities and children. There is no fixed one-page shortcut: include enough detail for people to recognise concerns, respond, record and use local referral routes. Give staff and volunteers the procedures and check that they understand them.

Cover adult conduct, coaching contact, one-to-one situations, messages and online activity, child-on-child harm, complaints and concerns about adults. Set practical collection and non-collection arrangements, including authorised collectors and what to do when someone unexpected arrives. Use DfE guidance to review coverage rather than treating this list as sufficient for every setting.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education

Attendance and emergency information have a limited purpose

An accurate attendance register helps staff account for children during sessions and emergencies. Agree arrival, handover, collection and missing-child procedures. Make necessary emergency contacts and relevant care instructions available to the people responsible for responding, without giving every staff member unrestricted access to a child’s history.

Medical and allergy information needs appropriate data protection safeguards. Keep safeguarding concern records separate from routine register notes and general child notes, with access restricted to those handling the concern. An attendance system helps administration; it does not replace safeguarding procedures or specialist advice.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• Information sharing to safeguard children and young people · Department for Education

When a child tells you something or you notice a concern

If a child is at immediate risk, call 999. For concerns that a child is being abused or is at risk, contact the local council’s children’s social care team using its referral route. You do not need proof before reporting a suspicion. Do not wait for the safeguarding lead to become available before taking urgent protective action.

Listen calmly, take the child seriously and reassure them that telling you was the right thing to do. Do not promise secrecy. Explain, in a way they can understand, that you may need to tell people who can help. Record what was said as soon as possible, distinguishing the child’s words from your observations, and report without delay under the procedures.

Do not investigate the disclosure yourself, question the child to establish a case or confront the alleged abuser. Take advice from children’s social care and the police. Seek their advice before contacting a parent if doing so might put the child at further risk. Tell the lead promptly, but internal reporting does not replace an appropriate external referral.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• Report child abuse · GOV.UK

Concerns about staff, volunteers or the owner

Have a route for concerns about adults, including contractors and the safeguarding lead. DfE guidance advises contacting the LADO about allegations against people working with children; the LADO can advise on action and referrals. Report possible crimes to the police and use emergency services when needed. Follow local procedures and obtain advice before taking investigative steps that could interfere with a statutory investigation.

A regulated activity provider can have a separate legal duty to refer a person to DBS where the removal and conduct or harm conditions are met, including relevant situations where the person has left. Not every complaint triggers that duty. Check the current DBS referral guidance and seek advice about your circumstances. Reporting to the police or local authority does not discharge a DBS referral duty where it applies.

An immediate safeguarding referral and a later employment or DBS process serve different purposes. Follow advice from the relevant authorities about any internal investigation; do not delay protecting a child while gathering evidence for a barring referral.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• The legal duty to refer to DBS · Disclosure and Barring Service

Secure concern records and proportionate information sharing

Record concerns, action taken, decisions and reasons accurately, with dates and responsible people. Restrict concern records to the lead and other relevant people who need them for safeguarding. Avoid ordinary class notes, shared spreadsheets or broad staff messaging groups as a place for the record. Set justified retention and secure sharing arrangements; there is no single retention period supplied by this guide.

Data protection law allows necessary, lawful sharing to protect children. Consent is not always required and seeking it can sometimes increase risk. Identify the appropriate lawful basis and any additional condition for sensitive information, share only what is necessary with appropriate recipients, and record your decision. In urgent cases, act proportionately without allowing routine administration to delay protection.

DfE updated its England information-sharing guidance in September 2026 for the section 16LA duty effective from 30 September 2026. Its statutory scope includes specified agencies and certain commissioned providers; do not assume every independent activity club is covered. The guidance also addresses sharing outside that duty. Check its scope and the current data protection guidance for your circumstances.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education
• Information sharing to safeguard children and young people · Department for Education

Review, train and practise

DfE recommends reviewing the safeguarding policy annually and after an incident. Also revisit arrangements when activities, children’s needs, staffing, venues or online services change. Provide appropriate safeguarding training and refresh it so people can recognise concerns and know what to do, including when the lead is unavailable.

As a practical exercise, walk through a disclosure, an allegation against the owner and a collection problem with your team. Check that the right contacts and instructions are available during the session. RocketClass can help organise attendance and day-to-day records; it does not provide safeguarding case management or certify that your club meets safeguarding obligations.

• Confirm the trained lead, absence cover and an independent route for concerns about them.
• Check local children’s social care, LADO and emergency reporting contacts.
• Review staff and volunteer roles against current DBS eligibility guidance.
• Check that staff understand disclosure, collection and online-safety procedures.
• Keep concern records secure and separate from routine register and child notes.

• Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers · Department for Education