Terminology of the KCSiE advises that “must” implies a legal requirement to do something, and “should” implies that the advice should be followed unless there is a good reason not to.

'Must'

In this guide, we explicitly write “it is your statutory duty to ___”, which correlates with the DfE’s “must”.

'Should'

Where the DfE has written you “should”, we have used similar terminology, or replaced it with we “advise you to___”. We will also refer to this as "best practice" data.

This is our attempt to be clear on what your statutory duty is.

‘School’

Refer to all schools whether maintained, non-maintained or independent schools (including academies, free schools and alternative provision academies), maintained nursery schools and pupil referral units.

‘Child’ or ‘Children’

Encompasses all under the age of 18.

‘Inspection’

This relates to the day that an educational institution is visited by Ofsted or The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). Sign In Central Record caters to both frameworks, and this guide will attempt to ensure that any differences are clearly explained throughout.

'Your Checklists'

This guide sets out to help explain why pre-appointment checks are carried out, to help you achieve effective safeguarding.

We understand that if you’re in a hurry, you’ll need a shortened version – look out for “Your checklist” which condenses what you need to carry out within each section.

'Specific key differences to note'

Where there are specific instances of differences in terminology, this guide will outline those differences in underlined titles “Specific key differences to note”.

Pay close attention to those if you have specific circumstances or requirements of note.