Why are you here? What's your purpose?
This mid-year review guide helps you move from “we think we’re doing ok” to “we can evidence what’s working and what needs fixing”. To do this it's important to get back to your 'why?' - what is the purposed of the review:
- What are we trying to improve?
- What safeguarding KPIs are actually useful (and which ones mislead);
- How to review incidents and near-misses for patterns;
- How to test whether policies are being followed in real life;
- How to measure training impact beyond attendance;
- How to gather staff feedback safely; and
- How to set 3–5 priorities for the second half of the year.
If someone asked you, “How do you know your safeguarding is working?” — what would you show them?
A mid-year review isn’t about catching people out. It’s about spotting drift early, tightening weak points, and making sure your safeguarding approach still fits the reality of your provision.
1) Start with your purpose: what are you trying to improve?
Before you pull data, decide what “better” means for your setting.
Common mid-year goals:
- Faster identification and escalation of concerns
- Cleaner record keeping and handovers
- Fewer supervision gaps and boundary issues
- More confident staff responses to disclosures
- Stronger consistency across sites/teams
2) KPIs that actually help (and the ones that don’t)
Safeguarding isn’t sales — but you can still measure meaningful indicators.
Useful safeguarding KPIs
- Time to log: average time from incident/concern to record completion
- Time to escalate: how quickly concerns reach the safeguarding lead
- Repeat themes: top 3 incident types (and whether they’re rising)
- Location/time hotspots: where and when issues occur
- Training coverage: who is overdue (by role)
- Compliance visibility: ability to confirm DBS checks for regulated roles
KPIs to treat carefully
- “Number of concerns logged” (more can mean better reporting, not more harm)
- “Zero incidents” (often signals under-reporting)
3) Incident and near-miss review: look for patterns, not blame
A good review asks:
- What happened?
- What made it possible?
- What would stop it next time?
Practical pattern prompts
- Are incidents clustered around transitions (arrival, lunch, collection)?
- Are certain activities repeatedly linked to behaviour or injuries?
- Are the same children appearing across logs (support plan needed)?
- Are the same staff repeatedly involved (training/support needed)?
Use your digital safeguarding records to build a simple timeline and theme list.
4) Policy effectiveness: do people follow it when it’s busy?
Policies often fail because they’re too long, unclear, or unrealistic.
Quick ways to test policy effectiveness
- Ask 5 staff: “What do you do if a child discloses?” (compare answers)
- Spot-check: can staff find the escalation route quickly?
- Review: are records factual and timely?
- Observe: are supervision zones actually being used?
If the policy isn’t usable, it won’t be used.
5) Training impact: move beyond attendance
Training “done” doesn’t mean training “embedded”.
Better ways to measure impact
- Scenario confidence checks (short, anonymous pulse)
- Quality of records after training (clearer, faster, more factual?)
- Fewer repeated errors (e.g., late logging, unclear escalation)
- Staff asking better questions (a good sign)
6) Staff feedback: get the truth without fear
If staff don’t feel safe to raise concerns, you’ll only hear what’s comfortable.
Questions that get useful answers
- “Where do we feel most stretched?”
- “What’s the hardest safeguarding decision you face?”
- “Which part of the process is unclear?”
- “Where do we lose time or miss information?”
Capture themes, not names.
7) Set priorities for the next 6 months (keep it tight)
A strong mid-year review ends with action.
A simple prioritisation filter
Choose priorities that are:
- High risk if ignored
- Easy to implement quickly
- Likely to improve consistency
Examples of strong priorities:
- Standardise supervision zones and headcount rhythm
- Tighten digital comms and social media boundaries
- Improve record quality and time-to-log
- Refresh seasonal staff induction and escalation routes
How safeguarding software helps your mid-year review
Mid-year reviews are painful when evidence is scattered.
Safeguarding software supports:
- Faster reporting through consistent digital safeguarding records
- Cleaner chronologies for incident review
- Easier training/compliance tracking
- Clearer visibility of checks (including DBS check status where relevant)
Q&A: common mid-year safeguarding review questions
Q1: What’s the point of a mid-year safeguarding review?
To spot drift early, strengthen weak points, and make sure your safeguarding approach matches your current risks and staffing reality.
Q2: If incidents are increasing, does that mean safeguarding is getting worse?
Not always. It can mean reporting culture is improving. The key is to look at themes, severity, and response time.
Q3: What’s the fastest way to find what’s really going on?
Review incidents and near-misses for patterns, then validate with staff feedback and a few on-the-ground observations.
Q4: How do we measure training impact?
Look for behaviour change: faster escalation, better-quality records, fewer repeated mistakes, and higher confidence in scenarios.
Q5: What should we do if policies aren’t being followed?
Assume the policy is unclear or unrealistic first. Simplify it, train it, and make it operational (checklists, briefings, visible prompts).
Q6: What evidence should we keep from the review?
A short summary of findings, key themes, actions with owners/dates, and supporting data from digital safeguarding records.
Quick checklist: mid-year review in one page
- Pull key themes from incidents and near-misses
- Check time-to-log and time-to-escalate
- Test whether policies are usable under pressure
- Measure training impact beyond attendance
- Gather staff feedback safely
- Set 3–5 priorities with owners and deadlines