AI doesn't create a separate safeguarding framework — it creates new ways for existing risks to appear. Here's how to reflect that in your KCSiE-aligned policy without rewriting the whole thing.
KCSIE 2026 is now in force and names AI directly — read our full breakdown of the KCSIE 2026 AI changes and action checklist.
The principle: extend, don't duplicate
Resist the urge to write a standalone AI safeguarding policy. AI-related harms are versions of risks KCSiE already covers — harmful content, contact, conduct and commerce. The stronger approach is to make sure your existing policy explicitly accounts for how those risks now present, so staff apply one framework rather than trying to work out which document applies.
What to add, section by section
Filtering and monitoring
Confirm your provision covers AI tools, that your approach is documented, and that governors have assured themselves of it. See filtering and AI.
Online safety and the four Cs
Note explicitly how AI presents within content (harmful or inaccurate AI output), contact (companion chatbots), conduct (AI-generated images), and commerce.
Peer-on-peer abuse
The most important addition for many schools: AI-generated sexual imagery of pupils sits here, and your policy should say so plainly so staff don't hesitate over whether it counts.
Staff conduct and pupil data
Link to your staff acceptable use rules — entering pupil information into AI tools is a data and safeguarding matter, not just an IT one.
Curriculum
Record where pupils are taught about AI risks, since KCSiE expects online safety to be taught, not merely policed.
Training
Note that staff and DSL training covers AI-related risks.
The single most valuable line to add: a clear statement that AI-generated indecent images of children are treated identically to any other indecent image. Staff hesitate on this precisely when speed matters — removing the ambiguity in writing is worth more than several pages of general AI content.
Governors need to have looked at it
Filtering and monitoring assurance is a governor responsibility, and AI now falls squarely within it. Make sure it's been to the board and minuted — see AI governor briefings.
Keep it current
KCSiE is updated annually and this area is moving quickly. Build an AI check into your normal annual policy review rather than treating it as a one-off project, and check the current DfE position at the same time — see DfE guidance summary.
Then tell staff
An updated policy nobody has read changes nothing. Five minutes in a staff meeting explaining what's changed and why does more for child safety than the document itself.
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Get one-to-one AI support for your schoolFrequently asked questions
Does a school need a separate AI safeguarding policy?
No — better to extend your existing KCSiE-aligned policy. AI-related harms are versions of risks KCSiE already covers under content, contact, conduct and commerce. One framework staff apply consistently beats a separate document they have to work out when to use.
What should be added to KCSiE policy for AI?
Confirmation that filtering and monitoring covers AI tools, how AI presents within the four Cs, explicit inclusion of AI-generated sexual imagery under peer-on-peer abuse, links to staff acceptable use rules on pupil data, where AI risks are taught, and that training covers AI.
What's the most important AI line to add to a safeguarding policy?
A clear statement that AI-generated indecent images of children are treated identically to any other indecent image. Staff hesitate on this exactly when speed matters, so removing the ambiguity in writing is worth more than pages of general AI content.
Do governors need to review AI in safeguarding policy?
Yes. Filtering and monitoring assurance is a governor responsibility and AI now falls within it. Make sure it has been to the board and been minuted, and build an AI check into your annual policy review since KCSiE and DfE guidance both update.