It is stated in Keeping Children Safe in Education, that it is our responsibility to pass on any records to any new school/setting in a timely manner, and that if there is provision that should be in place for a child’s first day or information that should be known to safeguard a child then this can be shared prior to their first day. In such instances, this can be completed by the DSL’s and both settings should keep a record that this has occurred. KCSiE sets out the legal position where a school can decide to share without consent, this should be read and understood by all staff responsible for sharing records.

If our setting receives information to prepare for day 1 for a child, we will record how we received the information, when, and what actions were put in place as a result of this. This discussion is not to be held in lieu of the transfer of the record. We will follow up with any setting where we do not receive records that we have been made aware of within one calendar month.

We follow guidance from Southampton City Council for the retention and transfer of child protection and child welfare records:

We always do this with parental consent unless to do so would increase the risk to the child.

• Our data retention document for Paint Pots can be found on our internal storage system.
• Decisions to share with/without consent are recorded in the safeguarding log.
• A record of transfer and receipt by the new organisation is obtained and recorded in the safeguarding log or securely in line with the storage of child protection records.