Eden Openly Editorial
KCSIE 2026 Resources for Schools
A practical implementation toolkit for school staff, designated safeguarding leads, school leaders, governors, trustees and multi-academy trusts in England on responding to children who are questioning their gender, built line by line from Keeping children safe in education 2026 (KCSIE), the statutory safeguarding guidance in force from 1 September 2026.
Help us improve these resources. We are actively seeking feedback from practitioners on this draft toolkit: issues or errors in the resources, unclear wording, practical difficulties using them, and gaps where additional resources are needed. Please tell us what works, what needs changing and what else would help your school or trust.
Email [email protected] with your feedback or suggestions. If relevant, include the resource title and your role or setting. Please use fictional or anonymised examples and do not include identifiable pupil information.
Free and open. There is no charge for these resources. They are released under CC BY 4.0, so schools, trusts, local authorities and other organisations may share and adapt them with attribution. The current versions are drafts and may be downloaded for practitioner testing. They should not be circulated or adopted as final resources until testing is complete.
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Download the full toolkit
All 17 resources in one ZIP, including every available PDF, DOCX, PPTX and XLSX file (26 files).
Version v0.1 · Status: Practitioner testing · Updated: 12 September 2026
Formats available: ZIP containing PDF / DOCX / PPTX / XLSX
Drafts for practitioner testing; please do not circulate or adopt them as final until testing is complete.
Start here
The toolkit is designed as an implementation pathway rather than a collection of unrelated documents. Start with the deployment guide, then use the readiness checklist to identify what your setting needs to put in place.
- For school and trust leaders · one page · in testing
Start Here: children questioning their gender
The deployment guide for the toolkit. It sets out eight stages — leadership, policy, requests, staff, facilities, existing support, families and pupils, and assurance — and identifies the lead role and resources for each. It is not a whole-KCSIE compliance checklist. - For heads, DSLs, governors and trustees · two pages · in testing
KCSIE 2026 and children questioning their gender: getting your school ready
A ten-step whole-school readiness checklist covering what has changed, responsibilities, staff training, policy, requests and records, facilities and trips, existing arrangements, bullying, review, and the questions governors and trustees should ask.
The toolkit
The full draft set currently includes the resources below. They are designed to be used together, but settings can test individual resources. If you work in a school, college or trust in England and would be willing to test one or more of them, email [email protected] with your role and setting. Drafts may be downloaded for practitioner testing and should not be circulated or adopted as final resources until testing is complete.
Leadership, governance and trust implementation
- For heads, DSLs, governors and trustees · two pages · in testing
KCSIE 2026 and children questioning their gender: getting your school ready
The whole-school readiness checklist and a practical route through the main implementation tasks. - For governing bodies, trustees and school leaders · two pages · editable · in testing
Governor and trustee assurance checklist
A meeting and assurance record for the children-questioning-gender provisions: evidence seen, questions asked, actions, responsible people, deadlines and closure evidence, without requiring identifiable case details. - For MAT safeguarding and education leads, trustees and school leaders · three pages plus Excel tracker · editable · in testing
MAT implementation tracker and trust-level assurance checklist
A trust-wide implementation tracker covering policy and equality, DSL processes and records, existing support, facilities and trips, staff briefing and local governance assurance. It includes evidence standards, action closure and trust-level assurance, with an Excel version for tracking across multiple schools. - For schools and trusts · two pages · editable · in testing
School and trust customisation worksheet
A one-time setup worksheet for local roles, contacts, timescales, review arrangements and the choices the school has made within the Policy framework. It helps populate the editable implementation resources consistently without putting individual pupil information into the setup document.
Policy, DSL decision-making and records
- For schools and colleges · seven pages · editable · in testing
Policy framework: supporting children who are questioning their gender
An adaptable policy framework separating what KCSIE requires or states from the choices each school still has to make, with an equality consideration record and a pre-adoption checklist. - For DSLs and school leaders · two pages · in testing
A request for support with social transition: a checklist
Working through a request from confirming that it is a request at all to parents, safeguarding, decision-making, the rules that apply whatever is decided, records, review and support if a child later wants to reverse what was agreed. - For DSLs and school leaders · four pages · editable · in testing
Requests for support with social transition: individual decision record
A structured case record for documenting the request, the parental-contact safeguarding position, the child’s and parents’ views, evidence and advice, best interests, equality and human-rights considerations, facilities and practical arrangements, the decision and reasons, communication, and review. - For DSLs and school leaders · one page · in testing
Support agreed before September 2026: reviewing existing arrangements
For schools that agreed support before KCSIE 2026 came into force: what applies now, what the guidance expects schools to reconsider, and how to protect the child through any change.
Staff training and induction
- For all staff · 20-minute briefing · 14 slides · in testing
When a pupil tells you about their gender
A ready-to-deliver staff briefing built around three routes: a pupil confides and asks for no change; something raises a safeguarding concern; or the pupil asks the school to change something. - For all staff · one page · in testing
A pupil tells you about their gender: what to do
A quick-reference staff aid covering what to do in the moment, how to identify which of the three routes applies, and the rules that always apply. - For supply, temporary and new staff · one page · in testing
If a pupil tells you about their gender
A short induction card with space for the school to add its DSL and deputy, designed for staff who may be the first adult a pupil chooses to tell.
Facilities, PE and trips
- For PE, trips, site and school leaders · one page · in testing
Toilets, changing rooms, PE and trips: a checklist
The rules on toilets, changing rooms and showers, PE and sport, trips and overnight stays, and the alternative arrangements schools should consider.
Families, pupils and case communications
- For parents and carers · two pages · in testing
When your child’s school talks to you about your child’s gender: what the guidance says
A neutral explainer of why the school may be talking to parents, what social transition means in KCSIE, how the school decides, what support cannot include, what happens afterwards, and questions parents may want to ask. - For secondary-age pupils · two pages · in testing
Questioning your gender? What happens at school
A pupil-facing explanation of what happens if a young person talks to a member of staff, asks the school to change something, raises a safeguarding concern, or later wants an arrangement reviewed. - For school leaders and DSLs · six pages · editable · in testing
Parent and outcome communication templates
Five editable messages for an actual case: acknowledging a request, inviting parents or carers to a meeting, communicating the decision and review arrangements, arranging a later review, and reviewing support agreed before September 2026. The wording is GOOD PRACTICE rather than prescribed correspondence and must be completed to match the school’s actual decision and policy.
Practitioner testing
- For practitioners testing the implementation resources · two pages · editable · in testing
Practitioner testing feedback form
A structured testing form that asks practitioners to try the implementation resources in practice, record where they pause or need advice, identify blocking, important or minor changes, and assess clarity, completeness, layout and readiness for wider testing. Use fictional or anonymised examples only.
How these resources are made
- Every substantive point cites its source. The relevant KCSIE paragraph is shown alongside the point so it can be checked against the guidance itself.
- Every point says how strong it is. MUST where KCSIE states a legal requirement; SHOULD where the statutory guidance says schools should act; STATED where KCSIE says something without using either word. Material that comes from our own implementation suggestions rather than KCSIE is labelled GOOD PRACTICE.
- The guidance and our additions are kept separate. Where KCSIE leaves a decision to the school or trust, the resources identify that rather than presenting our preferred answer as though it came from the statutory text.
- Templates are not treated as implementation. The assurance resources ask for dated evidence that a process has actually been put into practice, rather than treating possession of a template as compliance.
- Every draft is checked against the statutory text and then practitioner-tested. Feedback from people doing the work in schools is being used to identify unclear wording, missing steps and practical problems before publication.
- Final resources will be versioned and citable. Published versions will carry a version number and permanent identifier, with corrections and substantive updates recorded publicly.
These resources summarise statutory guidance. They are not legal advice, and they do not replace KCSIE 2026 or a school’s own policies. Decisions on a child’s request for support are for the school.
Practitioner testing
We are particularly interested in feedback from designated safeguarding leads, headteachers and principals, trust safeguarding leads, governors and trustees, SEND professionals, PE and educational visits staff, and people responsible for safeguarding training, policy or trust-wide assurance.
If you would like to test the draft toolkit, email [email protected] with your role and setting. It is useful to hear not only whether something is accurate, but whether a resource can actually be picked up and used in a school or trust without additional explanation.
Keeping up to date and reporting errors
KCSIE is revised every year. Each published resource will carry its version number and date. Before using a resource, check this page to make sure you have the current version.
If you find an error, a line that does not match the guidance, or something that is unclear in practice, please tell us at [email protected]. Corrections to published versions will be recorded openly.
Keep your copy current
If you are using or testing these resources, subscribe for updates when new versions, corrections or additional school resources are released.
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Read more
- When a Pupil Comes Out as Trans: A Guide for Schools — the reasoning behind the first conversation, in more depth.
- Grading the Guidance (GA-001) — an evidence appraisal of the claims in the section of KCSIE 2026 on children questioning their gender.