Is Your Team Up to Date?
As schools settle into the 2026/27 academic year, it is a good time to check that staff training remains current, appropriate and relevant to the responsibilities people hold.
Staff training is not simply about completing courses and collecting certificates. Effective training should help people understand their responsibilities, recognise risks and know what action to take when a situation arises.
There are also important developments for schools to consider this year. Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 came into force on 1 September, while new statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools was published in July 2026. Schools continue to manage responsibilities across safeguarding, Prevent, online safety, data protection, cyber security, health and safety and other areas.
So, is your school’s staff training up to date?
1. Start with safeguarding
Safeguarding remains everyone’s responsibility.
Under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026, staff need to understand their school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, know the systems in place and understand how and when concerns should be reported. Required safeguarding training and appropriate refreshers also form part of those responsibilities.
Schools should therefore consider:
- Have new starters received appropriate safeguarding induction?
- Are existing staff familiar with current guidance?
- Do staff know how to recognise and report safeguarding concerns?
- Are safeguarding training records up to date?
Safeguarding training should give staff the confidence to understand what to look for, what their responsibilities are and what to do if they have a concern.
2. Review Prevent Duty knowledge
Prevent forms part of the wider safeguarding responsibilities of education settings.
Statutory Prevent Duty guidance says education settings should ensure relevant staff have training that helps them prevent learners from being radicalised into terrorism. Individual settings determine which staff require training, how frequently it should take place and the appropriate level of knowledge for different roles.
Schools should consider whether staff understand how Prevent fits within safeguarding, how concerns should be identified and reported, and whether people with additional Prevent responsibilities have appropriate knowledge for their role.
3. Include online safety and cyber security
Online safety should not be treated simply as an IT issue. It forms an important part of safeguarding.
Staff should understand online risks as well as their responsibilities within the school’s filtering, monitoring and safeguarding arrangements.
Cyber security also deserves attention. Department for Education standards say cyber-security training should be provided at least annually, or more frequently where there is a known cyber risk. Relevant areas include phishing, password security, social engineering, multi-factor authentication and reporting cyber incidents and personal-data breaches.
This is particularly important for new, supply and temporary staff who also need to understand the school’s systems and reporting procedures.
4. Check GDPR and data-protection training
Schools handle substantial amounts of personal information relating to pupils, parents, employees and other members of their communities.
Protecting that information isn’t solely the responsibility of the Data Protection Officer.
Department for Education guidance states that all staff have responsibilities for protecting personal data. It says schools should ensure staff receive data-protection training every two years, with annual training recommended as best practice.
Training should also be practical. Staff need to know what to do if, for example, personal information is accidentally disclosed or they become aware of a potential data breach.
5. Match health and safety training to people’s roles
A school is both a learning environment and a workplace.
Health and safety training should therefore reflect the risks and responsibilities associated with different roles rather than assuming that every member of staff requires exactly the same training.
HSE guidance for education says employers must ensure employees receive adequate health and safety training when they start work, with further training where circumstances change, such as new risks, equipment, responsibilities or pupil needs.
Schools should consider whether changes during the year have created additional training requirements for particular members of staff.
6. Don’t overlook fire safety
New staff need to understand the school’s fire and evacuation procedures from the beginning.
Government guidance says new employees need fire-safety training when they start work and staff must be informed about new fire risks. Training should also be repeated periodically and adapted when risks or responsibilities change.
Schools should check that staff understand evacuation procedures and that people with specific fire-safety responsibilities have appropriate training for their roles.
7. Think beyond the certificate with equality and inclusion
Schools have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and an important role in creating environments where pupils and employees are treated fairly and respectfully.
Equality and diversity training can help staff understand discrimination, inclusive practice and organisational expectations.
However, it should not simply become another certificate to renew. Training should contribute towards a wider culture in which equality, diversity and inclusion are understood and reflected in everyday practice.
8. Put allergy safety firmly on the 2026/27 agenda
This is an especially important area to review this year.
The Department for Education published new statutory allergy-safety guidance on 6 July 2026 for specified schools in England.
Among its requirements, affected schools must create and publish an allergy-safety policy, put allergy-safety training in place for all staff, identify pupils requiring Individual Healthcare Plans and learn from serious incidents and near misses.
Allergy safety should therefore not be considered an issue solely for catering staff or designated first aiders.
Schools should review their arrangements, staff knowledge and pupil-specific plans against the new guidance.
9. Identify training required for particular roles
Not every member of staff necessarily needs every training course.
Alongside areas that may be relevant across the school workforce, additional training can depend upon an individual’s responsibilities, workplace risks and the pupils they support.
Depending on the setting and role, this could include:
- Designated Safeguarding Lead training
- Safer recruitment
- First aid and paediatric first aid
- Supporting pupils with medical conditions
- Food hygiene and allergen awareness
- Mental health awareness
- Manual handling
- COSHH
- Asbestos awareness
The important point is to identify training needs by considering statutory requirements and guidance alongside staff responsibilities, risk assessments, school policies and the needs of pupils.
A simple 2026/27 staff training check
Ask these five questions:
✓ Have new starters received appropriate training and induction for their roles?
✓ Is existing staff training still current?
✓ Have legislation, statutory guidance or school policies changed since training was last reviewed?
✓ Do particular roles, pupils or workplace risks create additional training needs?
✓ Are training records and certificates accurate and easy to evidence?
If any of these questions reveal a gap, it may be time to review the training currently in place.
Training should be about more than compliance
Compliance is important, but completing a course should not simply be an exercise in obtaining another certificate.
Good staff training should leave people with a clearer understanding of their responsibilities and greater confidence about what to do when they encounter a real situation.
That’s also why schools should avoid simply assigning the same collection of courses to everybody. Training is more valuable when it is relevant to the person’s role and the needs of the setting.
Supporting your school’s staff training
At Alvonex Academy, we provide online mandatory, compliance and CPD training across a wide range of subjects relevant to schools and education settings.
Our School Safeguarding & Compliance – Core Training Suite brings together six commonly relevant areas:
Safeguarding Children • Prevent Duty • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion • Workplace Health & Safety • Fire Safety Awareness • Data Protection / GDPR
Additional courses can then be selected according to individual roles, responsibilities and your school’s requirements.
But our service isn’t simply about providing access to courses.
If you’re unsure which training is appropriate for your staff, we’re here to help. We can help you explore the available options, identify suitable training for different roles and support your organisation throughout the training journey.
Not sure where to start?
Explore our School Training Suite or book a free consultation with Alvonex Academy to discuss your staff-training requirements.
Training requirements vary according to the setting, role and circumstances. Schools should always consider current statutory guidance, their own policies and risk assessments when determining staff-training requirements.
