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TL;DR
👉 Many summer clubs have limited or no safeguarding arrangements in place.
👉 Parents often assume “DBS = safe”, but that’s a dangerously thin filter.
👉 The Department for Education does offer guidance, but it’s not mandatory.
👉 Here’s what I’d want any parent, DSL, or LA safeguarding lead to consider before signing off on a summer plan.
Summer Clubs aren’t regulated Schools or Early Years Settings
Most parents don’t realise that many holiday clubs, especially private or pop-up ones, aren’t bound by Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).
That means:
📌 No Designated Safeguarding Lead
📌 No requirement for safer recruitment
📌No obligation to follow school safeguarding policies
It feels like school - same hours, same children, same friendly staff. But that familiarity can mask a very different standard of protection. If we’re serious about safeguarding, we can’t let familiarity breed false confidence.
DBS Isn’t a Safeguarding Strategy
A DBS check shows if someone’s been caught. It doesn’t show:
📌 Grooming behaviours
📌 Risky or extremist online activity
📌 Patterned attempts to build trust over time
At Safehire.ai, we say this often:
Not just DBS. Not just gut feel. Safeguarding needs to be layered, active, and evidence-led.
We built our checks to go deeper, surfacing digital residue, CSAM-linked terms, alias patterns, all things a basic check won’t catch,but this isn’t a product pitch. It’s a mindset shift.
Too many still treat a “clear DBS” as a full stop. It should be a starting point.
There Is Government Guidance - But It’s Not Enforced
The Department for Education has issued safeguarding guidance for out-of-school providers, including holiday clubs, tuition centres, and extracurricular activities.
You can read it here: DfE Safeguarding Guidance for Providers (2023)
It outlines key expectations, such as:
📌 Having a designated safeguarding lead
📌 Conducting appropriate checks on all staff and volunteers
📌 Creating a clear safeguarding policy
📌 Managing concerns or allegations properly
📌 Being transparent about recruitment, training, and supervision
But here’s the issue:
It’s non-statutory.
That means it’s not legally required. There’s no formal inspection. And no consequences for falling short, unless something goes wrong.
Some clubs go above and beyond. Others don’t even know the guidance exists.
So while a framework does exist, we’re relying on good intentions, not guaranteed protections.
What I’d Want to Know as a Parent
If I were sending my own child to a summer club, here’s what I’d check before handing over the booking form:
✅ Parent Safeguarding Checklist for Summer Clubs
Use this as a starting point when evaluating any holiday provider:
No fear-mongering. Just informed questions. A reputable provider will welcome this scrutiny, not avoid it.
This Is a Gap Worth Closing
Local authorities already set clear expectations for early years and school-based settings. But these unregulated organisations/clubs often fall between the cracks.
We can’t leave it to parents to guess who’s safe and who isn’t.
We need consistency.
📌Safeguarding Children Partnerships can help raise awareness.
📌LAs can distribute checklists and expectation packs.
📌Providers can voluntarily align with the DfE guidance and show they’re doing so.
Because this isn’t just about one club.
It’s about the whole system recognising that children need the same level of protection, term time or not.
Final Thought: Ask More. Assume Less.
If this post helps even one parent pause and ask a better question, it’s done its job.
If you work in safeguarding, as a DSL, LA officer, or policy lead, this is a gap we can close together.
We’re not just checking paperwork.
We’re building trust, and trust should be consistent, even in the summer.
Want to take this further?
Share this with any parent or carer arranging childcare this month. along with this guide to support them with checking arrangements:
Let’s stop assuming. Let’s start asking.
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