Compliance 2026: Legal Duties, Policy Change and Practice Conference
🏷️ From £235
🎧 DSLs, safeguarding leads, senior leaders, pastoral leads
đź“Ť Online
Course overview:
The compliance landscape in education is evolving quickly. This one day conference will bring together the latest regulatory updates, practical guidance, and forward-looking insights to help delegates navigate this changing environment with confidence. The focus is on compliance, accountability and implementation.Â
Join us as we unpack latest changes to legal duties, policy and practice and what these mean for your day-to-day responsibilities and wider organisational culture. From essential KCSiE updates and employment requirements to a clear breakdown of statutory safeguarding guidance implementations, each expert-led session will guide delegates in translating policy into practice.
Whether you’re responsible for safeguarding, boarding provision, inclusion strategy, or health and wellbeing, this conference offers a valuable opportunity to deepen your knowledge, benchmark your practice, and ensure you and your team are fully equipped for 2026 and beyond.
Programme:
09:30 – 10:30
Session 1: Preventative Safeguarding & CultureÂ
This session explores how to embed a proactive safeguarding culture, with a focus on prevention strategies. It will cover upcoming RSE guidance from September 2026 and the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, supporting delegates to strengthen safeguarding across their setting.
Speaker:
Gaelle Sullivan, Director of Research, Inclusion and IELA
10:30 – 10:45
Break
10:45 – 11:45
Session 2: Statutory Safeguarding Guidance – What You Must Implement
This session provides clarity on key statutory safeguarding requirements, focusing on updates to policies, procedures, and training. It will cover proposed changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, helping delegates ensure their settings remain compliant and up to date.Â
Speaker:
Dr Mariya Ali, Director, SACPA
Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance
11:45 – 12:00
Break
12:00 – 13:00
Session 3: Equality, Inclusion & Emerging Compliance DutiesÂ
This session explores key developments in equality, inclusion, and safeguarding compliance. It will cover emerging guidance and reforms, including gender-questioning guidance, SEND changes, pay gap reporting, and Scotland’s RHSP update, helping delegates navigate complex decisions with confidence.Â
Speaker:
Gaelle Sullivan, Director of Research, Inclusion and IELA
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:00
Session 4: Safety, Health & Duty of Care in Practice
This session focuses on safety, health, and duty of care in practice, supporting confident and defensible decision-making in high-risk situations. It will cover key guidance on restraint, allergy management, and the practical application of Martyn’s Law in operational settings.Â
Speakers:
Dr Mariya Ali, Director, SACPA
Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance
15:00 – 15:15
Break
15:15 – 16:30
Session 5: Updates on:Â KCSiEÂ and Employment
This session will provide key updates on Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) and employment-related safeguarding responsibilities. Delivered by expert speakers from Moore Barlow, it will explore recent and upcoming changes, the intersection between statutory guidance and employment law, and what this means in practice for schools. Delegates will gain a clearer understanding of their legal obligations, particularly in areas such as staff conduct, safer recruitment, and handling safeguarding concerns within an employment context.Â
Speakers:
Cerys Cousins, Solicitor, Moore Barlow
Olivia Stanton, Senior Associate, Moore Barlow
CONFERENCE CLOSE: 16:30
Speakers:
Dr Mariya Ali, Director, SACPA
Mariya Ali is Director of SACPA and an internationally recognised safeguarding and child protection expert. With over two decades’ multidisciplinary experience in legal, academic, advisory, and leadership roles, she is strongly committed to advancing child rights and welfare. Formerly Deputy Minister in the Maldives, she led national reforms in child protection policy and legislation. Internationally, she has worked with UNICEF, Save the Children, and Lumos Foundation on child sexual abuse, exploitation, and systems reform across South Asia and beyond. An academic and practitioner, Mariya has published widely and specialises in trauma-informed, survivor-centred, and systems-based safeguarding approaches.
Gaelle Sullivan, Director of Research, Inclusion and IELA
Gaelle is Director of Research, Inclusion and IELA and joined the BSA in January 2023. She is an experienced senior leader and has worked in a range of state and independent schools. She is a qualified SENCO and holds and Masters in Inclusive Education. Prior to joining the BSA, Gaelle was Deputy Head Pastoral, DSL and Head of Boarding at an all-girls independent school in the South-East. She is a trustee at a leading independent boarding school.
Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance
Dale joined the BSA during Summer 2017 with responsibility for safeguarding and standards, having previously been a course tutor since 1998. Dale leads on all safeguarding, inspection and compliance matters for BSA Group, including liaising with ISI, Ofsted and DfE in England, and leading on the group’s work in Scotland and Wales. He trains and delivers consultancy extensively for BSA and SACPA and is Vice Chair of the Group’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Advisory Board (SAFCAB).
For 31 years Dale was a boarding practitioner. After boarding positions at Norwich School and Tettenhall College, Dale became a Housemaster at Old Swinford Hospital in 1992, and was promoted to Deputy Head in 2007, and subsequently also DSL. He has also been a multi-agency trainer for the Dudley Safeguarding Children’s Board, is a safeguarding trainer for the Methodist Church, is a trustee of the National Youth String Orchestra and chair of a small performing arts charity. He also holds volunteer roles in sport and in the Scout Association.
Cerys Cousins, Solicitor, Moore Barlow
Cerys joined Moore Barlow as a trainee solicitor in September 2022 and qualified as a solicitor in the Schools & Charities team in 2024. During her training contract, Cerys also gained experience in the Court of Protection, Personal Injury and Commercial teams. She graduated with a first-class LLB Law degree from the University of Essex in 2021, before completing the LPC LLM in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Law in 2022. Outside of work, Cerys enjoys sports including football (supporting Arsenal) and Formula 1, as well as reading, spending time with friends and walking my dogs, Hector and Pepe.
Olivia Stanton, Senior Associate, Moore Barlow
Olivia is a Senior Associate in the independent schools and charities team, specialising in employment and education law. She advises on safeguarding, abuse allegations, data protection, subject access requests, parent contracts, and both contentious and non-contentious employment matters. Olivia drafts employment contracts, policies and procedures, and advises on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Her approach is to provide clear, practical advice to help schools achieve their objectives. She joined Moore Barlow as a trainee solicitor, having previously spent over five years working in the House of Commons. Outside work, she enjoys travelling and exploring new places worldwide in my spare time.
