New survey data has revealed around half of early years staff and primary school teachers say they have witnessed an increase in safeguarding referrals linked to neglect in their school.

As such, the NSPCC is calling on the Government to introduce a national child neglect strategy.

The data from NASUWT’s annual survey of 11,009 teachers revealed over half of early years staff (53%) and 48% of primary school teachers polled said they had seen a rise in referrals related to child neglect, sounding the alarm that the youngest children are increasingly at risk.

For both early years staff and primary school teachers, neglect saw the biggest reported increase in safeguarding referrals of any form of abuse, including sexual abuse, emotional abuse and physical abuse.

More broadly, across the education sector more than one in three teachers (35%) in the UK said they had witnessed an increase in neglect-related referrals in their school and 53% said they had seen an increase in safeguarding referrals overall.

Experiencing neglect in a child’s early years can have lasting effects on their development, physical health and wellbeing, and is linked to an increased risk of mental health concerns later in life. Identifying and addressing neglect as early as possible is therefore crucial to improving long-term outcomes for children.

The charity says that as the only professionals that see children often on a daily basis, teachers play an essential safeguarding role and are often some of the first people to spot early signs of neglect.

However, as teachers report growing safeguarding concerns, previous NSPCC research has found that their referrals too often fail to result in the support families need, sometimes because it’s simply not available or because the family does not reach statutory thresholds.

This can leave teachers on the frontline of responding to the effects of neglect, with problems continuing to impact children or escalating.

In light of this, the NSPCC is calling on the Government to act urgently by introducing a national child neglect strategy.

The charity welcomed Government's recent investment in children's services, including greater focus on prevention and early intervention.

However, they believe it's crucial that the Government also gives greater attention specifically to neglect and to ensure robust local support is in place to support children and families where neglect is a concern, so that families can receive help before problems in the home escalate.

A national neglect strategy should also allow for improved training opportunities for all safeguarding partner agencies, such as education professionals, to ensure a shared language across all workforces encountering children where neglect is a concern. This work is vital to achieve Government’s ambitions to strengthen and support education’s role as a safeguarding partner.