Children's Records and Regulation 36: Case Records, Daily Notes, Chronologies and Retention

Regulation 36 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 requires the registered person to maintain a case record for every child. Those records must contain the information and documents required by Schedule 3, be kept up to date, and each entry must be signed and dated by its author.

The DfE Guide adds a very important quality expectation: recording should be careful, objective and clear, should distinguish between fact, opinion and third-party information, should use non-stigmatising language, and should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child.

Current Ofsted SCCIF goes further still: it expects case records to reflect children's everyday lives, their achievements and their future plans, and says the style and clarity of records should help children understand their histories, backgrounds and experiences.

That gives us three layers: regulation (what must be recorded and retained), guidance (how records should be written and used), and Ofsted (what those records reveal about the child's actual experience).

Recording should not end at what happened. It should help the next reader understand what it meant.

What records are for and what Regulation 36 requires

This is probably the single biggest mindset shift: records belong to the child's story. The DfE Guide describes records as a significant contribution to the child's life history. It says children should be supported to understand what is recorded about them and how they may access those records later in life. So when a worker writes a daily note, they are not simply writing tonight's handover. They may be writing something that person reads 30 years from now.

Schedule 3: the minimum, not the maximum

Schedule 3 covers a substantial range of information relating to the child's life and placement. It includes areas such as: identity and personal details; religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background; previous and future accommodation; money and valuables; legal basis for accommodation; placement plan; health; education; contact arrangements; and records of daily events, incidents and decisions.

Schedule 3 is the minimum, not the maximum. It sets out what must be recorded. It does not say that nothing else should be recorded. But equally, do not record every breath. Records should show a life, not a surveillance log.

Better daily recording: facts, language and the child's voice

Daily notes should show a life, not just a series of incidents. Ordinary childhood belongs in records too: what the child enjoyed, what they achieved, who they spent time with, what made them laugh. A record that only documents incidents and concerns does not reflect the child's actual experience.

Start with facts. Distinguish between fact, opinion and third-party information. A fact is what was observed. An opinion is the worker's interpretation. Third-party information is what someone else told you. These should look different in the record.

Avoid labels. Describe the behaviour instead. Instead of writing "attention-seeking", describe what the child actually did and the context. Instead of writing "challenging", describe the specific behaviour, what triggered it, and how staff responded.

Record the child's words. Use quotes carefully. If a child said something significant, record their actual words in quotation marks, not a paraphrase. Non-speaking children must still be visible in records: record their behaviour, their communication, and their experience.

Be careful not to claim certainty. If you do not know why something happened, say so. Do not present speculation as fact. Record strengths as deliberately as risk. Tiny progress can be huge progress, and it should be recorded.

Recording strengths, progress and connecting to plans

Record strengths as deliberately as risk. A record that only documents problems does not reflect the child's actual experience and does not support future care. Tiny progress can be huge progress: a child who has never sat at a table for a meal doing so for the first time is a significant event, even if it seems small.

Daily records should connect to plans. If the care plan says the child is working on a specific goal, the daily record should show whether progress is being made. But avoid "plan says X" with no evidence. If the plan says the child is building relationships with peers, the record should show what actually happened with peers.

Key work should not become essay-writing. "Key work completed" is a weak record. It tells the reader nothing. Record what was actually discussed, what the child said, what was agreed, and what the next steps are.

Chronologies, significant events and specific records

Chronologies matter. A chronology is a timeline of significant events in a child's placement. It helps staff, managers and inspectors see patterns and understand the child's journey. Significant event does not mean negative event: a child's first trip to the cinema, a successful family contact, or a breakthrough in trust are all significant events.

Missing records are a serious problem. If a child goes missing, the record should show what happened, what staff did, who was notified, and what followed. See our guide to missing from care for the full framework.

Behaviour, discipline and restraint records need particular care. If restraint is used, the record should show who was involved, what happened before, during and after, the justification, and the debrief. See our guides to restraint and restrictive practice and sanctions and consequences.

Contradictory records are a major problem. If the daily note says one thing and the incident report says another, the record is unreliable. Records should be consistent and cross-referenced where relevant.

Specific records should be maintained for: contact with family and friends (what happened, who attended, how the child responded); education (attendance, progress, support); health (appointments, outcomes, medication); and complaints (what was raised, how it was handled, the outcome). See our guides to contact and communication, education, health and wellbeing, and complaints and advocacy.

Safeguarding records and precision

Safeguarding records need precision. If a child makes a disclosure, record the original disclosure in the child's own words. Do not paraphrase. Record who was present, what was said, and what was done.

Record who knew what and when. In safeguarding, the timeline of who was told what and when is critical. If a concern was raised on Monday and the manager was told on Wednesday, the record should show both dates.

Professional conversations belong in the record when relevant. But "email sent" tells us almost nothing. Save important decisions, not inbox clutter. If a decision was made following a professional conversation, record the decision and the reasoning, not just that a conversation happened.

Management decisions, late entries and corrections

Management decisions should be visible. If a manager decided not to notify Ofsted under Regulation 40, the record should show the decision and the reasoning. Record the why, not just the what.

Late entries happen. If you are recording something that happened earlier, mark it as a late entry with the date and time of the event and the date and time of recording. Never backdate records deceptively. That is not a clerical error; it is a integrity issue.

Corrections should be transparent. If a record contains an error, correct it openly: mark the correction, date it, and explain why. Do not silently rewrite history. Correcting a fact is different from changing an opinion: a factual error should be corrected; a professional opinion that has changed should be recorded as a new entry, not by overwriting the old one.

Children's access to their records

Children can challenge their records. The DfE Guide says children should be supported to understand what is recorded about them. If a child disagrees with something in their record, they should be able to raise it, and the record should reflect the challenge.

Children should be encouraged to contribute. This does not mean the child writes everything. It means the child's voice should be visible in the record: their words, their views, their account of events.

Record access should be supported. Sometimes reading records will be emotional. Children may need support to read and understand their records, and staff should be trained to help with this.

Subject access is slightly different. Under UK GDPR, individuals have the right to access their personal data. The right to erasure is not absolute: records required by law to be retained, such as children's case records under Regulation 36, cannot be erased simply because the child requests it.

Information sharing is part of safe care. Records should be shared with relevant professionals when it supports the child's care. But equally, do not overshare. Information should be shared on a need-to-know basis, and the legal basis for sharing should be clear.

Electronic records, data security and AI caution

Electronic records are allowed. Ofsted's SCCIF says inspectors may need help navigating electronic systems, and homes do not need to print everything merely because Ofsted arrives. Inspectors are interested in content and impact, not whether the provider has colour-coded folders.

But "it's in the cloud" is not a continuity plan. Electronic records need backup, access controls, and a plan for what happens if the system goes down or the provider closes.

Staff need access to the information necessary to care safely, but access should be role-appropriate. Password sharing is poor governance. Each staff member should have their own login, and the system should record who accessed what and when.

Copy and paste is dangerous. Electronic systems make it easy to write "no changes, child remains high risk" every day. The problem is that the child changes, risk changes, and copied text can become false by inertia. Copy-forward can quietly turn yesterday's assumption into today's fact.

Retention, closure and continuity

The DfE Guide specifically links long-term retention with enabling people to access their childhood case records later in life and understand their history. This is not just regulatory archiving; it protects identity and history.

If the home closes, Regulation 36 contains specific arrangements for case records. Regulation 36 and Schedule 3 require that records continue to be stored securely for the full retention period. The DfE Guide explains this requirement, and states that if the registered provider continues operating other homes, the Guide states that records should be kept in the appropriate nearest home.

If the provider ceases operating entirely, children's records must be transferred in accordance with Regulation 36, generally to the child's placing authority, or in relevant circumstances the authority maintaining the child's EHC or SEN arrangements. Closing the company does not mean deleting the database.

What Ofsted expects and the CHH Recording Audit

Current SCCIF says case records should reflect children's everyday lives, reflect achievements, relate clearly to future plans, and their style and clarity should help children understand their history. Children should be able to see and contribute to them with support.

Inspectors do not generally read every file. They sample children and follow their experience across different evidence sources. One child's file may reveal the whole home. Imagine an inspector following one incident: daily note, incident report, risk assessment, child debrief, staff debrief, manager review, social worker contact, plan change, Regulation 40 notification, Regulation 44 visit, Regulation 45 review. Then ask: did the home learn?

Beware imported labels from previous placements. A child arriving with a label of "challenging" or "attention-seeking" should not have that label carried forward without evidence. Record changes in understanding: if the home's understanding of the child has evolved, the record should reflect that.

Avoid defensive recording. Do not write for Ofsted. Do not write for lawyers. Write for the child and the future adult. The test is: if this child reads this record in 30 years, will it help them understand their childhood?

Regulation 44 independent visitors and Regulation 45 quality of care reviews both rely on records. If records are poor, independent oversight is undermined. See our guides to Regulation 44 independent visits and Regulation 45 quality of care reviews.

Common recording mistakes include: recording only incidents and concerns, not strengths and achievements; using labels instead of describing behaviour; presenting opinion as fact; copying forward text without updating it; backdating or silently correcting records; writing for the regulator rather than the child; and not connecting daily records to care plans.