What safeguarding children procedures do you have in place?
How robust are your settings safeguarding policies and procedures? Protecting children’s welfare is one of Ofsted’s top priority. It is clearly stated in the new Common inspection Framework that Ofsted will report on whether or not arrangements for safeguarding children and learners are effective. it is everyone’s responsibilities to protect children from significant harm, not just managers.
It is advised that childcare owners and managers read the published document that explains the approach an Ofsted inspector will take during an inspection. It should also be read alongside the framework and the following handbooks:
- Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings
- Keeping children safe in education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges
- Working together to safeguard children
Having clear and robust policies and procedures
As safeguarding children is highly important, it is down to childcare settings to ensure policies and procedures are clear and robust. Managers must ensure that everyone is aware of these and they are adhering to them all times.
When writing Safeguarding policies and procedures these will be applicable to the setting, however, they should all still include the key elements eg signs and symptoms of abuse why to do if you have a concern etc. The only different information will be is who the designated safeguarding lead officer is and the contact details of who to report a concern too.
Settings must have a mobile phone and camera policy this again is managers responsibility to implement these and make everyone aware. How each setting approaches the use of mobiles phone and cameras may be different to another setting, for example, employees phones may be locked in their lockers and only used on lunch breaks, whereas other settings may collect the mobiles in the office every morning and lock them in the safe until lunch time. Whatever procedure is implemented this should be strictly followed to protect children.
Safeguarding training
It is a statutory requirement that anyone who is in direct contact with children is to attend a safeguarding course. This is to give awareness of the signs and symptoms of child abuse, information on what to do if a child makes a disclosure and who to report a concern too.
The designated safeguarding lead officer for each setting must also attend regular training to keep up to date with current changes. Information should then be cascaded to the team and changes made to policies and procedures.
The role of the designated safeguarding lead officer
It cannot be stressed enough the importance of having a designated safeguarding lead officer is who attends regular training.It is their role to share all information with their team, this is to make sure everyone is carrying out procedures correctly. It is good practice to keep up with information shared via other sources such as the NSPCC or training from local authorities. It is important that everyone works together as a team and shares information, when this happens this is when everyone is working towards keeping children safe
Introduction of The Prevent of Duty
With the new introduction of The Prevent of Duty, it is important the nursery owners/ managers are fully aware of this and have incorporated this into policies and procedures. As The Prevent of Duty is more so aimed at schools it is confusing early years settings as to how they can introduce this into the setting. For early years settings it is about looking out for changes in children and adults behaviours and if children’s are off for a significant period of time then managers should investigate why. Being aware of children’s attendance at the nursery can be difficult as young children pick up more sickness bugs etc, however, it’s about keeping a look out for children who are off for long periods of time.
Keeping the team up to date with safeguarding children information
All childcare managers should regulatory review policies ad precedes and then ensure theses are understood by all the team. An effective way to share information with practitioners is during a practitioner workshop. Many settings have safeguarding children on their agenda for all workshops. This enables managers to inform the team of any relevant information and for practitioners to ask questions. It is advisable to reflect on safeguarding policies regularly and remind practitioners of them so if they are involved in safeguarding children situations they are fully aware of their role and responsibilities. Posters and flow charts should be displayed around the setting for both parents and practitioner to refer to if needed, containing contact details of who to make a referral to.
Everyone needs to remember that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep children safe. Policies and procedures should be robust and implement and followed by all practitioners working with children. Having insufficient information or failing to implement robust policies is where children could be subject to harm.