Will your Safer Recruitment Procedure pass the Ofsted approval?
Having a thorough Safer Recruitment procedure is crucial in Early Years settings, this is due to safeguarding children’s welfare. The procedure identifies people who might pose a safeguarding or welfare threat.
During any Ofsted inspection Ofsted will evaluate how well early years are meeting statutory safeguarding requirements in keeping children safe, of which this is mentioned in the New Common Inspection Framework. Part of this thorough inspection will involve an Ofsted inspector looking at settings safer recruitment procedures and ensuring the right steps are in place to safeguard children.
It is advisable to familiarise yourself with the below documents as these contain more information on what your setting should be demonstrating in regards to safeguarding requirements
- Common Inspection Framework
- Keeping Children Safe in Education
- Working to Safeguard Children
- Inspecting Safeguarding in Early Years
When employing and making decisions about the suitability of new employees what checks and evidence do you obtain before employing this person?
Below is what must be included in your safer recruitment procedure
- Check criminal records – Carry out an up to date Enhanced DBS check
- Check barred lists and prohibition checks
- Obtain up to date references
- Early Years providers must keep records of all people working including volunteers and students who have regular contact with children
- A prohibition from teaching check
- Checks and copies of professionals qualification
- A check to see if person has rights to work in the UK
- Further checks on people living or working out of the UK
A document that Ofsted will check to see if settings are meeting the statutory requirements is the Single Central record, this record holds important information about the suitability of people working with children. Make sure this document is up to date with no empty boxes as having an uncompleted document can affect your overall Ofsted grade.
As part of settings safer recruitment procedure all new employees should be given a full induction process outing child protection responsibilities and procedures that are to being followed if they have any concerns over a child’s safety or welfare
Check your Safer Recruitment procedure to ensure it is thorough and passes the Ofsted approval.