Describe The Policies And Responsibilities For Health And Safety In Schools

1.1 Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

Children Act 1989 – Determines the duty of early year’s practitioners to identify and meet the separate and distinctive needs of children and to keep them safe. It initiated the belief that the child ought to be at the centre of planning and that a child’s well-being and safety are vital when judgements are made concerning them. This act also recognises the accountabilities of parents in keeping their offspring safe. In this act there are two particular segments that relate to the duty of local authority with concern to child protection, these are-

For child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good inter relationships with other agencies and good co-operation from professionals that are competent in responding to child protection situations. A procedure for recording concerns and incidents if a child discloses information that concerns his/her welfare; We must make a record of exactly what the child has said in their words and report it to a safeguarding officer, ensuring that these records are kept confidential and separated from pupil’s records. Guidance on confidentiality and sharing; the head teacher or safeguarding officer will only disclose personal information concerning a child to other members of staff on a need to know basis, however all staff must be aware that they have a responsibility to share information with other agencies.

This means keeping children safe from accidents (i.e. road safety), crime and bullying and actively promoting their well-being in a healthy, safe and supportive environment. It also encompasses issues such as pupil health and safety and bullying, about which there are specific statutory requirements, and a range of other issues, for example, arrangements for meeting the medical needs of children with medical conditions, providing first aid, school security, drugs and substance misuse.

1.3 Analyse how national and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding affect day-to-day work with children and young people

Safeguarding is for everyone and every organisation responsibility to protect children from any harm and promote their welfare (Children Act, 2004). However, the Department of Children, School

As professionals, we have a duty to ensure that children and young people are protected while they are in our care and that where we have other concerns outside school, these are investigated fully. School policies and procedures need to be such that parents and governors are aware of them and that staff are fully trained with regard to safeguarding. Schools will need to consider and include in their policies:

This Scheme was introduced in October 2009 with the aim of preventing unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.

To identify multi agency success where there are concerns with regards to safeguarding issues. Within childcare practice we must be aware that we have a clear and defined role in relation to child protection. Professionals working with children/young people i.e. teaching assistants, volunteers, outside agencies are CRB checked (criminal records bureau). Adults working with children should also be fully trained in safeguarding children by a nominated safeguarding adviser and have the opportunity to receive training in order to develop their understanding of the signs and indicators of abuse or neglect, this training is offered every 3 years. In order for child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good inter relationships with other agencies and good

An explanation of child protection within the wider concept of safeguarding children and young people.

Local authorities have a responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare of all children in their area.

Safeguarding children is paramount to promoting the welfare of children and protect them from harm, everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play, protecting children from maltreatment; Preventing impairment of children's health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. Eventually, effective safeguarding of the children can only be achieved through putting children at the centre of the system, and playing their full part i.e. every individual and agency playing their full part, working together to meet the requirements and needs of our most vulnerable children.

The current legislation for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people is the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 Act. This Act is applied in both England and Wales and authorised guidance on how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act

Working together to Safeguard Children (2010) sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. Working Together is addressed to practitioners and frontline managers who have particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers in:

The wellbeing and safety of children and protecting them from abuse is paramount for schools. Everyone who participates in a school environment is responsible for the care and protection of children from abuse and neglect, including the role of an Education Support worker. The Child Wellbeing and Safety Act is one piece of legislation schools use to develop policy and procedures to ensure the wellbeing of children.