Health, Safety and Welfare in Ecce Setting

The 2nd Joint Chief Inspectors Report defined safeguarding children and young people as the act of taking reasonable measures to ensure that the threats of harm to children & young people’s welfare are diminished by all those who work with children. The document expressed that all agencies involve with the provision of services to children and young people should take appropriate actions to raise and address issues of concerns whilst working to agreed local policies and procedures established by Local Safeguarding Children Board, and in partnership with other local agencies to safeguard a child or young person. (CQC

Any individual who comes into contact with children in their daily line of work “has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.

There are many procedures, policies, legislations and statutory guidance to support the safety and welfare of children and young people. They have been developed over many years to recognise the rights of children and young people, protect vulnerable children and young people and after independent inquiries of fatal abuse cases, to recognise the failures of multi agencies and support services.

Young children are extremely vulnerable and rely on adults to meet all their basic needs. This includes providing food, warmth, shelter, as well as

1.3 Analyse how serious case reviews and inquiries have contributed to the establishment of policies and procedures within recruitment which safeguard vulnerable adults, children and young people.

It is everybody’s responsibility to safeguard children – This means every single staff member within a setting; irrelevant of what role they may have there. This also includes non-staff members, such as volunteers, student’s third-party companies (visitors, service providers etc). Each setting should therefore adopt their own safeguarding policy, of which has to be kept up to date and followed at all times.

Washing hands before touching food is very important as you get rid of any bacteria or dirt which could be harmful towards the child. Every staff member should be CRB checked. This makes sure they have no criminal history. And that they are safe to work with children. An admissions policy is also important almost settings operate on a ‘first come first served basis’ which means who ever applies first get a place first.

Childminders must ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of childcare are safe and suitable and must undertake a risk assessment of the premises and equipment at least once in each calendar year. Childminders must ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks.

The ‘Children’s Act 2004’ was continuously updated and developed into the ‘Children’s Act 2006’. This act states that all settings have to follow the Early Years Framework Stages (which were renewed in 2012). The Early Years Framework Stages (EYFS) is aimed to fulfil the five aims of ‘every child matters’ and the previous children’s act of 2004. The intentions are to achieve these aims by setting standards, promote equal opportunities and through a framework of partnerships, improve quality and consistency and lay secure foundation for all learning and development, present and future. By improving the quality the service and experiences are improved for all children and families. Safeguarding children is a vital part of improving all childcare services/settings.

Allocates duties to local authorities, courts, parents and other agencies in the UK to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare is promoted. It focuses on the idea that children are best cared for by their own families, however it also makes provisions for parents and families who do not cooperate with the professional bodies.

In order to ensure the safety of the children and young people in our care there are a number of policies, procedures and practices that must be adhered to.

* To decide if the child is in need ( Section 17(1) of the Children Act 1989 states that it shall be the

Safeguarding children including the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff.

Working together to safeguard children 2006 was a revised document which provided an update on safeguarding and the national framework to help services for children and agencies to work individually and also together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It was also further revised in 2010 and also applies to those working in education, health and social services as well as the police and the probation service. It is relevant to those working with children and their families in the statutory, independent and voluntary sectors. It is not necessary for all practitioners to read every part of Working Together to Safeguard Children in order to understand the principles and to perform their roles effectively. However, those who work regularly with children and young people and who may be asked to contribute to assessments of children and young people in need and should know the relevant sections of this document. The vetting and barring scheme was introduced in October 2009 with the aim of preventing unsuitable people from working with children and young people. It assured anybody working or volunteering with children would have to register with the independent safeguarding authority (ISA). The ISA will make the decision whether someone is suitable or not to work with children and young people, they base their decisions on information sources like a criminal record bureau checks which gives full record of the individual’s criminal record,

Legislations and procedures are put into place to protect the welfare of children, schools and childcare settings. Adults who work with children will need to understand about current legislations and familiarise themselves with them. Legislations are reviewed constantly so it is important to keep up to date with reading the relevant publications.