Safeguarding Procedures Essay

Risk assessments should be carried out regularly to make sure that there are no safe guard threats towards the children in the setting. Childcare settings need risk assessing for example is there entrances and exits to the building that an unauthorised person could use? Could a child leave the setting without anyone noticing? Could a child get seriously hurt due to a broken piece of equipment?

The Children Act 1989 – Places a duty on all child care practitioners within a setting to not only identify but also to meet the needs of every individual child as well as keeping them safe. The Act introduced the idea of child led planning, placing the child at the center of any planning made regarding their own learning and development. The act also specifies the responsibility of the parent in keeping their own child safe and free from harm.

Unit 516 Understand Safeguarding of children and young people (for those working in the adult sector) P5

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-

When it comes to the roles and responsibilities of early years practitioners regarding safeguarding, protection and welfare of children it is important to remember “Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility”1 To help all practitioners achieve this responsibility the EYFS states: “Providers must have and implement a policy, and procedures, to safeguard children.” 2 “Providers must train all staff to understand their safeguarding policy and procedures, and ensure that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues.” 3 Every setting must provide clear policies and procedures along with training covering all aspects of safeguarding, child protection, health and safety issue, identifying signs of possible abuse and neglect. However, it is a

The safeguarding and welfare requirement contains cases of adults’ behaviour which covers the cyphers of abuse and neglect. It is essential that if staff becomes conscious of any such signs, they should respond suitably in order to protect children. Regular staff meeting should be help and staff trainings should also cover recognising adult behaviour. All childcare settings must implement a safeguarding policy and other procedures, which should be in agreement with the regulation of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. The safeguarding policies and procedures must cover the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting, according to the revised EYFS.

C1 - Nurseries have different procedures which the EYPs follow and abide by; in my nursery they undertake risk assessments to safeguard children. Taking risk assessments minimises the chance of accidents and ill health. The EYPs look at situations and what accidents could happen and decide on how they may do things differently. According to Meggitt [2015], “Risk assessments on aspects such as security of the building, fire safety, food safety, toilet hygiene and nappy changing.” It is important that EYPs carry out regular risk assessments as parents are putting children in the nurseries care and the EYPs have a duty of care to support the child’s well-being, therefore through carrying out these risk assessments the EYP is fulfilling their duty of care.

The children act 1989 has influenced some settings by bringing together several sets of guidance and provided the foundation for many of the standards practitioners sustain and maintain when working with children. The act requires that settings work together in the best interests of the child and form partnerships with parents or carers. It requires settings to have appropriate adult to child ratios and policies and procedures on child protection. This act has had an influence in all areas of practice from planning a curriculum and record keeping. The every child matters framework has

It emphasises the important principles to be followed when working with children and young people: settings must provide a safe and secure environment, if any children are identified as suffering from abuse or likely to suffer the appropriate action must be taken.

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.

All Early years’ settings have policies and procedures that staff need to work with and follow they need to be up to date and be in line with the current framework of current legislation. Every policy has a procedure to follow and how to respond if you have any concerns about your key child or any other child that attends to the setting. The following procedures must be completed to ensure that the correct method is actioned.

Safeguarding is an important part of integrated working. When professionals work together in an integrated way, they put the child at the centre of all activities to help identify their holistic needs earlier to improve their life outcomes. It is important to see safeguarding as

All organisations and people that work with, or come into contact with children should have safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure that every child, regardless of their age, gender, religion or ethnicity, can be protected from harm. This includes hospitals, schools, private sector providers, sports clubs, faith groups and voluntary/community organisations.

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

As there are a number of different agencies which may be involved when working in the context of safeguarding, it is important that they communicate and work in partnership to ensure the safety and protection of children. Each area of expertise may need to have an input in any one case and each should be considered when discussing issues around safeguarding. A working party or ‘team around the child’ meeting may be called involving a number of agencies in order to discuss how to move forward in the best interests of the child. Different organisations involved in safeguarding are: social services, the NSPCC, health visitors, GPs, the probation service, the police, schools, the psychology service. When it comes to safeguarding, children are best protected when professionals know what is required of them and how they work together. This means that everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe which involves identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. To carry this out effectively professionals need to work in partnership with each other.