Working together to safeguard children 2006 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’s Act 1989 and the Children’s Act 2004. It is important that all practitioners within settings and environments looking and caring after children and young people must know their responsibilities and duties in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people, following their legislations, policies and procedures.
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
The United Nations Convention on the rights of a child (1989) is a treaty that sets out the rights and freedoms of all children in a set of 54 articles.
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.
How national and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding affect day to day work with children and young people
Children and young people should feel happy, safe, respected and included in the school or early years setting environment and all staff should be proactive in promoting positive behavior in the classroom, playground and the wider community. Policies and practice which make sure the safety and wellbeing of children should already be in place and it is this legislation develop through many years and experiences, and mistakes, that underpin the working practices that are used today.
The United Nations Convention on the rights of a child 1989 was approved by the UK on the 16th December 1991, this includes:
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.
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
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-
Unit 516 Understand Safeguarding of children and young people (for those working in the adult sector) P5
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,
However the guidance for Wales is slightly different as it is safeguarding children: working together under the children Act 2004. The childrenâ€TMs commission for Wales Act 2001 created the first childrens commission post in the UK and the principal aim of this is to promote the safeguarding and welfare of children. In 2010 the Welsh Assembly laid down the proposed rights of children and young persons measure, meaning that if passed wales will be able to embed the principles of the UN Convention on the rights of the child into Welsh law.(NSPCC
To be responsible for security and children's safety reporting any concerns to Designated safeguarding children's Person
This essay will provide knowledge and understanding of supporting children and young people 's health and safety. In my placement there are many policies regarding health and safety when working with children. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Act 1999 and The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 require all schools to have policies and procedures to ensure the safety of staff and children. If the policies and procedures are not in place then it is a crime. A fine can be set and in some cases an arrest can be made when an employer has suffered damages caused by failure to set the correct policies and procedures.