Safeguarding Children and Child Protection Policy

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Safeguarding Children and Child Protection Policy

Policy

Wonderland Day Nursery and its entire staff have a duty to be aware that abuse does occur in our society and has a duty to report any suspicions of abuse to Children’s services and the Dorset Safeguarding Children Board (D.S.C.B) whether this stems from allegations against staff, volunteers, carers or the general public. The Children’s Act 1989 (section 47 (1)) places a duty on Children’s Services to investigate such matters. Wonderland has a duty to notify Ofsted that Children’s Services are investigating a child protection matter related to the setting as soon as possible, but within 14 days.

At Wonderland we work with children, parents, external agencies and the community to ensure the welfare and safety of children and to give them the very best start in life. Children have the right to be treated with respect, be helped to thrive and to be safe from any abuse in whatever form.

We support the children within our care by offering reassurance, comfort and sensitive interactions, protect them from maltreatment and have robust procedures in place to prevent the impairment of children’s health and development. We devise activities according to individual circumstances to enable children to develop confidence and self esteem within their peer group and support them to learn how to keep themselves safe. In our setting we strive to protect children from the risk of radicalisation and we promote acceptance and tolerance of other beliefs and cultures as well as promoting British Values including positive behaviour.

Safeguarding is a much wider subject than the elements covered within this single policy, therefore this document should be used in conjunction with the nursery’s other policies and procedures. Particular attention should be paid to the following when considering Safeguarding:

·  Whistle Blowing Policy and Procedures

·  Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedures

·  Equality and Inclusion Policy and Procedures

·  Complaints Procedure

·  Staff Code of Conduct Policy

·  Internet Policy & Acceptable Use Agreement

·  Staff Development and Training Policy and Procedures

·  Behaviour Management Policy

·  Intimate Care Policy

·  Staff Disciplinary Policy and Procedures

Only staff/ volunteers/ bank staff or students who have been thoroughly vetted and have an up to date DBS check are able to take up a position here at Wonderland.(See Recruitment and Selection policy) Unqualified staff, students, volunteers and individuals on work experience placements will NEVER be left alone with the children. Qualified staff will NOT be left alone with children until they are deemed to be competent by the management team to be left unsupervised. Working unsupervised will be kept to a minimum to safeguard staff and children. Staff are treated equally regardless of gender at Wonderland and carry out all key person duties.

Visitors to the setting have to sign in the visitor’s book and will be supervised at all times. Visitors must leave their mobile phones in the office at all times while at Wonderland. Parents/Carers are not allowed to use their mobile phones inside the pre-school or nursery rooms. The doors or gates of both the nursery room and pre-school room are locked at all times.

Any person who would be disqualified from working with children or vulnerable adults will not be permitted on the premises. This includes our car park.

Legal Framework

·  Children Act 1989 and 2004

·  Childcare Act 2006 and 2016

·  Safeguarding vulnerable groups Act 2006

·  The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2014

·  Working together to safeguard children 2015

·  What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused (advise for practitioners) 2015

·  Counter- Terrorism and Security Act 2015

Definition of Safeguarding

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, in relation to this policy is defined as:

·  Protecting children from maltreatment

·  Preventing the impairment of children’s health or development

·  Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

·  Taking action to enable all children to have optimum life chances.

Wonderland Day Nursery is aware that abuse does occur in our society and we are vigilant in identifying signs of abuse and reporting concerns. Staff are conscious of the increased vulnerability of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and other vulnerable or isolated families and children.

Our prime concern is the welfare and well-being of each child in our care and it is our duty to share any information with relevant agencies such as local authority services for children’s social care, health professionals or the police. All staff will work with other agencies in the best interest of the child, including as part of a multi-agency team, where needed. Before sharing any information staff will ask permission from parents/carers. No permission will be sought if it is decided asking could put a child at risk of significant harm. A log will be kept of any such decisions made and why.

If after a referral to children’s services they decide no action is needed at the time, we will continue to monitor the child/family and if we have any further concerns we will refer again and again if needed.

Wonderland Day nursery is aware of, and meet requirements of the Protocol for Bruising, Bleeding, Fractures and Possible Injuries in Children who are Not Independently Mobile (NIM) which is available online at:

http://www.dorsetlscb.co.uk/site/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/3.17b-Protocol-Bruising-Bleeding-Fractures-and-Possible-Injuries-in-Children-who-are-not-Independently-Mobile-Updated-May-2013.pdf

Wonderland Day Nursery is committed to continued training for all our staff right from induction. (Please refer to our Staff development and Training policies). This ensures that our knowledge and procedures are up to date with regard to Safeguarding Children. As well as external safeguarding training provided by Dorset’s Early Years team and ongoing staff training meetings, staff supervision will also be used to update staff’s knowledge.

Staff will be asked to declare if there are any safeguarding issues that would affect their suitability to continue in their duties every half term during their supervision meeting as well as to make management aware immediately if their circumstances change. (See staff disciplinary policy) The management team are alert to any changes in staff behaviour and will act on this according to the staff code of conduct policy.

Monitoring children’s attendance

As part of our requirements under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework we are required to monitor children’s attendance patterns to ensure they are consistent and no cause for concern. We ask parents to inform the nursery prior to their children taking holidays or days off, and call on the day if their child is unwell. This enables us to log the children’s attendance. If a child doesn’t arrive for their session and we haven’t been told of the reason why, staff will call the family to ask why their child has not attended. The reason for the child’s non attendance will be logged in each room’s attendance log. If a child continues not to attend regularly or disappears completely, we would contact their health visitor and the children’s centre to find out if they have seen the family. If we have concerns for the child’s safety we will call children’s services immediately to log our concerns.

Mobile Phones

Staff mobile phones are kept switched off in the manager’s office and are not allowed in the nursery or pre-school rooms, or either of the outside areas. Visitors to the setting are asked to leave their mobile phones in the office while on the premises. Parents are not allowed to accept or make calls inside the pre-school or nursery rooms or take out their phones to show photographs on them, they must remain stored away while on the premises. Phones without cameras are used by staff when taking children off the premises i.e. on trips, school runs and emergencies.

Technological devices

Staff must leave any technological devices which are not supplied by Wonderland Day Nursery such as smart watches, tablets, kindles switched off in the manager’s office. They are not allowed in the nursery or pre-school rooms.

Cameras

Both units have a camera to take photographs of the children playing for the children’s evidence files and displays. These are printed by the manager or deputy manager in the office. Photos are deleted from the camera once printed and stored on the computer until Ofsted have inspected. After our inspection, photos will be deleted as they are no longer needed for evidence. Parents sign permission forms when their child starts at Wonderland for us to take their child’s photos for their learning journeys, to be displayed in the building and if they agree put in the paper. Wonderland does have a Face book page. This is a private page for current parents and staff only and it is used for information sharing only. No recognisable photographs of any children will ever be placed on it. We also have a website, only photographs without children will be added to our website.

Curriculum

·  The development of high self-esteem, confidence and independence will be actively encouraged through experiences and learning opportunities provided as part of the daily curriculum and routine.

·  Children will be encouraged to make choices in all areas of their experience at Wonderland and will be given the opportunity to have a voice.

·  Adults will respect and listen to children, for example, involving children in making decisions, and finding appropriate ways for all children to communicate their needs and wishes

Categories of Abuse

There are four main categories of abuse Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual abuse and Neglect.

Physical Abuse: is deliberately physically hurting a child. It might take a variety of forms, including hitting, pinching, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating a child. Physical harm may also be caused when parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

The following may be indicators of physical abuse:

·  Children with frequent injuries

·  Children with unexplained or unusual fractures or broken bones

·  Children with unexplained bruises or cuts, burns or scolds, bite marks

Female genital mutilation

This type of physical abuse is practised as a cultural ritual by certain ethnic groups. Staff at Wonderland are aware of the symptoms which may include:

·  bleeding

·  acute urinary retention

·  urinary infection

·  wound infection

·  incontinence.

If we have any concerns about a child being abused in this way Wonderland will contact Children’s services in the same way as we would for any other type of physical abuse. Wonderland is aware there is a Mandatory duty to report to the police any case where an act of female genital mutilation appears to have been carried out on a girl under the age of 18 and we will ensure this is followed in our setting.

Fabricated illness

This is also a type of physical abuse. This is where a child is presented with an illness fabricated by the adult carer. The parent/carer might seek out unnecessary medical treatment or investigation.

The signs may include:

·  Parent/Carer exaggerating a real illness or symptoms

·  Complete fabrication of symptoms

·  Inducing illness e.g. through poisoning, starvation, inappropriate diet

This may also be presented through false allegations of abuse or encouraging the child to appear disabled or ill to obtain unnecessary treatment or specialist support.

Emotional Abuse: is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

The following may be indicators of emotional abuse:

·  Children who are excessively withdrawn, fearful, or anxious about doing something wrong

·  Parents or carers who withdraw their attention from their child, giving the child the ‘cold shoulder’

·  Parents or carers blaming their problems on their child

·  Parents or carers who humiliate their child, for example, by name-calling or making negative comparisons.

Sexual Abuse: is any sexual activity with a child. It may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside clothing. It may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in the production of sexual images, forcing children to look at sexual images or watch sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by males. Women can commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.You should be aware that many children and young people who are victims of sexual abuse do not recognise themselves as such. A child may not understand what is happening and may not even understand that it is wrong. Sexual abuse can have long-term impact on mental health.

The following may be indicators of sexual abuse:

·  Children who display knowledge or interest in sexual acts inappropriate to their age

·  Children who use sexual language or have sexual knowledge that you wouldn’t expect them to have

·  Children who ask others to behave sexually or play sexual games

·  Children with physical sexual health problems, including soreness in the genital and anal areas, sexually transmitted infections or underage pregnancy