As well as every school having a safeguarding policy of their own, every Borough should also have their own policies and procedures for safeguarding children. I am aware that London Borough of Redbridge has its own local safeguarding policy (LSCB). This board is a legal body that was established by Redbridge council as a children’s services authority under the children act 2004. The LSCB is responsible for ensuring that all agencies and departments that work with children and young people in the Borough , work in unity to support the welfare and safety of children in that area.. To ensure that work is carried out in an effective manner the LSCB coordinate the work of local agencies to provide a more optimistic outcome in regards to children’s safeguarding. Redbridge works in line with the Every Child Matters programme which states that each child has a right to; Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well being The LSCB also works hand in hand with local agencies to produce policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of children in London Borough of Redbridge.
1.1 Identify the Current Legislation, Guidelines, Policies and Procedures for Safeguarding the Welfare of Children and Young People, including E-safety. Safeguarding is defined in Working together to safeguard children 2013 as: * protecting children from maltreatment * preventing impairment of children’s health and 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 All staff within a school environment are responsible for the welfare of children, and to ensure that they are kept safe from harm. It is the right of every child to have a safe and secure environment to learn in and to develop essential skills for adulthood. High profile cases such as Victoria Climbie in 2000, Baby P in 2007 and Daniel Pelka in 2012 proved the need to continually review, revise and amend legislation. There is no single piece of legalisation that covers safeguarding in the UK, below are some legislation and guidelines laid down by the government to ensure schools can, and do safeguard children effectively, and to ensure correct procedures and processes are followed.
There are certain standards that all settings and those working within them must comply with, these can include: Minimum National standardsCodes of practice Regulations andNational Occupational StandardsThese standards set out certain values and principles that will help children to develop, thrive and grow. I then included the regulations that need to be observed too: Children Act 2004this gives a legal basis for how social services and other agencies deal with issues relating to children. The principals of this act are: To help make a positive contribution to the lives of children to allow children to be healthy assist children to thrive and be safe in their own environment to
* To assist and ensure there is a good happy atmosphere at all sessions. * To assist and take time to listen and respond to the children and encourage them to develop. * To assist, encourage and maintain equality of opportunity for all the children within the group. 1.2 - The early years sector is very well regulated and all staff, and the setting that they work in. We must follow the various standards that in many cases have been set down by the law, such as the Childcare Act 2006 and the Health and Safety Work Act 1974.
Lily’s Day Nursery helps families and children feel welcoming when families are thinking about sending their children to the nursery as their website says that they “will do all that is practicable to meet your demands”, this helps families feel that their needs will be met and considered. Another example of a policy that helps promote fair strategies is a ‘valuing diversity and promoting equality’ policy, this policy includes ensuring that service is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of all children those who arise from their ethnic heritage, social and economic background, gender, and abilities. A nursery that argues that they promote diversity and equality within their setting is the Woodlands Nursery. On the Woodlands Nursery website they state that they “provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions
[pic] A GUIDE TO SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS Sense is highly committed to working practice that safeguards and protects vulnerable children from harm within the Service. We aim to provide all children within Sense with the utmost of opportunities to develop their full potential and meet their Person Centred needs. We want to ensure that children are protected and kept safe from harm when they are with our staff, Volunteers, family and friends. Sense is committed to working towards children achieving the five outcomes identified in ‘Every Child Matters, these are’: • Being safe • Being healthy • Enjoy and achieve • Make a positive contribution • Achieve economic wellbeing Sense’s ethos in the welfare of children and safeguarding from harm is paramount in any situation. The use of the term child or children refers to people under the Chronological age of 18 years.
This included setting up: local safeguarding children boards (LSCB) giving statutory powers to ensure all services e.g. Police, Social services, NHS, Education services, will work in partnership to protect vulnerable children. Lead councillors for children's services with political responsibilities for local child welfare. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to assist agencies in identifying welfare needs and that would allow for information sharing between different agencies. The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children.
• The Education Act 2002 - This act give certain responsibilities to head teachers and the governing bodies in all schools and they talk about how schools can keep their children safe and free from harm. • Working together to Safeguard children (2006) - This is a set of duties that organisations are given so that they can work together to help with safeguarding children and young people. • E-Safety - All staff have contact with the children in their workplace and they are expected to take into account the safety of all the children and also promote the safe and responsible use of technology in its many forms, they need to have the opportunity to learn about the behaviours of children that could possibly be linking to E-Safety issues, and to know where to get help. There are a number of different agencies that are involved in the safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and these include:- • Schools- The roles of schools are so that they are able to support
As an early years setting we have a responsibility to help the children in our care achieve the 5 outcomes of the UK Governments Every Child Matters (ECM) – Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy & Achieve, Make a positive contribution and Achieve economic well-being. Whilst we as practitioners do everything we can to achieve this it is important that we contact and utilize other professionals if needed to help us achieve these outcomes. This is where multi agency and integrated working comes in. By working together with different sectors, professionals and agencies we can help improve the outcomes for children in their development and learning, which is a requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage. 1.3 Describe the functions of external agencies with whom your work setting or service interacts There are many external agencies available to early years settings.
Improving outcomes for all children and young people underpins all of the development and work within this setting. Responsibilities Safeguarding is considered everyone’s responsibility and in settings aim to create the safest environment within which every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential. We recognize the contribution it can make in ensuring that all children registered with our setting feel that they will be listened to and appropriate action taken. We will do this by working in partnership with other agencies and seeking to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and other colleagues to develop and provide