Safeguarding policy

As a childminder, I am the lead safeguarding practitioner for my setting.

I recognise that the context for safeguarding has changed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and I regularly review my policy to ensure it remains effective for children in attendance and any that may be at home, due to isolation, shielding, change in parent working arrangements.

My first responsibility and priority is towards the children in my care. If I have any cause for concern I will report it to the relevant bodies and liaise with local statutory children’s services (known as Safeguarding Partners) as appropriate following the local procedures. The name of our Safeguarding Partners is Bromley Safeguarding Children Partnership and the Safeguarding Partners procedures can be found at https://www.bromleysafeguarding.org/.

I understand that child abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, domestic, or a mixture of these, and am aware of the signs and symptoms of these.

I am aware that I must have due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. This is referred to in the Prevent Duty. I am also aware of the signs and indicators of extremism or radicalisation. If I had any concerns I would contact the Prevent Officer in my local area: London Borough of Bromley Community Safety: prevent@bromley.gov.uk and my Safeguarding Partners as above.

I am aware of the Department for Education telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable staff and governors to raise concerns relating to extremism directly. Concerns can also be raised by email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk

I am aware of my responsibility to keep children safe online and have read and understand the Safeguarding children and protecting professionals in early years settings: online safety guidance for practitioners

I must notify Ofsted/my Childminding Agency of any allegations of abuse that are alleged to have taken place while the child is in my care, including any allegations against me, or any members of my family, or other adults or children in my home who have had contact with minded children.

I must also ensure that no individual who is unsuitable to work with children has unsupervised access to a child in my care. I have read and understand the safeguarding and welfare requirements of EYFS. I have also read the national statutory guidance document Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 and What to do if you are Worried a Child is being Abused - Advice for Practitioners 2015.

I have also read and understand the Ofsted safeguarding guidance, Inspecting Safeguarding in Early Years, Education and Skills settings and the documents Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services and Keeping Children Safe in Education 2019.

Procedure (how I put the statement into practice)

I keep up to date with child protection issues and relevant legislation by taking regular training courses. The date of my last training was October 2021 and by reading relevant publications.

I follow the procedures outlined in my confidentiality policy. I aim to share all information with parents but in some instances (where I am worried about a child’s wellbeing) I may have to refer concerns without discussing this with you.

I work together with parents to make sure the care of their child is consistent – please refer to my Working with Parents policy.

Children will only be released from my care to the parent/carer or to someone named and authorised by them. A password agreed between us might be used to confirm identity if the person collecting the child is not previously known to me. In any event, if I am unsure of the identity of anyone collecting your child I will ring the parent/carer to check before allowing the child to leave my care. Children will not be released into the care of anyone that I have reason to believe is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Parents must notify me of any concerns they have about their child, and any accidents, incidents or injuries affecting the child, which I will record and ask parents to sign.

Unless I believe that it would put the child at risk of further harm, I will discuss concerns with a child’s parent if I notice:

significant changes in children’s behaviour;
deterioration in children’s general wellbeing;
unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse or neglect;
children’s or parents’ comments which give cause for concern, including expressing extremist views;
any reasons to suspect neglect or abuse outside the setting, for example in the child’s home; and/or inappropriate behaviour displayed by other members of staff, or any person working with children. For example, inappropriate sexual comments, excessive one-to one attention beyond the requirements of their usual role and responsibilities, or inappropriate sharing of images.

I will ensure I have at least three relevant contacts for the child, so that I have alternative contact details in the case of unexpected absences.

Please ring or message me on 07572874557 if you are running late or your child will not be attending their usual contracted hours.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic I have encouraged children to attend the setting and actively monitor and investigate any changes in attendance.

Where the child fails to attend unexpectedly, after I will

Contact parents/carers
If no contact is made contact the named alternative/emergency contacts

If I fail to make contact as outlined in steps 1 and 2 I will:

3. Initiate my safeguarding partnership procedures by contacting Children’s Services or the police.

I have a legal duty to safeguard children and make my concerns known because there may have been an accident or unexpected event.

Where a family has a social worker and the child stops attending my setting I am legally obliged to inform their social worker.

I recognise the additional barriers that exist when recognising the signs of abuse and neglect of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

If a child tells me that they or another child is being abused, I will:

Show that I have heard what they are saying, and that I take their allegations seriously.
Encourage the child to talk, but I will not prompt them or ask them leading questions. I will not interrupt when a child is recalling significant events and will not make a child repeat their account.
Explain what actions I must take, in a way that is appropriate to the age and understanding of the child.
Record what I have been told using exact words where possible.
Make a note of the date, time, place and people who were present at the discussion.

I will call the local social services’ duty desk for advice and an assessment of the situation.

I will follow this phone call up with a letter to the Duty team within 48 hours. I will record the concern and all contact with Children’s Services thereafter.

If an allegation is made against me, any member of my family, or any other adult or child in my setting I will report it to Ofsted/my Childminding Agency and the Local Authority designated officer or team of officers, following local procedures. I will also contact PACEY’s Helpline on 0300 003 0005 for advice and support.

In all instances I will record:

the child’s full name and address
the date and time of the record
factual details of the concern, for example bruising, what the child said, who was present
details of any previous concerns
details of any explanations from the parents
any action taken, such as speaking to parents.

It is not my responsibility to attempt to investigate the situation myself.

The use of mobile phones and cameras

I understand that mobile phones are an everyday part of life for parents and childminders and with that in mind have laid out my procedure for their use:

I will ensure my mobile phone is charged and with me at all times in case of emergencies.
I have the facility to take photographs on both my mobile phone and camera and will seek your permission to take any photographs of your child to record activities and share their progress with you.
Any photographs taken will be stored, used, and deleted in accordance with my data protection and privacy policies.
I will not publish any photographs of your child on any social networking sites or share with any other person without your permission.

I request that you do not use your mobile phone whilst dropping off and collecting your child/children.

Any visitors to the setting will also be asked not to use their mobile phone.

If your child has a mobile phone, games console etc with camera or recording facilities that they wish to bring into the setting please let me know. This is so that we can work together for the safety of all children in attendance and ensure appropriate access to material when using the internet.

In order to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR I have registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller to allow me to store digital images on an SD card device/computer.

Useful contacts

Children's referral and assessment team

Email:mash@bromley.gov.uk

Tel: 020 8461 7373 / 7309

Fax: 020 8313 4400

Out of hours emergencies only

5.00pm - 8.30am and weekends

Tel: 0300 303 8671

Ofsted

Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

Tel: 0300 123 4666

PACEY