Safeguarding Audit for Early Years Childcare Providers
– 2012/13
This checklist should be used to monitor, review and evaluate the policies and procedures in place within your childcare setting and to ensure maximum effectiveness in safeguarding the children in your care.
Please note: It is a requirement for your Local Authority RAG rating that this audit is completed and returned to:
Name of childcare setting
Address
Ofsted URN
Named Manager
Registered person/body
Date audit completed
You may wish to use this audit to inform your self evaluation and Focused Improvement Plan.
SUPPORTING LEGISLATION
Children Act 1989
Children Act 2004
Childcare Act 2006
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage 2012
Safeguarding and welfare requirements
Requirements for the Childcare Register (compulsory and voluntary)
Writing your Safeguarding policy and procedure
Your Safeguarding policy should be a statement of your organisations aims and objectives in providing a service for children. This should include:
- your responsibilities in safeguarding children
- what you intend to encourage in the children you will be working with
- what kind of environment you intend to provide for the children
This policy only needs to be brief – keep it simple!
Your procedures are the systems for ensuring that your policy is put into place. Procedures should be a tool for your staff (both paid and unpaid) when they are concerned about a child. Procedures are designed to protect vulnerable children from any harm or abuse and to ensure that children who wish to report any kind of harm or abuse are listened to and where concerns are raised about a child, they are acted upon. Procedures are also designed to protect practitioners from placing themselves in vulnerable situations.
Each childcare setting should have a designated person available to whom concerns about children are to be reported and who will take responsibilities for liaising with the relevant agencies. Your procedures must inform staff that any concerns must be reported to this designated person. Furthermore, your procedures should outline the course of action that should be taken included the names and contact details of the relevant agencies to be contacted, along with record procedures.
Your safeguarding policy and procedures should also include procedures for escalating and responding to managing allegations or concerns about staff, and make reference to safer recruitment practices and codes of conduct.
You may also wish to link to or make reference to a range of associated polices including (not exhaustive):
- Safer recruitment policy
- Code of conduct
- Whistle blowing policy
- E safety policy which addresses issues such as
· Mobile phones (consider staff, parents and visitors)
· Taking and storage of digital images
· Acceptable (Responsible) Use policy for ICT equipment
· Social networking policy
· Data protection policy
- Record keeping policy
- No smoking policy
- Drugs and substance misuse policy
- Health and Safety policy
- Risk Assessment
- Outings policy
- Lost or uncollected child policy
- Intimate care/toileting policy
- Inclusion policy
- Emergency planning (eg. In the event of severe weather, flooding, fire etc)
- Behaviour management policy
- Anti bullying policy
- Administration of medicines policy
Remember!!
Policies and procedures are worthless if they are merely undertaken as a tick box exercise. A safer setting is one where the safeguarding ethos threads through all elements of practice. A setting which develops a culture of belief, which is open and transparent with staff, visitors and the families it works with will a happy and safer place both for the staff who work there and the children they care for.
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Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation StageLegal must
Designated duties
A practitioner must be designated to take lead responsibility for safeguarding children in every setting. The lead practitioner is responsible for liaison with local statutory agencies, and with the LSCB. The lead practitioner must attend a child protection training course. They must provide support, advice and guidance to any other staff on an ongoing basis, and on ant specific safeguarding issue as required.
Child protection / In place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
Do you have a named safeguarding officer within the setting?
Is your named safeguarding officer a member of the senior management team?
(The lead safeguarding officer role is a crucial role within your setting. The person undertaking this role will need to drive forward new policies and practice about an ever widening agenda and at times make challenging and difficult decisions.)
Do you have contingency arrangements in place (for example, a named deputy safeguarding officer) to ensure that there is always a named officer on duty and to cover arrangements such as annual leave, sickness etc?
Have both the named safeguarding officer and the deputy officer fulfilling these roles undertaken safeguarding update training within the last year?
(Statutory guidance states that all designated safeguarding officers complete annual update training at least annually and general safeguarding training at least every two years)
How do you ensure that all staff and parents are aware of the named safeguarding officer for that day?
(It is good practice to develop a section of your parent information board which relates to safeguarding)
Providers must train all staff to understand their safeguarding policies and procedures, and ensure that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues. Training made available by the provider must enable staff to identify the signs of possible abuse and neglect at the earliest opportunity, and to respond in a timely and appropriate way.
Child protection / In
place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
What steps do you take steps to ensure that all staff (including ancillary staff such as cook, cleaners, caretakers) are able to recognise and respond to signs and symptoms of abuse?
(It is good practice to ensure that Safeguarding responsibilities are identified for all staff and within all job descriptions where there is access to children) / Please list
Is there at least one member of staff who has completed basic safeguarding training in each room and on each shift?
Is there a system to ensure that the settings safeguarding policies and procedures are included in new staff induction programmes?
(This should be included in induction programmes for both regular and agency staff used within the setting and also for students on short/long term placement and volunteers
Legal must
Policies and procedures
Providers must and implement a policy, and procedures, to safeguard children. These should be in line with the guidance and procedures of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB)
Providers must have regard to the Government’s statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’
(see resource section at end of this booklet)
Child protection / In
place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
Do you have a safeguarding children policy that is based on Liverpool LSCB guidance and which has been reviewed, updated and amended where necessary within the last 12 months?
Do you have a safeguarding children procedure that is based on Liverpool LSCB guidance and which has been reviewed, updated and amended where necessary within the last 12 months?
Do you have a copy of the Liverpool Childcare and Family Information service booklet entitled ‘Safeguarding Children – A guide for childcare providers in Liverpool’ Issued April 2012?
(This booklet is based upon both National and local procedures including the Liverpool LSCB ‘Safeguarding Children Procedures) Booklet is available upon request from
Does the policy and procedure include contact numbers for both Careline Children’s Services and the local police?
Careline 0151 233 3700 Police control room 0151 709 6010 Emergency 999
Does the policy and procedure outline a system for ensuring that records are completed and maintained appropriately and that concerns are kept confidential?
Do your records make it clear that where information has been shared with Careline it has been logged as a ‘contact’ or accepted as a ‘referral’?
Are records reviewed regularly to ensure that where there may be lower level concerns or concerns about thresholds being met patterns or triggers for concerns may be noted and acted upon where appropriate?
(When numerous lower level concerns build up or patterns of concerns emerge the named safeguarding officer may decide to seek further advice in relation to how best to support the child and their family)
Does the named safeguarding officer have a sound knowledge of the CAF process (Common Assessment Framework)?
(CAF is being embedded across all services working with children and families and is the referral mechanism for children entitled to two year old funding or Child In Need funding)
Does someone have a specific responsibility to review the safeguarding policy and procedure?
Is there a system in place to ensure that all staff have read and understand this policy?
(It is good practice to ensure that all staff have a copy of the policy and procedure which they read, sign and date to confirm their understanding)
Is there a system in place to ensure that policies and procedures are accessible/available to all parents and that they understand the procedures?
(Parents should be informed of all concerns raised about their children and any actions that are being taken unless this is felt to place the child at further risk of harm or where the guidance of the Local Safeguarding Unit is otherwise)
Legal must
Information and records
Providers must record information for each child in their care in advance of the child being admitted to the provision.
Providers must maintain records and obtain and share information (with parents and carers, other professionals working with the child, and the police, social services and Ofsted as appropriate) to ensure the safe and efficient management of the setting, and to ensure the needs of all children are met.
Records relating to individual children must be retained for a reasonable period of time after the children have left the provision.
Confidential information and records about staff and children must be held securely and only be accessible and available to those who have a right or professional need to see them.
In
place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
Does the information you record for each child include:
- Full Name
- Date of Birth
- Name and Address of every parent/carer known to the provider
- Which of these parents or carers the child usually lives with
- Emergency contact numbers for parents and/or carers
- Special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies
- Special health arrangements
- Information about who has legal contact with the child and who has parental responsibility
- Any other information which is deemed necessary to provide appropriate care for the child
Are written records of all safeguarding concerns maintained ensuring that they clearly distinguish between fact, observation, allegation and opinion?
(staff may need support to document their concerns and to maintain clear and accurate records)
Do all records made regarding concerns about a child’s welfare note the name of the child, the event in question and record what was said and any action taken?
(It is good practice to create an incident recording sheet which prompts staff to provide a complete account of any incidents or concerns)
Are all records clearly signed and dated?
Are all referrals to Careline followed up in writing within 48 hours?
Do you ensure that all records are kept confidentially in a separate and secure location?
How long are these records kept for?
Please state……………………………………………………………………….
What happens to these individual records once a child has left the setting?
Please state………………………………………………………………………..
Legal must
Child protection
The safeguarding policy and procedures must include an explanation of the action to be taken in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff, and cover the use of mobile phones and cameras within the setting
In
place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
Do you have and implement a clear ‘code of conduct’ for all adults working or having contact with children within your setting?
Does this include clear guidance for staff, parents and visitors to the setting in relation to mobile phone use?
Does this include guidance around the appropriate taking and storage of digital images?
Does this include clear guidance in relation to the staff use of social networking sites?
Are there clear procedures for reporting and escalating concerns in relation to the above issues?
Does this make reference to or include the information outlined in the DfE ‘Guidance for Safer Working Practice for Adults who work with Children and Young People’?
Do you have a clear procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff or other adult living or working on the premises?
(These procedures should be reviewed at least annually in line with other safeguarding policies and procedures)
Does this include a separate procedure to be followed if the allegation is about the manager or owner of the setting?
(Consider all adults working or having contact with children in your setting – ensure there are reporting and escalating concern procedures that apply to all roles)
Does your procedure for managing allegations state that Liverpool LSCB must be notified, without delay, of any allegations of abuse?
(The Local Authority Designated Officer LADO must be notified of all allegations of abuse and will convene a multi agency strategy meeting in accordance with local procedures where there has been a clear allegation of abuse. The LADO or Duty Safeguarding Officer can also provide advice where needed, both can be contacted via Care line Children’s Services)
Does your procedure for managing allegations clearly state that Ofsted must be informed of any allegations or serious harm or abuse by any person living, working, or looking after children on the premises (whether the allegation relates to harm or abuse committed on the premises or elsewhere).
(*Registered providers must inform Ofsted of these allegations as soon as is reasonably practicable, but at the latest within 14 days of the allegation being made. It is a criminal offence to fail to comply with this requirement)
Are you aware of your reporting duties in relation to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006?
Do you ensure that all staff including students on short and long term placements or volunteers are aware of the setting managing allegations procedures?
Are parents made aware of this procedure before their child is admitted to the setting?
(Procedures for managing allegations should be included in your setting safeguarding policy and procedures and shared with staff and parents in induction/admission packs)
Whistle blowing
In
place / In progress / Comments or actions needed
Do you have whistle blowing policy?
(It is good practice to have a whistle blowing policy which allows staff with any concerns about practice within the setting or with specific concerns about a colleague to raise those concerns with confidence)
Does this policy include contact details for the Ofsted Whistleblowing hotline?
(Ofsted whistleblowing hotline can be contacted on 0300 123 3155 or concerns emailed to
Do you have an ethos of transparency within your setting where staff feel able to positively challenge and support colleagues within the setting?
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