General Welfare Requirement: Safeguarding and Promoting Children’s Welfare

The provider must take necessary steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Safeguarding children

1.22Use of Mobile phones at St Paul’s Pre-school

Policy Statement

Our setting operates a mobile phone policy to protect children, protect staff from allegations and maintain high standards of care within the Pre-school. Mobile phones may be used in our setting, as long as their use is appropriate and must not detract from the quality of supervision and care of children.

Procedures

St Paul’s Pre-school does not have a landline so mobile phones are necessary for members of staff to be contacted in emergencies and as a point of contact for the setting. St Paul’s Pre-school has put the following policy into place:

  • Only the Pre-school mobile phone, is present in the classroom.
  • Staff’s personal mobile phones to be left in the kitchen or with personal belongings in the allocated cupboard.
  • To limit distractions, members of staff must not use their personal mobile phones to make personal calls during the session while working with children.
  • In special circumstances and with permission from the supervisor, personal calls can be made outside the classroom and away from the children.
  • Staff, parents and visitors must be made aware that mobile phones with cameras must not be used to record or photograph a child within the setting. Only the camera from the Pre-school phone may be used as it is not a personal phone.
  • Only contact numbers for parents of children who suffer from medical conditions will be uploaded on the Pre-school phone for quick access in an emergency.
  • Parents contact numbers during outings and trips will be kept on a register and will not be uploaded to the Pre-school’s mobile phone or members of staff personal handsets.
  • All cameras used in the Pre-school, including those of staff or visitors mobile phones, can be subjected to scrutiny at any time by the Safeguarding Officer.
  • Any person found to be none compliant with this policy would face disciplinary action.

This policy was adopted at a meeting of / name of setting
Held on / (date)
Date to be reviewed / (date)
Signed on behalf of the management committee
Name of signatory
Role of signatory (e.g. chair/owner)

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June 2017