At Twinkles Day Nursery and Out of School Club we intend to create an environment in which children are safe from abuse, and in which any suspicion of abuse is promptly and appropriately responded to.
Our safeguarding children procedures apply to any child who has experienced, or is likely to experience, one or more of the following forms of abuse.
1. Definitions of abuse.
1.1 Physical Abuse
Actual or likely physical injury to a child, or failure to prevent physical injury or suffering to a child.
1.2 Neglect
Actual persistent and severe neglect of a child, or failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger including cold or starvation. Failure to carry out all aspects of care, resulting in the significant impairment of the child's health and development.
1.3 Emotional Abuse
Actual severe adverse effect on the emotional and behavioural development of a child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection. All abuse involves some emotional ill-treatment.
1.4 Sexual Abuse
Actual sexual exploitation of a child, where a person involves a child in any activity, which that person expects to lead to their own sexual arousal. This may involve intercourse, touching, exposure of sexual organs, showing of pornographic material or improper conversations.
2. In order to achieve this, the nursery will follow the following procedures:
2.1 Exclude known abusers
It will be made clear to applicants for posts within the nursery that the position is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
All applicants for posts within the nursery will be interviewed before an appointment is made and will be asked to provide two references. All such references will be followed up.
All appointments will be subject to a CRB check procsessed by Capita Vetting Agency and will not be confirmed unless the Nursery owners are confident that the applicant can be safely entrusted with children.
2.2 Provide training opportunities
Training opportunities will be available for staff to ensure that they recognise the symptoms of possible abuse.
2.3. Prevent Abuse by means of good practice
Adults will not be left alone for long periods with individual children or with small groups. An adult who needs to take a child aside - will leave the door ajar.
Adults who have not been registered will not be left alone with children or take them unaccompanied to the toilet.
The layout of the nursery playrooms will permit constant supervision of the children.
2.4 Respond appropriately to suspicions of abuse
Changes in a child's behaviour or appearance will be investigated.
Nursery staff will share their concerns with the Officer-in-Charge and Nursery owners.
Parents will normally be the first point of reference by the Officer-in-Charge or Nursery owners. By building up a good relationship from the start, this can be handled in a non-threatening way!
If a satisfactory explanation is not received, suspicions will be referred to Social Care and Ofsted.
All such suspicions and investigations will be kept confidential. Information will be shared with relevant parties. The people usually involved will be the members of staff working with that child, the Officer-in-Charge, and the Nursery owner.
2.5 Keep records
Confidential records will be set up when changes are observed in a child's behaviour, physical condition or appearance, which raise concern. These will be quite separate from the usual ongoing records of the child's progress and development. The record will include the name, address and age of the child; timed and dated observations, describing the child's behaviour or appearance without comment or interpretation; and, where possible, the exact words spoken by the child. The recorder will sign and date the report.
These records will be kept in a separate file and will not be accessible to people in the Nursery other than the Nursery Owner, Officer-in-Charge, key worker, or other members of staff working with that child.
2.6 Liase with other bodies
Twinkles Day Nursery and Out of School Club operates in accordance with Local Authority guidelines. Children’s confidential records regarding safeguarding children will be shared with Social Care and Ofsted if at any time, the Nursery owners feel the child's welfare is at risk.
The Nursery will maintain ongoing contact with the registering authority Ofsted.
Records will be kept of contact with other agencies (for example, N. S.P. C. C).
The Nursery will endeavour to support and work with the child's family. However, the care and safety of the child will always be paramount and the primary responsibility of nursery staff is to protect the child.
3. Duty to Refer
Professionals, employees, managers, helpers, carers and volunteers in all agencies must make a referral to Children’s Social Care if it is believed or suspected that:
When there are concerns about significant harm, then the referral must be made immediately. The greater the level of perceived risk, the more urgent the action should be. The suspicion or allegation may be based on information, which comes from different sources. It may come from a member of the public, the child concerned, another child, a family member or professional staff. It may relate to a single incident or an accumulation of lower level concerns.
The information may also relate to harm caused by another child, in which case both children, i.e. the suspected perpetrator and victim, must be referred.
The suspicion or allegation may relate to a parent, professional, volunteer or anyone caring for or working with the child.
A referral must be made even if it is known that Children’s Social Care are already involved with the child/family.
Twinkles would follow Disciplinary procedure
Advice and consultation may be sought about the appropriateness of the referral from the local Children’s Social Care or, if the case is open, from the allocated social worker. Alternatively advice may be sought from a [Designated] or Named Professional from within the referrer’s own agency.
Where consultation is sought and the Children’s Social Care then conclude that a referral is required; the information provided so far must be regarded and responded to as a referral , and the referrer must be advised accordingly and must confirm their referral in writing.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CONCERNS MUST BE SHARED.
Urgent Medical Treatment
If the [child] is suffering from a serious injury or requires treatment, medical attention must be sought immediately by calling an ambulance or taking the child to the Accident and Emergency Department of the local hospital. The duty Consultant Paediatrician must be informed of the nature of the concerns and a referral must be made in accordance with this procedure as soon as practicably possible.
The safety of children is paramount in all decisions relating to their welfare. Any action taken by staff should ensure that no child is left in immediate danger.
When considering whether immediate action is required to protect a child, all agencies should also consider whether action is required to safeguard and protect the welfare of any other children in the same household or related to the household or the household of an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere e.g. a work environment such as a school.
The law empowers anyone who has care of a child to do all that is reasonable in the circumstances to safeguard her/his welfare.
A teacher, foster carer, childminder or any professional should, for example, take all reasonable steps to offer a child immediate protection from an abusive parent.
Where abuse is alleged, suspected or confirmed in children admitted to hospital, they must not be discharged until a referral has been made to the relevant Children’s Social Care team in accordance with this procedure and a decision made as to the need for immediate protective action.
The safety and welfare of the child overrides all other considerations, including the following:
The overriding consideration must be the protection of the child - for this reason, absolute confidentiality cannot and should not be promised to anyone.
If suspicions or allegations are about relatives, friends or colleagues, professional or otherwise, the concerns must not be discussed with them before making the referral.
Individual members of the public who make a referral may prefer not to give their name or alternatively they may disclose their identity, but not wish for it to be revealed to the parents/carers of the child concerned.
Wherever possible, Children’s Social Care workers receiving referrals from members of the public should respect the referrer’s request for anonymity. However, referrers should not be given any guarantees of confidentiality, as there are certain limited circumstances in which the identity of a referrer may have to be given e.g. the Criminal or Family Court arena. The referrer’s request for anonymity must be recorded.
NB - Referrals made by professionals can never be anonymous.
If the child makes an allegation or discloses information which raises concern about Significant Harm, the initial response should be limited to listening carefully to what the child says so as to:
If a child is freely recalling events, the response should be to listen, rather than stop the child; however, it is important that the child should not be asked to repeat the information to a colleague or asked to write the information down.
If the child has an injury but no explanation is volunteered, it is acceptable to enquire how the injury was sustained.
However, the child must not be pressed for information, led or cross-examined or given false assurances of absolute confidentiality. Such well-intentioned actions could prejudice police investigations, especially in cases of Sexual Abuse.
A record of all conversations, (including the timings, the setting, those present, as well as what was said by all parties) and actions must be kept.
No enquiries or investigations may be initiated without the authority of the Children’s Social Care or the Police.
If the child can understand the significance and consequences of making a referral, he/she should be asked her/his views by the referring professional.
Whilst the child’s views should be considered, it remains the responsibility of the professional to take whatever action is required to ensure the safety of that child and any other children.
Professionals should seek, in general, to discuss concerns with the family and, where possible seek the family’s agreement to making a referral unless this may, either by delay or the behavioural response it prompts or for any other reason, place the child at increased risk of Significant Harm.
A decision by any professional not to seek parental permission before making a referral to Children’s Social Care must be approved by their manager, recorded and the reasons given.
Where a parent has agreed to a referral, this must be recorded and confirmed on the relevant Referral Form.
Where the parent is consulted and refuses to give permission for the referral, further advice and approval should be sought from a manager, unless to do so would cause undue delay. The outcome of the consultation and any further advice should be fully recorded.
If, having taken full account of the parent’s wishes, it is still considered that there is a need for a referral:
Referrals must be made in one of the following ways:
In the event that an agency does not agree with the response and decisions about the referral by the Children’s Social Care , the referring agency should discuss their concerns directly with the line manager of the social worker, in the first instance to seek resolution.
Referrals should be made to the duty officer at the local Children’s Social Care Team where the child is living or is found.
If the child is known to have an allocated social worker, referrals should be made directly to the allocated worker or, in her/his absence, the manager or a duty officer in that team.
If the concern arises out of office hours, the referral must be made to the Children’s Social Care Out of Hours/ Emergency Duty Team. Any work undertaken by the Emergency Duty Team will be completed by the regular office hours’ Children’s Social Care.
If it is not possible to contact the relevant Children’s Social Care office, the concern must be reported to the Police CPPU or if not available to the Duty Inspector at the nearest police station. If the Police receive a referral prior to the Children’s Social Care, they must consult with Children’s Social Care as soon as practicable and prior to taking any action, if possible.
The person making the referral should provide the following information if available – note - absence of information must not delay a referral:
3.6. How Referrals will be Received
Children’s Social Care will ensure that a duty worker is available to receive child protection referrals; outside normal working hours, the Emergency Duty Team will receive referrals.
Children’s Social Care will deal with the referral in accordance with the local Common Assessment Framework and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and determine whether a referral should be responded to on the basis that the child is in need of support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or in need of protection under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
The worker receiving a referral will establish:
To do so, the worker receiving the referral will usually discuss the case with the referrer and in doing so, will:
At the end of any discussion about a child, the referrer and the Children’s Social Care social worker should be clear about timescales and any proposed action and who will be taking it, or if no further action will be taken. The outcome should be recorded by the Children’s Social Care and by the referrer on the relevant forms including the Referral Form.
Children’s Social Care should decide on a course of action. They should acknowledge receipt of a written referral within ONE working day. If the referrer has not received an acknowledgement within THREE working days they should make contact with the relevant manager in the Children’s Social Care Team.
The worker receiving the referral must consider whether there are other children in the same household, the household of an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere, who should be considered as the subject of a referral.
The worker receiving the referral will also:
Parents should be informed of the referral and their permission sought to share information with other agencies unless to do so would:
3.7. Where there is or may be a Crime Committed
If the referral relates to a situation in which a crime has or may have been committed, including sexual or physical assault or physical injury caused by neglect, the worker receiving the referral must discuss the referral with the Police at the earliest opportunity. The Police, in consultation with Children’s Social Care Services and any other agencies involved with the child, must consider whether there should be a criminal investigation and/or a Children’s Social Care led intervention.
Whilst the responsibility to instigate criminal proceedings rests with the Police, they should consider the view expressed by other agencies. In some circumstances with less serious cases, it may be agreed that the best interests of the child would be served by a Children’s Social Care led intervention rather than a full police investigation.
3.8. The Outcome of a Referral and Feedback
The Children’s Social Care team will decide upon and record their next steps of action within one working day of receiving a referral.
The decision about future action will take account of the discussion with the referrer, consideration of information held in existing records and discussion with any other professionals or services as necessary (including the Police where a crime against a child may have been committed
The outcome of the referral will be:
Where the significant harm has been caused by a person who was not previously known to the child or by another child, the decision whether to take further action under these procedures will depend on the following:
The duty social worker should acknowledge a written referral within one working day of receiving it. If the referrer has not received an acknowledgement within 3 working days, he/she should contact the manager in the Children’s Social Care team again.
Feedback on the outcome of a referral should be provided to the referrer, including where no further action is to be taken.
In the case of a referral by a member of the public, feedback should be provided in a way which will respect the confidentiality of the child.
3.9. Emergency Protective Action
Where there is a risk to the life of a child or the possibility of immediate harm, the Police officer or social worker must act with urgency to secure the safety of the child.
Immediate protection may be achieved by:
The agency taking protective action must always consider whether action is also required to safeguard other children in the same household or in the household of/in contact with an alleged perpetrator or elsewhere.
Children’s Social Care should only seek the assistance of the police to use their powers of Police Protection in exceptional circumstances where there is insufficient time to seek an Emergency Protection Order or other reasons relating to the child’s immediate safety.
Planned immediate protection will normally take place following a Strategy Discussion.
Where a child/ is or children are afforded immediate protection by an Emergency Protection Order or Police Protection the local authority has a duty to initiate [Section 47 Enquiries].
The referrer should keep a written record of:
The referrer should confirm verbal and telephone referrals in writing, within 24 hours, using the relevant Referral Form.
The duty social worker receiving the referral should keep a written record of:
| Sycamore House St Mary’s Greenhill Road |
Tel 0113 3055070 |