Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedures

At Rockinghorse Daycare we work with children, parents, external agencies and the community to ensure the welfare and safety of children and to give them the very best start in life. Children have the right to be treated with respect, be helped to thrive and to be safe from any abuse in whatever form.

We support the children within our care, protect them from maltreatment and have robust procedures in place to prevent the impairment of children’s health and development. In our setting we strive to protect children from the risk of radicalisation and we promote acceptance and tolerance of other beliefs and cultures (please refer to our inclusion and equality policy for further information). Safeguarding is a much wider subject than the elements covered within this single policy, therefore this document should be used in conjunction with the nursery’s other policies and procedures. Safeguarding children is everybody’s responsibility. At Rockinghorse Daycare all staff, students, any supply staff and visitors are made aware of and adhere to, the policy. 

This policy works alongside these other specific policies to cover all aspects of child protection: 

· Acceptable internet use policy

· Data protection and confidentiality policy

· Domestic Abuse, Honour Based Abuse (HBA) and Forced Marriage 

· Inclusion and equality policy

· Late collection and non-collection of children policy

· Lock down policy

· Lone working policy

· Looked After Children

· Missing child from nursery policy

· Mobile phone and electronic device use

· Monitoring staff behaviour

· Nappy changing policy

· Online Safety

· Promoting positive behaviour 

· Safe recruitment of staff

· Social networking

· Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy

· Staff code of conduct

· Supervision of children policy

· Supervision of visitors policy

· Volunteers policy

· Whistleblowing policy

· Young workers policy

· Disciplinary 

· Grievance 

Legal framework and definition of safeguarding

We adhere to all current legislation, as below: 

· Children Act 1989 and 2004

· Childcare Act 2006 (amended 2018)

· Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

· Children and Social Work Act 2017

· The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2021

· Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

· Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022

· Data Protection Acts 1984, 1998 and 2018 

· What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused 2015

· Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015.

· Inspecting Safeguarding in Early years, Education and Skills settings 2019

· Prevent Duty 2015

· The Domestic Abuse Act 2021

· The Human Rights Act 1998

· The Police Act 1997

· The Sexual Offences Act 2003

· Child sexual exploitation, DFE 2017

· Information sharing, DFE 2015

· Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000

· Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (as amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015)

· Freedom of Information Act 2012

Purpose and Aims

The purpose of Rockinghorse Daycare’s safeguarding and child protection procedures is to ensure every child who attends the setting is safe and protected from harm.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, in relation to this policy is defined as: 

· Protecting children from maltreatment

· Preventing the impairment of children’s health or development 

· Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

· Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

(Definition taken from the HM Government document ‘Working together to safeguard children 2018).

These procedures will give clear direction to staff, volunteers, visitors, and parents/carers about the expected behaviour and our legal responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in our care. 

These procedures apply to all children, staff, parents/carers, volunteers and visitors. 

Policy intention

To safeguard children and promote their welfare we will:

· Create an environment to encourage children to develop a positive self-image

· Provide positive role models and develop a safe culture where staff are confident to raise concerns about professional conduct

· Ensure all staff are able to identify the signs and indicators of abuse, including the softer signs of abuse, and know what action to take

· Encourage children to develop a sense of independence and autonomy in a way that is appropriate to their age and stage of development

· Provide a safe and secure environment for all children

· Promote tolerance and acceptance of different beliefs, cultures and communities

· Help children to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making and how to promote British values through play, discussion and role modelling

· Always listen to children

· Provide an environment where practitioners are confident to identify where children and families may need intervention and seek the help they need

· Share information with other agencies as appropriate.

The nursery staff are aware that abuse does occur in our society and we are vigilant in identifying signs of abuse and reporting concerns. Our practitioners have a duty to protect and promote the welfare of children. Staff working on the frontline with children and families are often the first people to identify a concern, observe changes in a child’s behaviour or receive information relating to indicators of abuse. They may well be the first people in whom children confide information that may suggest abuse or to spot changes in a child’s behaviour which may indicate abuse. 

Our prime responsibility is the welfare and well-being of each child in our care. As such we believe we have a duty to the children, parents and staff to act quickly and responsibly in any instance that may come to our attention. This includes sharing information with any relevant agencies such as local authority services for Children’s Social Care/Children’s Advice and Duty Service, family support, health professionals including health visitors or the police. All staff will work with other agencies in the best interest of the child, including as part of a multi-agency team, where needed. As professionals, staff who have a concern about a child attending the nursery should call the Children’s Advice and Duty Service (CADS) on 0344 800 8021. Please refer to flow chart and information attached to this policy.

The nursery aims to:

· Keep the child at the centre of all we do, providing sensitive interactions that develops and builds children’s well-being, confidence and resilience. We will support children to develop an awareness of how to keep themselves safe, healthy and develop positive relationships.

· Ensure staff are trained right from induction to understand the child protection and safeguarding policy and procedures, are alert to identify possible signs of abuse (including the signs known as softer signs of abuse), understand what is meant by child protection and are aware of the different ways in which children can be harmed, including by other children (peer on peer) through bullying or discriminatory behaviour

· Be aware of the increased vulnerability of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), isolated families and vulnerabilities in families; including the impact of toxic trio (domestic abuse, mental ill health, substance misuse) on children and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s). 

· Ensure that all staff feel confident and supported to act in the best interest of the child; maintaining professional curiosity around welfare of children and share information, and seek the help that the child may need at the earliest opportunity.

· Ensure that all staff are familiar and updated regularly with child protection training and procedures and kept informed of changes to local/national procedures, including thorough annual safeguarding newsletters and updates

· Make any child protection referrals in a timely way, sharing relevant information as necessary in line with procedures set out by the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP). 

· Ensure that information is shared only with those people who need to know in order to protect the child and act in their best interest 

· Keep the setting safe online, we refer to 'Safeguarding children and protecting professionals in early years settings: online safety considerations and use appropriate filters, checks and safeguards, monitoring access at all times and maintaining safeguards around the use of technology by staff, parents and visitors in the setting.

· Ensure that children are never placed at risk while in the care of nursery staff

· Identify changes in staff behaviour and act on these as per the Staff Behaviour Policy

· Take any appropriate action relating to allegations of serious harm or abuse against any person working with children or living or working on the nursery premises including reporting such allegations to Ofsted and other relevant authorities including the local authority. 

· Ensure parents are fully aware of our safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures when they register with the nursery and are kept informed of all updates when they occur 

· Regularly review and update this policy with staff and parents where appropriate and make sure it complies with any legal requirements and any guidance or procedures issued by the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP).  

Contact telephone numbers

CADS (professionals only) – 0344 800 8021 – 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

CADS (out of hours and members of the public) – 0344 800 8020

Local authority Designated Officer (LADO) 01603 223473

Ofsted 0300 123 1231

Non-emergency police 101

Government helpline for extremism concerns 020 7340 7264

NSPCC0808 800 5000

Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership 01603 223409

Early Childhood and Family Service 0344 800 8020

Ofsted 0300 123 1231

Emergency police 999

Non-emergency police 101 

Government helpline for extremism concerns 020 7340 7264

Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (CEOP) https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/