As manager you will most likely be the lead practitioner for Safeguarding’ however, it does not have to be you. Whoever it is will need to have completed the local authority training as these are tailored to particular local authorities and their individual ways of doing things. If you are new in post, then speak to your local authority straight away to find out what the position is. Once you have appropriate training you will have met the requirement in the Statutory Framework (p16 3.5). If there is a waiting list for training, then your local authority can give you advice that will support you and enable you to manage in the short term. Following that, I would get to grips with the statutory requirements for staff. I would start by looking at staff individually. I would take each staff file and ensure that it has the following: 1. Evidence of safe recruitment (Statutory framework p18): · every staff member must have (and you should include yourself in this) – ID checks (this will have been done as part of the CRB/DBS checking process – someone in your setting must have checked their documents), references from previous employers which have been followed up (to check on their validity), DBS number with a date it was issued and the name of who carried out the checks. Evidence that the member of staff remains ‘suitable’. Checks for ‘ongoing suitability’. These must include the member of staff and also members of their household. As manager you must ask the questions and staff must tell you that they remain suitable (or not). If they are no longer suitable they are ‘disqualified’ and cannot continue to work for you unless they are granted a ‘waiver’ from Ofsted. You should direct the member of staff towards the following document which will enable them to see what to do https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-to-waive-disqualification-early-years-and-childcare-providers If it is a member of their household that has affected their suitability you must still suspend the member of staff pending further information. If any member of staff becomes ‘unsuitable’ you must also inform your Local Authority safeguarding team and also notify Ofsted. If you are following the correct procedures and are knowledgeable about the course of action you are taking, then this will be viewed by Ofsted as a strength in your management. See Early years inspection handbook (2015) p6 paragraph 15. You must have details of staff qualifications (I like to have a copy of their certificate). If their qualification is obscure / old / issued in another country, you must show that you have checked the validity of what they have achieved. You can do this easily here - http://www.education.gov.uk/eypqd/qualifications.shtml. Remember that there must be at least one member of staff with a full paediatric first aid qualification on the premises (or out on trips) at all times. This is changing, make sure you keep up to date with the new requirements. If any of the bits are missing I would ask for them again – even if the member of staff has been there for a long time. 2. Individual staff supervisions Supervision is a funny word – it suggests that you are ‘supervising’ in an ‘overseeing’ way. My view is that whatever these meetings are called they are an opportunity for you, as the manager, to let staff know you are available, interested and open to discussions with them. Staff must feel confident about coming to you with any queries or questions. If staff will tell you the ‘small stuff’ they are likely to share with your when there is ‘big stuff’. One word of warning though – I learnt this the hard way … set up a system where staff know that they can see you but also know that “can I have a quick word in the office?” is not a way to greet you every day. I got round this in the following way I made ‘supervision slips’ (example below) Supervision meeting request Name: Superstaff Date: 4th January 2016 Time: 7.30 am I would like to meet with: Madmanager To discuss: Something that one of the other staff said when they were out on New Year’s Eve When? (please indicate) Immediately Today This week To: Your meeting has been arranged for: Now with: madmanager Notes of the meeting: Supervision meeting request Name: schemaqueen Date: 4th January 2016 Time: 7.30 am I would like to meet with: One of the nursery owners To discuss: Personal When? (please indicate) Immediately Today This week To: Your meeting has been arranged for: Friday at 9am with: dollydirector Notes of the meeting: We have a pile of supervision slips pinned to the staffroom board and staff can grab one, and put it in an envelope and into my in-tray. That means I can start my day prioritising the things properly. If I saw the first supervision slip I know to deal with it straight away – potentially it is about safeguarding, it might not be, but the member of staff has filled the form in as soon as she has arrived at work (which is why I put the time on the slip when I did it) and she wants to talk straight away – I need to find out what this is about. So I can go to the member of staff and tell her “I will see you now” – I always keep notes of the meetings and give a copy to the member of staff and keep a copy for my own records. Initial supervisions · As a new manager I would see every member of staff individually during my first week for a brief ‘supervision’ meeting. At the meeting I would go through their staff file with them and make sure everything is present and correct. I would ask the ‘ongoing suitability’ question and record that I have done so. I would take the opportunity to remind them that they have a responsibility to inform you if of anything that might affect their ongoing suitability. I would reassure myself that they fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities and can tell you the kinds of things might give them cause for concern about a child. I would want to know that they fully understand who to tell if they are worried and who to go to after that if they are not satisfied with any action taken. I would explain to them the importance of ‘whistleblowing’ if they have any concerns about colleagues and I would ensure that they knew that whatever I, as the manager, was doing if they had a safeguarding concern I want to know straight away. I would put all the contact numbers for the local authority safeguarding team on a large poster in the staff room or on the back of the staff toilet door. I would also have this conversation with the Registered Provider. 3. Safeguarding staff meeting · If there were aspects of safeguarding that staff were not fully confident with I would have a staff meeting as a matter of urgency. Explain your expectations, describe an imaginary scenario and satisfy yourself that your team know what to do if they are worried. Make sure your staff know the procedure you would follow if an allegation was made against them – you would be surprised how many staff don’t know this! · Make sure your staff understand the requirements of The Prevent Duty (2015). There is (free) online training http://course.ncalt.com/Channel_General_Awareness/01/index.html that provides a useful introduction for to staff and clearly explains their responsibilities. It can be usefully done together at a staff meeting giving points for discussion and consideration – staff can then repeat the training themselves at home. The WRAP training https://www.jisc.ac.uk/advice/training/workshop-to-raise-awareness-of-prevent-wrap is interactive and you need to sign up for a workshop. As the manager you should treat ‘Prevent’ like any other safeguarding issue – use your knowledge and understanding of children and their families to identify and concerns or queries. If you are worried or have questions speak to your local authority Prevent Duty officer – every local authority has one. · Make sure your staff fully understand their responsibilities regarding e-safety. They should be leading by example and so their use of social media and the internet should be beyond reproach. I always tell my staff “If you wouldn’t stand in my office and show me the photo and be proud of it then don’t put it online”. You should have as part of your staff contracts a statement about action that you would take if staff ‘bring the nursery into disrepute’ – this is important from an e-safety point of view. Not all early years settings have web access for children – but if you do – make sure you have very robust firewall and protection software on the computers. Ensure that staff know how to use the internet safely – if children want to research information about something then that is an important part of their learning and staff need to feel confident to encourage this interest – without stirring up a hornet’s nest. Make sure staff keep their phones in the staff room, make sure that the nursery telephone doesn’t have a camera (you don’t want to risk taking the phone off site and either 1) losing all your carefully taken pictures or 2) someone finding your phone with all the pictures on it). If you are using electronic journals, make sure you have got the passwords set to ‘strong’ so that the data is secure. Make sure staff feel empowered to tell parents to put their mobile phones away when they come into the setting. · Discuss safeguarding at every staff meeting from then on – I ask staff to take it in turns to remind us all of one aspect e.g. “Lou, tell us what you would do if you told me something about one of your key children that was worrying you and I told you it was fine and don’t worry about it. What would you do if you were still worried?” By the end of this process you should be confident about knowing your staff and the documentation you have about each of them. If the staff records are complete, up to date and staff fully understand their role and responsibility you will have gone some way to addressing the following: Statutory Framework for the early years foundation stage (2014) [p16, aspects 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16] Early years inspection handbook (August 2015) [p33/34, bullet points 5 and 10 in ‘Outstanding’ grade descriptor] HM Government · Working together to safeguard children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (2015) Department for Education. · Statutory Framework for the early years foundation stage (2014) · The Prevent Duty. Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers Ofsted · Early years inspection handbook (August 2015) · Inspecting safeguarding in early years education and skills settings (2015)
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