AnonyMouse_390 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 I phoned the safeguarding board about a child at our pre-school after I was passed some information about his carers. I was told I would receive a phonecall back within 24 hours, they didn't. Then they phoned yesterday while I was out at a funeral and passed a message to my staff that it was up to me to talk to the parents about it. I just don't feel comfortable approaching these carers, there are drug taking issues and to be honest I am a little worried for my own safety! Is it really up to me to speak to them? The child has only been with us this half term, he's receiving 2 year old funding and has now missed 4 consecutive sessions so he is at risk of losing the place. I have phoned twice and left messages and had no reply and i am sending a letter today. I expressed my concern to the safeguarding board that he had not been attending and hadn't replied to my messages. Surely they should be sending someone to investigate? Any advice!
AnonyMouse_15046 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 I'm guessing it's the fact that you don't know what's happening that's concerning you rather than the fact he may lose his place. Have you contacted the health visitor to see if anyone else has contact with him? To be honest, unless you have other reasons to be concerned about his well-being, non attendance probably won't trigger an investigation because it is optional. I wouldn't suggest going round there yourself if you are concerned for your own safety. I'd suggest sending your letter today asking them to contact you and if they have not done so by Tuesday calling the Safeguarding Board back and placing the ball firmly in their court.
AnonyMouse_1027 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 i would also contact your LA on Monday who can then speak to social care/h.vs etc to see if anything has been flagged
AnonyMouse_19782 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 I phoned the safeguarding board about a child at our pre-school after I was passed some information about his carers. I was told I would receive a phonecall back within 24 hours, they didn't. Then they phoned yesterday while I was out at a funeral and passed a message to my staff that it was up to me to talk to the parents about it. I just don't feel comfortable approaching these carers, there are drug taking issues and to be honest I am a little worried for my own safety! Is it really up to me to speak to them? The child has only been with us this half term, he's receiving 2 year old funding and has now missed 4 consecutive sessions so he is at risk of losing the place. I have phoned twice and left messages and had no reply and i am sending a letter today. I expressed my concern to the safeguarding board that he had not been attending and hadn't replied to my messages. Surely they should be sending someone to investigate? Any advice! When our children register we ask for details of their GP and Health Visitor. One particular boy a couple of years ago, we had visits from the HV because there had been concerns from his birth because the parents were so young, unemployed and with no real family support close by. The HV had remained in this family's lives way past when she should have been able to stand back. Would you be able to have a word with this child's HV if you have the info? She may be able to shed some light on what family life is like for this child. I do think some families just feel that "all establishment" are interfering and ready to jump in and become hassle for them - and it is these families whose attendance patterns can be the most erratic. The family of the little boy we had were very suspicious of us, it hadn't been their wish that he attended any kind of pre-school, but at the insistence of their HV and we had to tread very carefully and very slowly until we had gained some of their confidence that pre-school could offer their child what he needed and that we would be non-judgemental of them and him as far as possible anyway. Things did get a little sticky because he had some behavioural problems, but by then we had gained some trust and we were able to discuss what was happening quite calmly with the parents. The HV was a good ally(sp?) for us, she visited them and us and was supportive of both.
Guest Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 I too believe non attendance alone would not be enough to trigger any type of investigating, and you say you were passed some info, and this is only heresay if passed to you. However, sometimes a gut feeling tells us to worry and I have spoken to HV's before now when I have wnated to pass my concerns to someone! Good luck!
AnonyMouse_390 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Posted May 21, 2011 Thanks everyone. I don't know the family well, he was referred by someone else for the 2 year old funding. I rang county on Thursday to express my concerns that he had not been and the info I had been told. It is county's polcy that if they miss 5 sessions without explanation and if they can't be contacted the funding will be cancelled. County have said they will contact the referrer and talk to them about my concerns I am partly concerned as his Grandma (who has custody) brought him last thursday and told us she was going to court as his mother wanted custody. I haven't seen him since his aunty collected him. I rang the safeguarding board initially as I thought they must have a social worker attached to them because of this court case but was told that they haven't been under social services since August, so I have to say a few alarm bells are starting to ring. Oh dear, my hubby would freak out if I got any more involved. I will post a letter stating the funding and missed sessions issue and see if she gets in touch. Hopefully my county will get back in touch with some advice
AnonyMouse_19782 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 Sounds to me as though you are doing all that can be humanly done at the moment Laura, let's hope there is some news next week. Would be good to know how this pans out in the future.
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 Think you have done as much as you can.. I would keep a log of when I contacted parents and each agency and what was said... so should someone come back at any time you have an accurate log / timeline of events.. include copies of letters, emails etc and a note of what was said in phone calls.. If no reply from letter I would refer them back to the LEA with a letter stating you are concerned and leave them to do may further investigations.. non attendance in itself is not a safeguarding issue but if you have concerns you are right to pass the information back to LEA who will decide on if they want to take it further.
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 do you know if there is a triage service in your area (ie a link between health visitors/social service and senco?) i would contact his hv and ask if any concerns and contact the senco ...do you have the name of his social worker? contact them direct and express your concerns. What has the grandma said about the non attendance? if she has custody then is it her who is not bringing the child in ? if he has been under social services before then he will still be under their raydar! good luckalways difficult...do not have any coversations with this family without another witness and write it all down it could be used as evidence!
AnonyMouse_12960 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 Probably teaching you to suck eggs here, but I was advised that from now on we must report all safguarding issues to lea and ofsted as soon as we report to social services. The reporting won't necessarily help you get the support for the child, but will at least ensure that you have made all the necessary representations and know that you are doing all you can.
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 Probably teaching you to suck eggs here, but I was advised that from now on we must report all safguarding issues to lea and ofsted as soon as we report to social services. The reporting won't necessarily help you get the support for the child, but will at least ensure that you have made all the necessary representations and know that you are doing all you can. eyfs1966 who is advising you of this ...not something our lea has adopted as yet to my knowledge was it reported elsewhere?
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 thanks for that... to my knowledge this has not been changed on our lcsb but i will now check on monday thanks for the headsup...have to say if there is anything else i have to report to ofsted they might as well move in
AnonyMouse_390 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Posted May 21, 2011 Well, just heard from a member of staff that grandma rang to say he isn't coming back as he didn't settle - which he did - i have his learning journey to prove it! He is going back to his old nursery - so now do i contact them and express my concerns so they are aware? If i don't then he could slip through the net as no-one would havce done anyting about it. I will contact county and ask their advice. thanks everyone
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 my simple response to this Laura is YES! They may be moving him because they feel you are getting close to the truth!
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 my simple response to this Laura is YES! They may be moving him because they feel you are getting close to the truth! I'll second that - absolutely I would Laura........do you have anything in your 'permissions' to say that you will share info. with other settings etc.
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted May 22, 2011 Posted May 22, 2011 so long as you have the permissions you should let them know.. if not you are unable to do so, but can still share with LEA who provided the funding so they know .. but it may be picked up there about the frequent changes and moves... as said we had a few move on when they thought we were getting too close to the truth - most we could do was contact setting and send a transfer sheet to them and tell LEA then it is up to the next setting... but do keep all paperwork, log, information etc for a long time after he has left.. we had one come back 4 years later with a complaint we had not picked something up.. and we had just no one had believed us.. luckily we had all the logs and statements to show what we had done.
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted May 22, 2011 Posted May 22, 2011 After the sad deaths of Victoria Climbie, Baby P and Kyra Ishaq and others no doubt, I thought there was supposed to be a way for us to let other agencies know of our concerns and for those concerns to be co-ordinated. Seems we still have a way to go if different LEAs have different rules and people still feel unsure. Please dont think I'm having a go at anyone, I never would, its always been a bit of a minefield, it just seems to me that we shouldnt be a position of having to use a forum, however excellent, to ask advice on something like this. Or am I missing something?
AnonyMouse_390 Posted May 22, 2011 Author Posted May 22, 2011 I will contact my LEA and speak to them about the safeguarding board telling me to speak to the family and that they have moved. You are right, also think it may be because they think I do something which is why they have gone. Of course, he may not have gone back to nursery at all, the reason he came to us was because they couldn't afford it and we are the only nursery that have 2 year old funding in our area. Rea - it really worries me that even after those sad cases children are missed, or they don't seem to care about information passed to them. If I don't say anything to the nursery who will?
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted May 22, 2011 Posted May 22, 2011 Rea - it really worries me that even after those sad cases children are missed, or they don't seem to care about information passed to them. If I don't say anything to the nursery who will? I found a 13 yr old girl crying at a bus stop a couple of months ago. The police response didnt leave me feeling confident so I went to the school. I think sometimes, with or without prermission, we need to do what we feel is right and answer to any consequences afterwards. Hope you find someone to listen to you.
AnonyMouse_73 Posted May 22, 2011 Posted May 22, 2011 I know that every LA works differently, but we have a person who specifically handles the 2 year old funding,so they would be the first port of call,as they would know if the family have indeed taken up a funded place elsewhere.
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