Safeguarding Policy
Additional Information
PLANET ART
SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION POLICY AND PROCEDURE
Designated Safe Guarding Lead (DSL)
Mrs Sara Moore saraeresenmoore@gmail.com
Safe Guarding Officer
Mrs Anja Dufhues-Anduze anja_dufhues@hotmail.com
Company Contact
Planet Art info@planet-artclub.com
POLICY STATEMENT
Planet Art’s first responsibility and priority is towards the children in our care. If we have any cause for concern, we will report it to the relevant bodies and we are committed to ensuring the safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice alongside NSPCC, Merton Council and Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership (MSCP) procedures, children and family’s hub.
· Phone no. 020 8545 4226 or 020 8545 4227 (out of hours: 020 8770 5000) or email candfhub@merton.gov.uk.
· In an emergency contact the police by telephone on 999
· Requests should be made by completing the Children and Family Hub Request for Service form and emailing to candfhub@merton.gov.uk
· ‘Nothing is more important than children’s welfare. Children who need help and protection deserve high quality and effective support as soon as a need is identified.’
Safeguarding Definition
• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
Working Together to Safeguard Children
Duty of Care
• By assessing risks
• By setting boundaries for behaviour
• By observing and assessing development, identifying when intervention may be necessary
• By being aware of signs and symptoms of abuse
We understand that child abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, domestic or a mixture of these, and am aware of the signs and symptoms of these.
We must notify Merton Council of any allegations of abuse that are alleged to have taken place while a child is in our care, including any allegations against us or other adults or children in our club setting who have had contact with minded children. We must also ensure that no individual who is unsuitable to work with children has unsupervised access to a child in our care. We have read and understand the safeguarding and welfare requirements of EYFS. We have also read and noted the revised guidance in the document ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ July 2018 and ‘Information Sharing’, July 2018 as well as ‘What to do if you are Worried a Child is being Abused - Advice for Practitioners’ 2015.
Children will only be released from our care to the parent/carer or to someone named and authorised by them. A password will be used to confirm identity if the person collecting the child is not previously known to us. Children will not be released into the care of anyone that we have reason to believe is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
We keep two contact telephone numbers for each child to ensure that we can reach someone in case of an emergency.
Parents must notify us of any concerns they have about their child.
Any accidents, incidents or injuries affecting the child will be recorded and parents asked to sign an accident form.
Unless we believe that it would put the child at risk of further harm, we will discuss concerns with a child’s parent if we notice:
• significant changes in children's behaviour;
• deterioration in children’s general well-being;
• unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse or neglect;
• children or parents’ comments which give cause for concern including expressing extremist views;
• any reasons to suspect neglect or abuse outside the setting, for example in the child’s home.
If a child tells us that they or another child is being abused, we will:
• Show that we have heard what they are saying, and that we take their allegations seriously.
• Encourage the child to talk, but we will not prompt them or ask them leading questions. We will not interrupt when a child is recalling significant events and will not make a child repeat their account.
• Explain what actions we must take, in a way that is appropriate to the age and understanding of the child.
• Record what we have been told using exact words where possible.
• Make a note of the date, time, place and people who were present at the discussion.
If an allegation is made against us or any other adult or child in our club setting, we will report it to the Local Authority designated officer or team of officers as above.
In all instances we will record:
• the child’s full name and address
• the date and time of the record
• factual details of the concern, for example bruising, what the child said, who was present
• details of any previous concerns
• details of any explanations from the parents
• any action taken such as speaking to parents.
It is not our responsibility to attempt to investigate the situation ourselves.
The use of mobile phones, cameras and computers/internet
We understand that mobile phones are an everyday part of life for parents and club providers like us and with that in mind we have laid out our procedure for their use:
• We will ensure our mobile phones are fully charged and with us at all times in case of emergencies.
• We have the facility to take photographs on our mobile phone and will seek parents’ permission to take any photographs/videos of their child/ren to record activities and share what they did during their time spent with us.
• Any photographs taken will be deleted from our phones after emailing them to parents and stored safely on a desktop.
• We will not publish any photographs/videos on any social networking sites or share with any other person without parents’ permission.
We request that parents/carers do not use your mobile phone whilst dropping off and collecting your child/children.
Any visitors to the setting will also be asked not to use their mobile phone
Illness and infectious diseases
It is our policy to keep children safe when they are in our care, promote good health and take necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection within our club setting.
Procedures
Sick Children
If there is a child in our club setting who becomes ill whilst in our care, or whom we believe has an infectious illness or disease (for example a severe cold or stomach upset) we will;
• Contact the parent/carer as agreed to arrange for the immediate collection of the child.
• Keep the child in a separate area, away from the other children, until the parent/carer collects them.
We will make parents aware of our sickness exclusion policy and keep a record of the arrangements for the exclusion of a child should they become ill whilst in our club setting.
In accordance with the contract agreed with parents we expect to be paid for the child’s place even if they are excluded from our setting due to an illness or infectious disease.
If one of us (Sara or Anja) has a confirmed infectious disease, we will inform parents as soon as possible.
We will inform the parent/carers of the other children in our setting if a child in our club has a diagnosed infectious disease.
Administration of Medication
Ensure parents fill out ‘Permission to administer medication` form stating date/time/medicine/dosage. Parents to sign form. We will complete a form each time we administer medicine making sure we initial each time.
Accident or Incident Records
We will complete a record sheet if we notice a child has any injuries noting how and where the injury occurred, a description of the injury and any action taken and the condition of the child following the accident/incident. Use body image drawings to indicate where the injury is. If the accident/incident did not happen at our club ask the parent/carer if they know anything about the injury. Parent/carer and us to sign and date form.
Hygiene
Children either wash their hands or we use hand gel first on arrival and before eating.
We ensure all adults and children in our setting are aware of good hand-washing procedures, before eating or handling food and after using the toilet.
We ensure there is a supply of tissues available for children.
We immediately clean up any spillage of body fluids using a disposable cloth and gloves.
We spray the area with Dettol disinfectant spray.
Accident, Incident and Emergency
It is our policy to keep children safe when they are in our care.
We risk assess our club premises to ensure they meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Accidents to minded children
As a children’s club provider, we are legally required to have a valid paediatric first-aid certificate and to ensure that our first aid training is renewed every 3 years.
We can administer basic first-aid treatment, and our first-aid box is clearly labelled and easily accessible.
We hold written permission from parents (Child Record Form) to seek emergency treatment for their child if it is needed.
Procedure
If there is an accident to a minded child:
• First, we reassure the injured child while making sure that the other children in our care are safe.
• Then, if the accident is a minor one and requires only basic first aid, we will deal with it ourselves. If not, we will ring 999 (or 112 from a mobile) for help.
• If we need to accompany or take a child to hospital, we will leave our emergency back-up cover in charge of the other children. This will be another known responsible adult.
If there is an accident, our emergency back-up cover may contact the parents/carer and they will be expected to collect their child straight away.
If we manage to deal with the accident ourselves, then we will tell the affected child’s parents/carer immediately and advise of any first aid treatment given.
If one of us accompanies or takes a child to hospital, we will contact the child’s parent/carer and ask them to meet us at the hospital.
If we have an accident, one of us will get the nearest responsible adult to help, while our emergency back-up will be contacted.
We will do our best at all times to make sure the children in our care are safe, reassured and kept calm.
Incidents
An incident is a non-medical emergency which causes the need for an immediate response/change of routine in the club setting.
We will use existing planned procedures as far as possible in the event of an incident which affects our setting as follows:
Emergency evacuation procedure
Should an emergency occur that requires us to leave the setting the following procedure will apply:
• Ensure that all the children in the setting are present.
• Evacuate to a safe area. Depending on why it is necessary to evacuate (fire, flood, gas leak) leave the building by using the designated fire exit of the building.
• We will contact the emergency services on 999 (or 112)
• We will reassure the children and make sure that they are not unduly upset
• We will contact the parents/carers and let them know the situation
Other emergencies:
Should any other emergency occur (such as Sara or Anja getting ill), we will contact parents/carers as soon as possible. We expect that parents/carers will also contact us in the event of any accident or emergency which may befall them.
Should it not be possible for parents/carers to contact us, then we will keep the children safe until such time as parents/carers can make contact with me.
Recording:
We will record all details of the accident and make these available for parents/carers to sign and provide a copy for them. If the accident is significant e.g. if a child is taken to hospital for a broken bone we will inform Ofsted, the local child protection agency, the Health and Safety Executive and our insurance company as soon as is reasonably practicable but in any event within 14 days of the accident occurring.
Procedure if a child is not collected
If a child is not collected within 30 minutes of the agreed collection time and we have not been contacted with an explanation, we will try calling the parents’/carers’ contact numbers.
Then we will try the emergency contact numbers provided.
During this time, we will continue to safely look after the child.
We will continue to try the parents/carers’ contact numbers and emergency numbers. If we have not heard anything after two and a half hours from the original agreed collection time, we have a duty to inform the local authority duty social worker.
We may charge an additional fee for late collection.
