Implementing Safe Working Practice For Children

Ensuring children and young people’s safety and welfare in the work setting is an essential part of safeguarding. While children are at school, practitioners act in ‘loco parentis’ while their parents are away. As part of their legal and professional obligations, practitioners hold positions of trust and a duty of care to the children in their school, and therefore should always act in their best interests and ensure their safety – the welfare of the child is paramount (Children Act 1989). The Children Act 2004 came in with the Every Child Matters (ECM) guidelines and greatly impacted the way schools look at the care and welfare of pupils. Children and young people should be helped to learn and thrive and be given the opportunity to

The main points of legislation that support the safeguarding of children are the Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004 and the Childcare Act 2006. The Children Act in 1989 set out principles to guide the work of local authorities and courts and also defined ‘significant harm’ and a child ‘in need’ of intervention. The Children Act 2004 provides the legal basis for children’s services set out in the Every Child Matters: Change for Children document.

1. Identify one current and national piece of legislation relevant to safeguarding children and young people’s welfare.

Every Child Matters Policy - Is a government policy covering children and young people from birth to 19, it has 5 key principles; Healthy, Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, make a positive contribution, to achieve economic wellbeing.

516 1.1) The policies, procedures and practices for safe working with children and young people all stem from the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by Ian Huntley. From this horrific act of evil the Safeguarding Vulnerable Group Act 2006 was born (see evidence ‘6’ – 520 1.3). Another public enquiry was set up to address the failure of the law after the death of Victoria Climbié. Within this enquiry, Lord Laming called for changes to be made in child protection policies. From this there was a new incentive born called ‘Every Child Matters’ in 2003. This became one of the most far reaching policy incentives to be released in the last 10 years. It covers children and young adults up to the age of 19 or 24 for those with

All policies and procedures are available for parents/carers and practitioners to read and address any concerns they have most settings sign post the policies and procedures to the

There are legislations, guidelines, policies and procedures within the UK that are in place to help safeguard children and young people in the community.

When policies and procedures are written they should clearly define what it is meant to ensure that there is good practice but it should also be able to save time as adult will be aware of what is expected of them; if they are not clear enough then staff may be confused on what they are meant to do and this can have severe consequences on either the children/ young people or the staff within the setting. When they are clear it ensures that the setting can work at optimal strength while also ensuring that it operating effectively to ensure that children care is not at risk because staffs are not entirely sure of what they should be doing within the setting. There should also be no misunderstanding if they are written out clearly enough. Policies and procedures are put in place in order to ensure that children are both, safe, and secure, as well as happy while having the best possible learning opportunity; even when the policy applies to adults they have to ensure that children are being given the best care and education possible because they have to impose

The Minimum Standards for Childminding and Day Care is a document with guidance and standards that must be met by all settings and childminders to keep children safe and healthy. Safeguarding children is promoted through the Policies and Procedures in a setting the staff in my setting carry out these policies and procedures on a daily basis to ensure that the children are in a safe environment. Parents are made aware of these policies and procedures when enrolling their child into my setting, they are given a leaflet with a copy of these on admission. In standard 1 of the Minimum Standards for Child-minding and Day Care (July 2013) that parent should be made aware of the policies and procedures so they are aware that children come first when

the safety and wellbeing of children certain acts and legislations were brought in for people working

In 2003, the Government made a new legislation called Every Child Matters. This was published due to a report into the death of Victoria Climbié. There was a wide discussion between people working in children's services, with parents, children and young people. Following the discussion, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the

However, the manager and the deputy are the designated safeguarding officers and they are held responsible for every child in the setting. The manager also implements clear health and safety policies and procedures of all the children and staffs making sure it meet the health and safety regulations. Children are exceptionally well safeguarded within this setting as a result of the manager and the deputy manager has received intensive external and internal safeguarding training and the staffs’ involvement in the safeguarding meeting. A safeguarding policy is in place that is definitely accessible to workers and anyone interested in the setting. Substantial risk assessments are managed; covering all aspects of the setting to ensure everyone in the setting is safe including any activities they undertake.

These national legislation and local guidelines have a huge effect on the development of local policies and procedures which then have a knock on effect on the day-to-day work of any adult working with children and young people. The safeguarding procedures within my setting will outline the specific actions I will need to take in order to maintain the safety of the children and promote their welfare. That said, all settings have to cover off certain common themes for their policies and procedures:

1.1 Outline the current legislation that underpins the safeguarding of children and young people within own UK home nation.

This essay will provide knowledge and understanding of supporting children and young people 's health and safety. In my placement there are many policies regarding health and safety when working with children. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Act 1999 and The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 require all schools to have policies and procedures to ensure the safety of staff and children. If the policies and procedures are not in place then it is a crime. A fine can be set and in some cases an arrest can be made when an employer has suffered damages caused by failure to set the correct policies and procedures.