Safeguarding is the action taken to ensure the safety and well-being of children as well as protecting them from harm, abuse and exploitation. Child protection is a part of safeguarding it ensures the protection and welfare of children. There are two elements that come under child protection these are the health and safety and child abuse.
Children should be protected from any type of abuse, there are five types of abuse that children can become victims of these are physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and domestic abuse. All those working with children must ensure to look out for signs, symptoms and indicators that a child might be abused. “Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.” NSPCC, (2017)
The health and safety of children must be put first. All those working with children must ensure to always take children’s safety into consideration for example if the EYP was to carry out an activity which involved scissors she would need to ensure that it is age and stage appropriate for the child, this is to ensure that not harm comes to the child.
There are numerous of legislations and guidelines that protect and safeguard the well-being of children. These legislations ensure that all children are protected from harm and maltreatment. These laws apply to all those working with children and they must ensure to follow these to prevent any harm
It emphasises the important principles to be followed when working with children and young people: settings must provide a safe and secure environment, if any children are identified as suffering from abuse or likely to suffer the appropriate action must be taken.
In order to not only promote the welfare of children within a setting but also to protect them from harm and abuse there are a number of pieces of legislation and statutory guidance that must be adhered to. Both laws and statutory guidance are mandatory and so legally enforceable and must act as a foundation of which policies and procedures within any setting can be based upon.
There are many policies and procedures within the UK that outline the current legislation and guidelines to help with safeguarding children and young people.
The following is an outline of current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within the UK Home Nation for Safeguarding Children.
Practitioners have to put the needs of children first because this will help keep children safe and encourages children to be independent. It’s important to show
This means keeping children safe from accidents (i.e. road safety), crime and bullying and actively promoting their well-being in a healthy, safe and supportive environment. It also encompasses issues such as pupil health and safety and bullying, about which there are specific statutory requirements, and a range of other issues, for example, arrangements for meeting the medical needs of children with medical conditions, providing first aid, school security, drugs and substance misuse.
It is everybody’s responsibility to safeguard children – This means every single staff member within a setting; irrelevant of what role they may have there. This also includes non-staff members, such as volunteers, student’s third-party companies (visitors, service providers etc). Each setting should therefore adopt their own safeguarding policy, of which has to be kept up to date and followed at all times.
The children act 1989 has influenced some settings by bringing together several sets of guidance and provided the foundation for many of the standards practitioners sustain and maintain when working with children. The act requires that settings work together in the best interests of the child and form partnerships with parents or carers. It requires settings to have appropriate adult to child ratios and policies and procedures on child protection. This act has had an influence in all areas of practice from planning a curriculum and record keeping. The every child matters framework has
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
It is very important that anyone working with children should be able to recognise if a child is at risk of harm of in need because of their vulnerability. The earlier this is recognised, the better outcome for the child involved.
Today we use the term safeguarding instead of child protection because it covers a much broader range. These changes were influenced by the first Joint Chief Inspectors’ safeguarding report 2002 and formalised in the Every Child Matters legislation outlined in the Children Act 2004. By safeguarding a child or young person we ensure they get the very best of the opportunities available to them for them to achieve the best of their potential while keeping them safe from bullying, crime, accidents, neglect and abuse.
|As adults in positions of responsibility it is important to be aware of the importance of protecting children and young people from harm. While |
The main current legislation guidelines policies and procedures within own UK home nation for safeguarding children and young people.
To be able to safeguard children effectively we need to be aware of the following policies:
This is when children are suffering from any form of abuse or neglect. It also involves protecting children and young people from maltreatment and preventing impairment of a child’s health and development by ensuring