Poicies and Procedures That Are in Place to Protect Children and Young People
Explain policies and procedures that are in place to protect children and young people and adults who work with them Policies and procedures in place at Northfield primary to protect the children and those that work with them are the child protection policy, equalities policy, PSHE and citizenship policy safeguarding policy and anti-bullying policy. Strategies from all of these policies are combined in all areas of the school day to protect all who work and learn in school.
Northfield believes that promoting positive behaviour is the way forward as children learn best and behave best when they know what is expected of them and when they are positively encouraged to behave well. They need to have opportunities to experience success and also need to be aware that if they do not behave appropriately they will be consistently but fairly treated. Each child knows the code of conduct which is displayed around the school, included in the home/school agreement and is reiterated during assembly/PHSE times.
Children that are bullied are not singled out or treated differently, they are comforted and encouraged to talk openly about what has happened and reassured that everything will be done to resolve the situation with the best possible outcome. Buddy systems are in place so that no one has to be alone at playtimes and older children look out for children on their own and help them to join in with others.
As well as the children the policies and procedures are there to also protect the adults that work with children. It is essential that all professionals follow safe working practices too, as this protects everyone. For example if a disclosure is made by a child it must always be taken seriously and the correct procedure followed as in the safeguarding policy even if this turns out to be a mistake or untrue.
An example of this happened to a friend of mine a few years back who is a nurse, her daughter had gone back to nursery school after the weekend having been absent for a few days beforehand, when asked what the children had been doing over the weekend the child had replied “Daddy been putting smarties up me bum”. Child services were called in and in the end it turned out that my friend had been doing the weekend shift at the hospital and her husband had been left the job of administering the suppository when required.
This turned out to be a misunderstanding but was taken seriously as it could quite easily have been sexual abuse and was quickly sorted out. The child should be listened to in a calm, supportive manner and they should be allowed to speak openly. They should be reassured and the designated safeguarding officer should be told as soon as possible. When adults working within the school adhere to the policies and procedures while working they are not putting themselves into a position where allegations can be made true or false.
For example if a child needs a nappy change there should always be two members of staff present, or if a child has an injury the adult should query it if it has not happened at school and inform the class teacher or safeguarding officer as necessary. If the injury has occurred at school then an accident form should be filled in and the appropriate first aid carried out by the designated first aider. All injuries should be timed and dated and an explanation or drawing of the injury should be documented for future reference.
