Policies and Procedures

Parents: This includes parents and carers

Child: Children aged 0-5 years old

All staff required to have a current paediatric first aid certificate for any trips.

First aid training must be:

• Approved by Local Authority
• Consistent with guidance set out in the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage
• A minimum of 12 hours
• Renewed every three years

• Accident records will contain:
• Details of any existing injuries that a child arrives with, including bumps and bruises
• The time, date and nature of any accident
• Details of the children affected
• A written description of the type and location of any injury and a body map
• The action taken at the time, any action taken later and who did what
• The name of the staff member who dealt with the incident, any witnesses and a
• Informing parents using the Famly app and when the child is collected.
• The circumstances of the accident, names of any adults and children involved and any witnesses (you may need the contact details of the witnesses)

Besides injuries, we also record incidents with no visible wounds as symptomsmay become apparent only after the event e.g. concussion.

We carry out an accidents and incident evaluation at the end of every term to identify any trends or recurring causes of injuriesto help us minimise the risk of occurrence.

We will only give advice on aftercare, such as advising parents to take their child to the Doctor or A/E and have the child checked out to ensure that all is well with the child whenever necessary.

We must request parental permission for emergency and medical treatment as part of our admissions process and we will make sure:

• Staff are aware of parent’s wishes, for example cultural and religious beliefs
• What procedures are in place in case of emergencies
• Parents are told about emergency arrangements.

All incidents should be recorded in detail. These should include

• An extreme reaction to a common situation e.g. hysterical response to thunder
• A developmental achievement – a child becoming able to reach a door handle

In the record of the incident should be included:

• The child’s name
• The time and location of the incident
• What triggered the incident
• The nature of the incident
• Other people involved
• Witnesses
• How the situation was handled
• What form of restraint was used and any consequences.

A written record of all accidents and incidents to children will be kept in the Accident and Incident folder/ app.

Statement of intent

We intend to make our nursery accessible to children and families from all sections of the local community.

Aim:

We aim to ensure that all sections of our community have access to nursery through open, fair and clearly communicated procedures.

Methods

In order to achieve this aim, we operate the following admissions policy:

• We ensure that the existence of the nursery is widely advertised in places accessible to all sections of the community.
• We ensure that information about our nursery is accessible - in written and spoken formatand, where appropriate we will provide support to parents who have English as an additional language to fill the forms.

We arrange our waiting list in birth order.

In addition, our policy may take into account the following:

• siblings already attending the nursery.
• length of time on the waiting list
• whether a child is attending another nursery

The nursery is open to every family in the community.

Children are admitted when they reach3 months, dependent upon the availability of space, and readiness of the individual child to stay happily within the group. A child can remain with us until the term before his or her 5th birthday.

The nursery aims to support the childcare needs of its staff where possible. Therefore, staff may enrol their children so long as this does not interfere with the effectiveness of the staff memberin the sessions and the se

• We welcome children regardless of their gender, special educational needs, disabilities, background, religion, ethnicity or competence in spoken English. We will liaise fully with parents and professionals to ensure that it would be in the child’s best interests to attend the group.

• Parents/carers are encouraged to visit with their child shortly before admission is due and should be prepared to stay with their child if necessary for the first session or two. We operate a flexible admissions procedure and where appropriate a child may attend for brief periods at first; gradually building up to a full session.

If a child is to leave our setting before moving on to school, or to reduce the number of sessions attended, parents must give at least one month’s notice of the leaving date in writing. Fees will be payable (or grant claimed by us), until that date.

• We are flexible about attendance patterns and, wherever possible, accommodate the needs of individual children and families. The nursery education funding rules state that 'I understand my child could lose their funded place if they do not attend regularly without a reason being provided for their absence'.

Therefore, if your child has not attended half of their sessions in any half term period (usually 6 or 7 weeks) they will lose their place at the nursery unless they have a valid reason (e.g. letter from doctor in the case of serious illness or holiday). If your child has not attended preschool for 3 weeks without any explanation, we reserve the right to offer their sessions to another child after contacting you and discussing the situation.

We are concerned about the welfare and safety of all our children and attempt to create an ethos in which pupils feel secure, valued, listened to and are taken seriously.

Working Together Under The Children Act, 1989’ requires all childcare settings to follow the procedures for protecting children from abuse. Settings are also expected to ensure that they have appropriate procedures in place for responding to situations in which they believe that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse - these procedures should also cover circumstances in which a member of staff is accused or suspected of abuse.

DfES Circular ‘What To Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused’ (May ‘03) places the following responsibilities on all settings –

• staff should be alert to signs of abuse and know to whom they should report any concerns or suspicions,
• the Nursery Manager will have the responsibility for co-ordinating action within the Nursery/Out of School Club and liaising with other agencies,
• staff with designated responsibility for child protection should receive appropriate training,
• Settings should have procedures (of which all staff are aware) for handling suspected cases of abuse of children, including procedures to be followed if a member of staff is accused of abuse.

It also states that parents should be made aware of the Settings child’s protection policy and the fact that this may require cases to be referred to the investigative agencies in the interest of the child.

THE NURSERY MANAGER – Designated Child Protection Officer

The NURSERY MANAGER’S role will be:

• ensure that the Safeguarding Children Board procedures are followed in the setting,
• ensure that all staff are aware of these procedures,
• ensure that appropriate training and support is provided for all staff,
• develop effective working relationships with other agencies and services.

Decide whether to take further action about specific concerns (e.g., refer to MASH /Social Services;

• Liaise with Social Services teams over suspected cases of child abuse,
• Ensure that accurate records relating to individual children are kept in a secure place and marked ‘Strictly confidential’,
• Submit reports to, and attend, Child Protection Conferences,
• Ensure that the setting effectively monitors children who have been identified as at risk,
• Provide guidance to parents, children and staff about obtaining suitable support.

PROCEDURES

• If any member of staff is concerned about a child, he or she must inform the Nursery Manager,
• information regarding the concerns must be recorded by the member of staff on the same day. The recording must be a clear, precise, factual account of the observations,
• The Nursery Manager will decide whether the concerns should be referred to the Social Services Department. If it is decided to make a referral to Social Services this will be done without prior discussion with the parents,
• If a referral is made to Social Services, the Nursery Manager will ensure that a written report of the concerns is sent to the Social Worker dealing with the case within 48 hours,
• Particular attention will be paid to the attendance and development of any child who has been identified as at risk or who has been placed on the Child Protection Register,
• If a child who is known to be on the Child Protection Register changes Nursery’s the Nursery Manager will inform the Social Worker responsible for the case and transfer the appropriate records to the receiving Nursery.

Staff should be concerned about a child if he or she:

• has an injury which is not typical of the bumps and scrapes normally associated with children’s activities,
• regularly has unexplained injuries,
• frequently has injuries (even when apparently reasonable explanations are given,
• confused or conflicting explanations are given on how injuries were sustained,
• exhibits significant changes in behaviour, performance or attitude,
• indulges in sexual behaviour which is unusually explicit and/or inappropriate to his or her age,
• discloses an experience in which he or she may have been significantly harmed.

If a child discloses that he or she has been abused in some way, the member of staff should:

• listen to what is being said without displaying shock or disbelief,
• accept what is being said,
• allow the child to talk freely,
• reassure the child but not make promises which it might not be possible to keep,
• not promise confidentiality – it might be necessary to refer to Social Services,
• reassure him or her that what happened is not his or her fault,
• stress that it was the right thing to tell,
• listen, rather than ask questions,
• ask open questions rather than leading questions,
• do not criticise the perpetrator,
• explain what has to be done next and who has to be told.

When a child has disclosed the member of staff should:

• make some brief notes as soon as possible after the conversations,
• not destroy the original notes in case they are needed by court,
• record the date, time, place and any noticeable non-verbal behaviour and the words used by the child,
• draw a diagram to indicate the position of any bruising or other injury,
• record the statements and observations, rather than interpretations or assumptions.

Dealing with a disclosure from a child, and a child protection case in general, is likely to be a stressful experience. Therefore,The staff member should consider seeking support for him/herself and discuss this with the Nursery Manager.

If a child, or parent, makes a complaint of abuse against a member of staff, the person receiving the complaint must take it seriously and immediately inform the Nursery Manager.

Any member of staff who has reason to suspect that a child may have been abused by another member of staff, either at Nursery or elsewhere, must immediately inform the Nursery Manager. He or she should also make a record of the concerns including a note of anyone else who witnessed the incident or allegation. (If the concerns are about the Nursery Manager the Nursery Director should be informed.)

The Nursery Manager will not investigate the allegation herself, or take written or detailed statements, but he/she will assess whether it is necessary to refer to the local Social Services team following the child protection procedures. In doing this, the Nursery Manager may consult with the Child Protection Education Welfare Officer, Head of Education Welfare Service or a Senior Officer from Social Services.

If the Nursery Manager decides that the allegation warrants further action through child protection procedures,they must make a referral direct to the local Social Services team. If the allegations constitutes a serious criminal offence, it will be necessary to contact LADO before informing the member of staff.

If it is decided that it is not necessary to refer to Social Services the Nursery Manager will consider whether there needs to be an internal investigation.

ANY CONCERNS ABOUT A CHILD OR SUSPICION OF ABUSE, MUST BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE NURSERY MANAGER OR IN HER ABSENCE THE NEXT IN CHARGE.

• If the parent is not happy with the key person’s response or wishes to complain about the key person or any other member of staff, he/she will be directed to the setting manager. Some parents will want to make a written complaint; others will prefer to make it verbally, in which case the setting manager writes down the main issues of the complaint using the Complaint Investigation Record and keeps it in the child’s file.
• The setting manager will investigate the complaint and provide time to feedback to the parent within 28 days. A confidential written report of the investigation is kept in the child’s file if the complaint relates directly to a child.
• If the parent is still not satisfied, or if the complaint is about the setting manager, the setting manager is asked to forward their complaint verbally or in writing to their line manager.
• If the parent is still not satisfied, then he/she is entitled to appeal the outcome verbally or in writing to the setting manager’s line manager who will pass the matter on to owners/directors/trustees for further investigation, who will respond to the parent within a further 14 days.
• If the complainant believes that the matter has not been resolved and there has been a breach of the EYFS requirements they are entitled to make a complaint to Ofsted.
• The manager will assist in any complaint investigation as well as in producing documentation that records the steps that were taken in response to the original complaint.
• The setting manager ensures that parents know they can complain to Ofsted by telephone or in writing at any time as follows:

Applications, Regulatory and Contact (ARC) Team,Ofsted,Piccadilly Gate,Store Street,Manchester M1 2WD or telephone: 0300 123 1231

• If an individual from another agency wishes to make a formal complaint about a member of staff or any practice of the setting, it should be made in writing to the setting manager.
• The complaint is acknowledged in writing within 10 days of receiving it.
• The setting manager investigates the matter and meets with the individual to discuss the matter further within 28 days of the complaint being received.
• An agreement needs to be reached to resolve the matter.
• If agreement is not reached, the complainant may write to the setting manager’s line manager, who acknowledges the complaint within 5 days and reports back within 14 days.
• If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, they are entitled to appeal and are referred to the owners/directors/trustees.

Ofsted complaints record

• Legislation requires settings to keep a record of complaints and disclose these to Ofsted at inspection, or if requested by Ofsted at any other time.
• The record of complaints is summative only.

A record of complaints will be kept for at least 3 years.

• In all cases where a complaint is upheld, the owners/directors will review it to look for ways to improve practice where it is required.

This procedure is displayed on Parent Notice Board.

In a situation where a parent wishes to make a complaint and prefers to remain anonymous, a written complaint can be dropped in the post box and complaints will be treated confidentially.

Comments and compliments

Twinnie Day Nursery welcomes constructive criticism.Any comments on how the setting operates will inform future development plans.

Compliments are always welcome and will be passed on to the staff members to whom they are most pertinent.