Safeguarding in the Early Years

Many people know what Safeguarding is and how important it is. However, there are different challenges when it comes down to Safeguarding in the Early Years.

Whilst the principles of Safeguarding children remain the same and the types of abuse remain the same. The difference is in how the age or the needs of the child can impact on how abuse is communicated to the adults/caregivers.

For example, a baby cannot tell you that they are being physically abused, but there are signs that you can look out for. As practitioners we are always on hand to support every child and with training we are aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse. Phsyical abuse in babies can occur and may not always physically show on the body. Whilst most people expect to see bruises, broken bones, unexplained marks on them, sometimes babies may appear to show distress or discomfort when being changed. They may show a level of seeming uncomfortable, crying without a reason or just appearing extremely clingy. These are all signs that as practtioners are aware of the signs to spot.

In toddlers, the signs can be more obvious and sometimes they will disclose with either words or sometimes actions that they feel or have felt unsafe. There are several different types of abuse and the abuse they can suffer may vary depending upon the ages of the child, the needs of the child and the adult who perpetrates it. In the past there have been some big named cases, especially where children have suffered abuse in nurseries.

As practitioners, we feel a deep sense of shock at these cases and we at Ladybirds whole heartedly undertake this role to ensure that we protect children in our care. We have robust procedures in place to ensure that within education, children are at the heart of everything we do. We want to ensure that every parent feels that we have your child's best interests at heart and we provide a safe, secure and nurturing environment.

Part of our role sometimes, is to have difficult conversations with parents/carers regarding any potential signs of abuse. We do not judge, we do not criticise, we understand how difficult parenting can be and the demands on parenting can be extremely difficult. As practitioners we don't assume that children are being abused, we want to ensure that we are supportive of the whole family and that we are here if parents need help and support.

There are many routes that we can support families with, we can signpost to other professionals, we can provide a listening ear if you need one, we can suggest relevant people and courses for parents if needed. This is not designed to catch anyone out, it is as a supportive role to enable parents to seek help if needed.

As practitioners however, if we felt that a child was in immediate danger, we have a duty of care to report this straight away to the relevant professionals. Luckily, this is rare and often our role identifies more often low level concerns. These can range from a child turning up daily without the appropriate clothing on, ie, no coat in cold weather, no socks on with unkempt feet, appearing unclean or the child's hair, nails not being kept clean and tidy. These are just a few low level concerns that over time we record and can help build up a bigger picture of neglect.

We understand that sometimes some children, refuse hair cuts, nails being cut and wearing socks. This is where the communication between parents and practitioners must remain open. If your child has these struggles, please do let your child's practioner know, as this can help us understand that your child is struggling with these aspects and we may be able to help provide additional advice.

Whilst most abusers are known to the child, there are cases where the abuse happens outside of the home and with strangers. As a pre-school, we will always support you as the parents to keep your child safe, we will always ensure that we provide your children with the strength to use their voice to learn to say no, we will always allow you as your child's caregiver to be involved (where appropriate) in the safeguarding of your child. This is part of our safeguarding commitment to you.

For further information, please do look at our Safeguarding Page for information on who is responsible for Safeguarding in our setting and where you can read our Safeguarding Policy.