Policy statement
This policy is an addendum to the Pre-School’s main Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and is intended for use during the COVID-19 emergency period only. This addendum document is intended only to be a guidance to the Pre-School in the areas where specific changes or additions are required during the pandemic.
COVID-19 (commonly known as Coronavirus) has presented a huge challenge nationally to the normal running of education and childcare provision. On 23rd March 2020 the Pre-School closed on the advice of the UK Government to help delay the spread of Coronavirus.
We continue to recognise that safeguarding and child protection is an essential part of our duty of care to all our children and that we have a responsibility to safeguard children, whether they are on-site or staying at home. We understand that safeguarding, child protection and promoting the welfare of all children is everyone’s responsibility and everyone has a role to play in protecting children. We continue to promote a culture of vigilance, where staff and volunteers act immediately if they have safeguarding concerns about a child. We recognise that our school is part of a wider safeguarding system for children and work closely with other agencies to promote the welfare of children. We maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ and will consider the wishes of, and at all times, what is in the best interests of each child.
Due to the nature of the emergency we are facing and the changing threat from COVID-19, this policy is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that the school is compliant with;
All relevant legislation and statutory guidance;
government guidance relating to the COVID-19 outbreak; and
guidance from the Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (the Local Authority, the local clinical commissioning group and the chief office of police).
All staff will be made aware of this policy and updated regularly on further developments.
Further information about the government’s approach to COVID-19 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
The purpose of this policy
Promote safeguarding and child protection and demonstrate the school’s commitment to keeping children safe whilst operating under emergency measures related to COVID-19;
Provide all members of staff with the information required to meet their safeguarding duty and protect children from harm during this time;
Provide the committee with clear information relating to the Pre-School’s safeguarding and child protection procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak; and
Ensure that children are protected from maltreatment or harm.
St Margaret’s Pre-School is committed to the following principles at all times;
· All children have the right to be protected from harm;
· The best interests of children will always continue to come first;
· All staff are responsible for keeping children safe and have a responsibility to act if they think a child is at risk of harm;
· If anyone in school has a safeguarding concern about any child, they should continue to follow usual procedures and must act and act immediately;
· A Designated Safeguarding Lead or a Deputy Safeguarding Lead should be available; and Working with other agencies (such as Children’s Services and the Virtual School) is essential to promote safeguarding and protect children from harm.
We continue to be subject to a duty of all care and safeguarding as stated in our policy 1-2 Safeguarding and Child Protection.
Scope
This policy applies to all staff, committee members and volunteers working in or on behalf of St Margaret’s Pre-School. All references in this document to ‘staff’ or ‘members of staff’ should be interpreted as relating to the aforementioned unless otherwise stated.
This policy applies to all staff, whether working on-site or at home.
Context
Following government guidance, the Pre-School has been closed to pupils from Monday 23rd March 2020.
St Margaret’s Pre-School continually reviewed each child to consider
· Children on Child Protection Plans; Children in Need; Looked-After or Previously Looked-After; and Children with SEND (with or without an EHCP), who would be safer at school than at home.
· Children other than those above may be considered vulnerable and some children will become vulnerable during the time that the school is closed. The school will continually review which children will attend school, in line with local and governmental guidance.
· Some children will have existing vulnerabilities and will not attend school. In the case of these children, the school will maintain a contact programme for all children considered vulnerable managed by the Family Team.
· All children (regardless of vulnerability) will be contacted by letter, email and through Famly
Local Safeguarding Arrangements
The Pre-School will ensure that it is aware of any changes to local safeguarding arrangements through existing channels of communication with the Local Authority.
This policy will be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect any changes in local safeguarding arrangements.
Roles and Responsibilities
1. Committee
The committee continues to monitor the Pre-School during this period of emergency closure. committee will continue to have oversight of leadership in the school. The committee meetings will be carried out via web based technology in line with the set meeting schedule.
2. The Role of the Management
· Ensure that this policy is regularly updated in line with evolving government and local guidance relating to COVID-19;
· Ensure that this policy and associated procedures are adhered to by all staff;
· Ensure that all adults coming into contact with children at school have been subject to the appropriate safer recruitment checks;
· Respond to allegations of abuse against all other members of staff; and
· Ensure that staff on-site and off-site have regularly updated training to ensure that they are aware of local safeguarding arrangements.
In the event that the manager is unavailable either on-site or remotely, the above responsibilities will be completed by the Deputy Manager.
3. The Role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
The role of the DSL is outlined in the main school Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
In addition to their usual duties, the DSL will also have regard to the additional mental health issues that pupils on-site may be experiencing as a result of COVID-19 and provide/arrange support for pupils as necessary.
Wherever possible, a trained DSL (or deputy DSL) will be available on site. Where this is not possible due to staff self-isolation, a trained DSL (or deputy DSL) will be available to be contacted via phone or online video.
In the event that the DSL and the DSL/s are unable to work remotely due to illness, an appropriate senior leader will take responsibility for co-ordinating safeguarding on site. This could include, but is not limited to, updating and managing access to safeguarding and child protection files and as required liaising with children’s social workers where they require access to children in need and/or to carry out statutory assessments. Information will be passed to the DSL as soon as practicably possible.
Arrangements for contacting the DSL/DDSLs will be shared with staff before 9am each day, as well as any relevant safeguarding and child protection updates and training.
The government has acknowledged that DSL refresher training is very unlikely to take place during this emergency. All DSLs and DDSLs that have previously been trained will continue to be classed as DSLs even if they miss their refresher training, in line with current government guidance. All DSLs and DDSLs will keep up to date with the latest safeguarding information and guidance through via e-bulletins, Local Authority e-bulletins and taking time to read and digest safeguarding developments.
4. The Role & Responsibilities of all Staff within School
All staff, whether on-site or working from home, will;
· continue to operate under the principles of the Pre-School Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, the staff Code of Conduct, all relevant legislation and statutory guidance and continue to have particular regard to Keeping Children Safe in Education (2019);
· will continue to promote a culture of vigilance and refer all safeguarding concerns to the appropriate person immediately;
· adhere to all government, local and school advice relating to hygiene, response to COVID-19 symptoms and self-isolation;
· seek advice from the Designated Safeguarding Lead if they are unsure; and
· All teachers should safeguard children’s wellbeing and maintain public trust in the teaching profession as part of their professional duties (Teaching Standards, 2012).
Attendance
The Pre-School adheres to government guidance, which states that parents should keep their children at home, wherever possible, and that early years settings should reopen on the 1st of June 2020.
As such, the Pre-School will not be following our usual attendance procedures and non-attendance will not be managed in the way that it normally would, and children should not attend unless there is an agreement with the school.
The Pre-School will work with families and social workers to agree whether children should attend Pre-School or not. If it is agreed that a child should attend and they do not, the Pre-School will follow this up with parents/carers.
The Pre-School will follow up with any parent or carer who has arranged care for their children and the children subsequently do not attend.
If children who should be attending Pre-School develop symptoms, they will be asked to remain at home. In the event that this happens, we will contact the family through the vulnerable support system.
The Pre-School will take the opportunity when communicating with parents and carers to confirm emergency contact numbers are correct and ask for any additional emergency contact numbers where they are available.
In all circumstances where a vulnerable child does not take up their place at the Pre-School, or discontinues, we will notify their social worker.
Some children may have existing vulnerabilities but will not attend Pre-School (those with underlying health conditions, for example). In this case, the school will make regular contact through the vulnerable support system.
The Pre-School will record pupil daily attendance using the attendance tracker provided by the government, rather than our usual attendance tracking systems.
Review
This policy is a dynamic document and will be updated regularly as further government and local guidance is published.