We follow the latest guidance available from Warwickshire Safeguarding.

We have a responsibility for safeguarding children; keeping children safe.  Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as defined by the statutory guidance, Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004, Working Together 2018/20 and the Children & Social Work Act 2017, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021, which specifies inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children:

• protecting children from maltreatment;
• preventing impairment of children's health or development;
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

We have a responsibility to understand risk factors and protective factors to ensure we protect them from delayed development.  Children experiencing forms of abuse won't necessarily develop at the same rate as the normal developmental pattern.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2

What the law says is child abuse causes 'significant harm'.  'Harm' means ill treatment or impairment of health or development, which includes seeing or hearing the abuse of another person. And where we're talking about whether harm is 'significant' we're looking at whether it is more harm than can be reasonably expected of a similar child.

Abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect.  Every person has a responsibility to help prevent abuse to children, but especially professionals who work with children.  We have a duty to share information with other agencies when we have concerns.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-practitioners-information-sharing-advice

Our Safeguarding Leaders are:

Abigail Grant-Williams, Director: Designated Safeguarding Lead (Warwickshire Early Years trained, Feb 2023). Level 3 Safeguarding Trained. Level 2 Safer Recruitment Trained.

Russell Grant, Deputy Manager - in the absence of the DSL, the Deputy Manager is responsible for emergency safeguarding issues.

Natalie Pullein, Pre-School Manager, Designated Safeguarding Lead (Warwickshire Early Years trained, Jan 2023).  Level 3 Safeguarding Trained.

We keep up to date with our training, guidance and legislation including via the NSPCC.

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/schools/keeping-children-safe-in-education-caspar-briefing

Different Types of Abuse

Neglect - persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and psychological needs. This can cause the child to fail to thrive - to reach normal development milestones.  

• We have a responsibility to notice that a child is washed, adequately clothed, nourished, and is uninjured.
• We have a responsibility to notice that a child has adequate food, well rested, communicates well and is socially confident and can concentrate.
• We have a responsibility to notice changes in behaviour, mental health, harm, self-regulation, soiled clothes, changes in eating habits and absences.

Physical - abuse involving hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning/scalding, drowning, suffocating, confinement, medication/fabricated illness and other physical harm.

• We have a responsibility to notice inflicted bruises, bumps and where the explanation doesn't match the injury.
• We have a responsibility to notice defensive wounds, burns in the shape of an implement, bites, and fractures.
• We have a responsibility to notice changes in behaviour, mental health, harm, self-regulation, soiled clothes, changes in eating habits and absences.

Emotional - persistent emotional maltreatment or neglect such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's development.

• We have a responsibility to notice active and/or passive emotional abuse.
• We have a responsibility to notice silencing them, humiliating them, criticising, threatening, blaming, call them names, frightening them, manipulating, exploiting or corrupting them.
• We have a responsibility to notice if a child is seeing or hearing someone else being abused.
• We have a responsibility to notice emotional unavailability, negative attitudes, developmentally inappropriate interaction, failure to recognise a child's individuality, lack of encouragement to make friends.
• We have a responsibility to notice a child being overly-affectionate with strangers, lack of closeness with a parent, language and aggression.

Sexual - forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities. It may also involve non-contact activities such as looking at sexual images or using them in the production of sexual images.

• We have a responsibility to notice a child who is uncomfortable sitting down, toileting more often, rubbing their genitalia.
• We have a responsibility to notice fear or distress when using electronic devices, behaviour that is inappropriate for their age, changes in behaviour towards family members or others.
• We have a responsibility to notice if a child is being groomed.

Other forms of abuse - so-called honour-based abuse, FGM, breast ironing, early and forced marriage, domestic abuse, radicalisation, child trafficking, exploitation.

• We have a responsibility to notice discomfort, fear of holidays, changes in behaviour, secretive, language changes, talking about people who influence them, receipt of benefits from a perpetrator.