Every term I wade through Ofsted inspections to find out why settings get ‘inadequate’ and ‘requires improvement’ grades. And while I scrutinise scores of reports each month, there are often a handful of key issues that crop up time and time again.
KEY WEAKNESSES
In the summer term 2017, the effectiveness of early years safeguarding arrangements was one of the top three trending issues nationally. One in nine reports graded ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ contained serious concerns over safeguarding.
My analysis found there were just a handful of common weaknesses around safeguarding:
- The role and responsibilities of the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) are unclear.
- Members of staff do not have a robust understanding of safeguarding policies and the implications for practice.
- Staff are unsure of what to do if an allegation is made against a member of staff/management.
- Managers are not ensuring there are systems in place to regularly review the ongoing suitability of staff to work with children.
In the autumn term, the focus had shifted slightly to reflect the fact that staff need not only to understanding safeguarding policies and procedures, but also to understand the Prevent Duty.
Safeguarding is a huge role for anyone managing services that involve children, young people and vulnerable adults. It covers a wide range of topics, so it’s not surprising to learn that it continues to be an area that lets many providers down during an inspection. The question is, what can we do to make sure that our safeguarding arrangements are effective? And are we sure that everything we think is in place is happening consistently?
Know the law
Over the years, I have supported many early years managers who have intimate knowledge of the EYFS, but who haven’t had the time to truly get to grips with their Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) guidance and Working together to safeguard children.
In many cases, busy senior leaders have only had the time to flick through these documents, in search of the bits that refer to their roles and responsibilities. In doing this, we don’t get a clear picture of the roles and responsibilities of other services and how children’s social care will progress any concerns we raise. It is therefore critical that leaders and managers get to knowWorking together and their LSCB guidance (or local safeguarding arrangements, since the Children And Social Work Act has made LSCBs non-statutory).
We also need to keep an eye out for changes toWorking together as a result of the recent consultation in 2017.
A question that seems to be growing in popularity with inspectors is, ‘How would you raise a concern with children’s social care if you weren’t satisfied with their response?’ However, the bigger question for leaders and managers is, ‘How can we raise concerns about the actions an organisation has or hasn’t taken if we don’t know what it’s responsible for?’
The Prevent Duty
Do we really know enough about the Prevent Duty to support staff? What do our staff know and understand? It may sound obvious, but have we checked out that staff actually know the difference between Prevent, which is a legal duty to report any perceived signs that children and adults may be at danger of being radicalised, and the four fundamental ‘British values’? Are staff able to identify signs that a child, a member of a child’s family or a staff member may be at risk of being drawn into radicalisation and extremism? What training or staff development opportunities are available?
A clear lead
Have you had the time to unpick the responsibilities of the DSL? Are they written down anywhere? Do they form part of a job description?
It will be difficult for the DSL to know what is expected of them if they don’t have a job description. Without clear expectations, managers will also struggle to know how well the DSL is fulfilling their responsibilities, which will make performance management discussions more likely to be ineffective. Both sides also need to clearly understand where there may be a need for training, development and support.
If you need to create a job description or add safeguarding responsibilities to a current role, you don’t need to start with a blank sheet of paper. Annex B inKeeping Children Safe in Education(September 2016) provides a model version. Although this document was written predominately for a school/college audience, its content is valuable.
Policy check
Many settings purchase generic ‘off-the-shelf’ policies from early years specialist companies. First, let me say there is nothing wrong with this. Bought policies written by specialist companies will ensure that our legislative responsibilities are well covered, but we do need to remember that a generic policy won’t necessarily reflect our vision and ethos – or provide the level of detail necessary to guide the actions of staff, should an incident occur.
We therefore need to spend time reading through our policies and pose questions or scenarios that will help us to understand if there is enough information available for a staff member to take swift and appropriate action.
Feed, not fade
I often get calls from providers who are desperate to get members of staff on a safeguarding training course because their current certificate is running out.
In many of these cases, staff members haven’t accessed any other safeguarding events, including training or development opportunities within their own setting.
Ever heard the saying ‘use it or lose it’?
Skills fade when we don’t have the opportunity to regularly use them. The less we use what we know, the harder it becomes to recall information or how to do something. The only way to reduce the likelihood of skill fade is to create regular opportunities to revisit information, policies and procedures with staff.
Next month’s focus is performance management.
- Pennie Akehurst is managing director of Early Years Fundamentals, www.eyfundamentals.org
