E4
The setting will have a lot of information about the children and their families they work with. Any information that is considered sensitive should be stored in a secure place. The addresses and phone numbers of the children should not be passed on with out parental permission except when a duty of care overrides the need for confidentiality.
The setting should have a confidentiality policy and it should contain,
-What sort of information is sensitive and must be kept confidential
-What sort of information is suitable to share with other people
-When to seek parental permission to pass on information
-When to pass on information without seeking parental permission first, if it is in the childs best interest to do so.
This policy should be understood by all staff, not just practitioners.
Practitioners should never discuss one set of parents with another and should take care when having conversations with friends, family and other practitioners at meetings not to revel personal details of the children that they work with. And be prepared for people to be curious and ask questions about the children and their families in their care. Any written information about a child in their care should be stored in a secure lockable place which is only accessible to the relevant members in the childcare setting.
By following these steps confidentiality of the setting can be maintained.
E5,E8
Children who are confident, self aware and with a high self esteem are less vulnerable to abuse. Practitioners should work with the children in their care to promote self esteem through praise and encouragement. If children feel valued and are emotionally resilient and confident they are more likely to assert their right to be treated well and can protect themselves more effectively.
Relationships in the setting should be open and based on trust , as this will enable a child to come to you if they have any problems knowing that you will support them.
Encouraging children to take responsibility for their own personal care reduces the risk of abuse, and encourages independence with in turn increases their confidence. Children need to be taught that it is possible to be assertive without being demanding, and to express what they need, want, like or do not like.
They should be taught that there is a difference between comfortable and uncomfortable touches, and that their body belongs to them and no one has the right to touch or hurt them. That they can say no to requests that they are not comfortable with. If some one tells them to keep a hug or kiss a secret they should tell an adult that they trust, and that safety rules apply to all adults not just strangers. They should understand that there are no good or bad people but should look out for danger signs, and that just because some one looks kind or says that they know their parents they should not go off with them. But should tell someone about what happened.
By building their self confidence it will help them to trust their feelings, and that if an adult does hurt them it is not their fault. They should know that they can come to you with any frightening incidents and that you will listen and believe them and not be angry with them. They should know that if they are in danger it is ok to hit, kick, bite, punch and scream and shout to get away or get help they will not be told off.
When children feel good about themselves, they are much more likely to become better achievers . Practitioners can help build confidence in children by setting them up for success and providing positive feedback along with frequent praise. The more confident they feel, the better they feel about the task at hand and their ability to do it. When a child is feeling good about themselves, it's much easier to ..
Promoting a childs self esteem is important to their future development, and practitioners can help child to to achieve this by:
- Always accentuate the positive.
- Avoid criticism. Those suffering with low self-esteem struggle the most when given criticism. Be sensitive to this.
- Always remember that self-esteem is about how much children feel valued, appreciated, accepted, loved and having a good sense of self worth. Having a good self-image.
- Understand that as career, you play one of the biggest roles in how good or bad a child can feel about themselves - again, avoid criticism. Influence from a career can make and break a child's sense of self-esteem. Don't abuse it.
- Expectations must always be realistic.
- See the learning in errors or mistakes. Turn mistakes inside out and focus on what was or will be learned from the mistake. This helps a child focus on the positive, not the negative. Remind children that everyone makes mistakes but it's how those mistakes are handled that makes the difference. We need to see them as learning opportunities..
Self-esteem is an important component to almost everything children do. Not only will it help with academic performance, it supports social skills and makes it easier for children to have and keep friends. Relationships with peers and teachers are usually more positive with a healthy dose of self-esteem. Children are also better equipped to cope with mistakes, disappointment and failure, they are more likely to stick with challenging tasks and complete learning activities. Self-esteem is needed life-long and we need to remember the important role we play to enhance or damage a child's self-esteem.
E6
Its important to know and understand the settings policies on reporting and recording abuse or suspected abuse . If you notice a mark or injury on a child and their explanation seems defensive, unsure or implausible you should query the parents and record this in the accident and injury book. If the explanation provided by the parent is different to that of the child it should be reported to the designated person in the setting.
If a child makes a disclosure to you or tells you something which gives you concern, you must reassure the child that they were right to tell you and that you believe them. Listen carefully but do not ask leading questions as it may jeopardise future proceedings. Tell the child that you will help them but do not promise to keep what they have told you a secret but explan that you will need to tell someone who is able to help them. Reasure the child that they are not in trouble but that they have done the right thing.
Immediately after fill out a report detailing the time, date, what the child said ( a direct quote not an interpretation) and did and what you said and did. Sign and date the report, if injuries or marks are present draw a diagram noting there size and position. Its very important to keep this information confidentially to protect the child and their family from gossip, but also to safe guard any future court/police proceedings.
You should take your report to the designated person in the setting. It is then their job to decide if any further investigation needs to take place. If the case is referred by phone it should be followed up in writing within 48 hour. Children’s social care should acknowledge this in 1 day, when this has not happened in 3 working days children’s social care should be contacted again. The designated person may have to provide a written report or attend a case conference, or take part with other professionals in the ongoing monitoring of the child concerned.
E7
Childcare settings can have practices in place which can help to reduce the risk of child abuse. The setting should be properly staffed with well trained and appropriate people. The ratio of trained staff to trainee/ junior staff should not be unbalanced. During recruitment the references of staff should be checked thoroughly and all staff must receive clearance from the Criminal records bureau. All new staff should receive training on the settings policies and procedures.
Where possible staff should never be left alone with a child/children and all areas in the setting should be visible to each other, especially the toilet area. Encouraging children to take responsibility for their own personal care reduces the risk of abuse, and children should be taught how to protect themselves.
Childcare practitioners are in some ways vulnerable to being accused of abuse because young children or a physically disabled child will require assistance with their personal care, sometimes allegations against a practitioner can occur because a parent is trying to cover up their own abuse of a child.
Practitioners can protect themselves by encouraging children to be independent and manage their own personal care, this not only increases the Childs confidence and skills but also helps to reduce your vulnerability to allegations. Using appropriate ways to restrain a child/ young person and keeping an accident record book which also records any injuries on arrival which is signed by the parent are also preventive measures.
Where possible two members of staff should be present in a nappy changing area, it is not usually possible that two members of staff can take a child to the toilet, a comprise is for the member of staff to tell a colleague when they leave and when they return. Older children can go to the toilet on their own with instructions to call out if they need help. If you are a child minding with young children it may be that the toilet door remains open at all times.
When you work alone with a child/children as a child minder or nanny it is good practice to arrange to met up with other nannies/ child minders or to attend toddler groups. By reducing the amount of time spent alone with the children although doesn’t reduce the risk of false allegations, but does mean you will have another adult witness if required.
E9, B
An anti-discriminative practice takes action to counter act discrimination and is positive about the differences in people. Each child is an individual and should be encouraged and helped to develop their own sense of identity within their own cultural and racial groups.
.All children should have the chance to learn about other cultures that are different from their own so that no one culture is represented as being better than another. Information and background about their various traditions, customs and festivals should be taught to all children, including those in areas where there are few members of minority ethnic groups.. Introducing information about a variety of cultures can be done in a fun way through posters, food, dressing-up, clothes, stories and videos. The child carer must ensure that in everything they do they help to teach children that all people are valuable, whatever their gender, class, racial origins, religion, culture, ability or linguistic background.
In order to provide an inclusive child care setting that enjoys diversity and does not discriminate against children and their families, the setting should ensure the following practices are in place:
- prejudice about a particular group in society is not used to exclude children or their families from the activities of the setting
- parental activities are accessible to all parents
- all children’s activities are accessible to all children
-that all activities reflect the diversity of background of all of the families represented in the community
- activities in the child care setting help children to realise that they are part of a world where people’s backgrounds and experiences are diverse and that this diversity is a valuable asset
-that no child or it’s family should suffer from any form of abusive treatment because they belong to particular group or because of a particular personal characteristic
The way in which adults treat children and the information they expose them to
will have a huge influence on them. In order to promote equal opportunities
and the value of diversity, the child care setting should ensure that they employ
the following practices:
1 Avoid stereotyping
Girls should be encouraged to be adventurous, ambitious etc, whilst boys should also be encouraged to be caring and sensitive, creative, and expected to do domestic roles.
2 Provide positive images.
Materials on display should show black people, women and disabled people taking responsible roles and men in caring, domestic or creative roles. These materials can take the form of pictures, books, puzzles, play materials, computer games, television programmes, videos or board games.
3 Make each child feel individual.
Appreciating children for who they are and admiring the characteristics that make them special, the carer can indicate to them that they are valuable, special and unique individuals.
4 Treat all children equally but not all the same.
In order to treat children equally the carer may sometimes have to treat them differently from one another, adapting the way they work with them to meet their individual needs and characteristics. It is important to treat all children with equal concern,.
A written equal opportunities policy can help to ensure that all aspects of the child care setting give equality of opportunity to all children and their families, regardless of gender, racial origin, ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic or family background. An equal opportunities policy cannot bring about real equality of opportunity unless it is supported by the adults in the child care setting who have to put it into practice.
Disability, ethnic, cultural, race, religion, gender, age, sexuality, social economic group are reasons why children and their families may experience discrimination. People are discriminated against because of stereotypical views held about the group the belong to or are perceived to belong to.
Types of discrimination are direct, indirect, segregation and victimisation. This can lead to missed opportunities that may affect the child's experiences and development, low self esteem, low confidence, low self worth, low self value, confused identity and fear of rejection.
Families may not use the setting because the vacancies are not advertised in the language of the family, or no one in the setting can speak the language. The setting may not reflex the home culture of the family and all the staff in the setting are fro a different background.
They may be physical barriers in place such as steps or stairs for a family of which a member has a disability and they may believe that the setting is unable to cater for their child.
Some families can not reach the setting due to lack of transport, and the information provided about the centre is in complex English which some parents find hard to understand. Some families may not be able to afford the charges made by the setting.
Some groups of people may feel that there is a lack of acceptance of their group for example travelling families, families with two mothers or two fathers and this would prevent them from assessing the service.
A
Self reflection helps practitioners to review the effectiveness of their work and improve their skills. The concept behind self reflective practice is that if we all know what our own strengths and weaknesses are we can find ways to improve our work. This method is more effective at improving practice instead of waiting for others to make observations, judge our performance and make suggestions for our improvement.
A childcare setting can not remain static, it needs to respond to the needs of the child who use it and the trends in early years education. A system that was effective 10, 5 or even last year may no longer be useful now. The routine of the setting must be adjusted to meet the changing needs of the children.
Settings and practitioners must think about the ways in which they work and consider if the layout and routine is allowing all children to be included or if it is creating a barrier for children. Children’s responses normally give a good indication of how the adequate the setting is in meeting their needs, behaviour of children is complex and can not be just classified as good or bad. Taking time to think about how the children respond to the setting is important as its an indication if current practices are effect or not. For instance a child that spends his or her time wandering about or looking uncertain may be due to a lack of direction or the feeling of not be included. A group of children that run about the setting may do so as the layout of the setting encourages this or the routine does not provided enough time for physical activity.
Observation can be an effective tool to evaluate the practices activities and routines. One member of staff should carry out the observation with the aim clearly in mind eg: How much interaction occurs between the child and adults in the setting. After the observation staff should meet to discuss the observation and where improvements can be made. Observing groups of child across the practice should help practitioners reflect on their practices.
A practice can only improve if a team works well together. Reviewing the practice should not be used as a tool to ´put the blame´ on any individual, but should focus on driving forward quality in the setting.
B
