Safeguarding Children And Young People

Safeguarding means protecting and promoting the child’s welfare and putting measure in place to prevent abuse. Child protection is protecting a child where there is reason to believe that the child has suffered or are likely to suffer as a result of abuse.

It is important to safeguard children and young people because no one deserves to be abused whether it be emotional, physical, sexual abuse and no young person deserves to be neglected and we have a duty to protect them from harm.

There are many policies and procedures within the UK that outline the current legislation and guidelines to help with safeguarding children and young people.

Safeguarding is about keeping children safe from harm and abuse. It means proactively seeking to involve the whole community in keeping children safe and promoting their welfare.

Safeguarding involves everything a setting does, including their procedures and policies etc, to ensure children are kept safe and healthy, and that the risk of them coming to harm or being involved in an accident, is minimised.

- carry out medical examinations/observations of a child thought to be at risk of abuse.

1.3 Analyse how national and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding affect day-to-day work with children and young people

Today we use the term safeguarding instead of child protection because it covers a much broader range. These changes were influenced by the first Joint Chief Inspectors’ safeguarding report 2002 and formalised in the Every Child Matters legislation outlined in the Children Act 2004. By safeguarding a child or young person we ensure they get the very best of the opportunities available to them for them to achieve the best of their potential while keeping them safe from bullying, crime, accidents, neglect and abuse.

Develop and implement policies and procedures to support the safeguarding of children and young people.

National and local guidelines, policies, and procedures determine the nature of relationship and interaction with children and young people. The policies decide on the rights and privileges of children and young people in the society thus outlining how this group should relate to the entire community. National and local guidelines, policies, and procedures for safeguarding determine practice, planning, and organization of all activities in relation to children and young people. The policies ensure that the procedures for protection of children and young people are clear to all in the daily interactions. The policies enlighten the entire society on how to spot child abuse, violence, and exploitation. The policies also have the essence of creating positive and safe environment for the development of children and young people. Policies also

The main current legislation guidelines policies and procedures within own UK home nation for safeguarding children and young people.

The UK Government has defined the term ‘safeguarding children’ as: ‘The process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.’

Decision made by an agency with Statutory Child Protection Powers (Police, LA or NSPCC) that emergency action may be necessary to safeguard child

Whilst having a duty of care it is important to find the right balance between children’s rights and parent’s/carer’s responsibilities. Sometimes children’s rights may outweigh the risk. As a childminder I am there to support all children on their journey of learning and experience.

Working together to safeguard children 2006 sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children’s Act 1989 and the Children’s Act 2004. It is important that all practitioners within settings and environments looking and caring after children and young people must know their responsibilities and duties in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people, following their legislations, policies and procedures.