The Importance of Safeguarding Children

The importance of safeguarding children and young people All adults, and in particular those who work with children, have a responsibility to safeguard children and young people from harm. We need to recognise that we have a duty to ensure arrangements are in place for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in our care. We need to carry out this duty through our teaching and learning, pastoral care and extended school activities.

All members of the school community, including volunteers and governors, should at all times establish and maintain a safe and stimulating environment, an environment where children feel secure, where children are encouraged to talk to adults they can trust and where children are listened to.

Having safeguarding measures in place not only protects the children in our care but also it enhances the confidence of trustees, staff, volunteers, parents/carers and the general public. Through training, all staff should be able to recognise the signs of abuse and understand their responsibilities when a child may be at risk of harm.

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Schools will need to consider and include in their policies: ·Children's physical safety and security on the premises and on off-site visits, ·Children's safety when in the home environment, ·e-safety and security when using the internet, ·Staff awareness and training, ·Monitoring and record keeping, ·Partnership and involvement with other agencies. What is meant by partnership working? All children in schools are closely monitored, including attendance, and where extra concerns arise these are passed on to the appropriate agencies.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children depends on effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise. It is important that they communicate and work in partnership to ensure the safety and protection of children. Different organisations involved in safeguarding are: Social services will be concerned with the immediate care of a child and in ensuring that they are safe from harm. To do this, they must work in partnership with parents and other agencies. The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was founded in 1884.

It is a charity which works to protect children from harm. It is the only charity which has a statutory power to take action where there are cases of child abuse. The charity run a wide range of services for both children and adults, including national helplines and local projects. Health visitors and GPs may be involved in order to examine children to determine whether any injuries which may have been sustained are accidental. They will also, always, be alert during the course of their practice to any injuries which they may suspect are signs of abuse and inform other agencies as appropriate.

The police and probation service - The police work in partnership with agencies in order to ensure that children are free from harm. All police forces have a Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) which have been set up in order to gather information and to determine whether the police should begin a criminal investigation. They ensure the training needs of officers and staff are met through the National Policing Improvement Agency programme for Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Children and other relevant national and local training initiatives.

The psychology service was set up in 1990 in the aftermath of the 1989 Children Act. The service may be called in to carry out an assessment of a child in cases of harm or abuse. They will make recommendations and suggest a course of action appropriate to the child's needs. The service applies current psychological theory and practice to enhance the learning, development and wellbeing of all children and young people.