1.1
The main points of legislation that support the safeguarding of children are the Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004 and the Childcare Act 2006. The Children Act in 1989 set out principles to guide the work of local authorities and courts and also defined ‘significant harm’ and a child ‘in need’ of intervention. The Children Act 2004 provides the legal basis for children’s services set out in the Every Child Matters: Change for Children document. The Childcare Act 2006 is the first piece of legislation that is primarily concerned with Early Years and Childcare and introduces the early years foundation stage (EYFS) which supports settings in delivering high quality early education. In any childcare setting responsibility is the welfare and well-being of all the children in their care. All staff are appropriately trained and that procedures are put into practice to make sure that if any child may become at risk that you or your line manager liaises with other childcare agencies, such as health visitors, social services and Ofsted, in her role as Child Protection Liaison Officer (CPLO) .
Staff and childcare providers i.e. child-minders must be trained to recognise any signs of abuse and any concerns directed to the childcare setting will then be treated with absolute confidentiality .. Any concern is discussed with the child if they are of appropriate age and with the parents/carer, the childcare provider would then hope to get their agreement in order to make a referral to social services via carrying out a Common Assessment Framework (CAF), unless it is felt the discussion would place the child at risk of harm. If, after this discussion there are still concerns then the CPLO would make a referral to the Children’s team and carry out a CAF without the consent of the parent/carer. If a child.
1.2
All staff have a responsibility to safeguard children and young people. Today we use the word safeguarding instead of child protection. It has a