Explain How The Policies And Procedures For Safe Working

here are a variety of different policies and procedures for safe working.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, it is the responsibility of everyone in the school to ensure that safety is maintained and in particular that vulnerable children are safeguarded. Standards for safety are also set by the government department in each country responsible for education and are monitored by the body responsible for school inspections, for example, Ofsted in England and HMIE (Her Majestyâ€TMs Inspectorate of Education) in Scotland.
Children should be encouraged to think about safety in the learning environment so that they start to develop their own awareness. Every school has health and safety policies as well as safeguarding policies, which will set out the procedures which staff should follow. It is likely the safeguarding policy will have guidelines on how to work with children in ways
which protects both them and staff. This is incredibly important as it helps the school to inform staff how they should best protect themselves against incidents of alleged abuse or inappropriate working practice.
There are several ways of ensuring safe working, subtitled below:
Physical contact
When working in primary school with younger aged children, in some situations it may be appropriate to put an arm around a child when working, however, in secondary schools this would not be so acceptable. In certain situations, for example, working with an SEN child, where physical contact cannot be avoided to attend to their personal care. School policies must be followed at all times in situations like this.
Sharing concerns/recording and reporting
If ever there is a concern about a safeguarding issue, due to something a child has said or done, it is increasingly important to always share these concerns and make a record of exactly what has been said. This will ensure protection for yourself in case a child says that they have told you or that you knew previously. Managers should also be informed for any concerns regarding poor practice from other members of staff.
Propriety and behaviour
When working with children it is imperative to always act in a professional way at all times and make sure that children and young people understand what is expected of them. Setting an example through behaviour and interactions with others, as an adult in school is very important as we are role models for students within school.
Duty of care
Staff at schools are in a position of trust. Always listening to children and reassuring them about issues they may have is members of staffâ€TMs duty of care and should always act in a way to ensure the students safety.
Working in an open way
Working practice within schools should always be to work in an open way. This means to ensure that you are not left alone with pupils if at all possible. Try to keep doors open and ensure that there are other people around, being clear about why you are acting in a particular way and keeping other staff informed about any concerns.
Question: Question 3c
Answer: All staff that work in schools should be aware of the way in which suspected poor practice, concerns or any illegality can be reported. Anyone who reports a concern can do this confidentially, feel no threat of discrimination or victimisation and with no concern for any repercussions towards the individual who reported the incident or those whose practice is being questioned; this is known as whistle blowing. Question: Question 3d
Answer: In every school there has to be a clear health and safety policy. Any member of staff working within school needs to know where to access this document to refer to it when necessary. Although each school will have a slightly different policy, each will need to outline its purpose and aims, including the responsibilities of staff
Question: Question 4a
Answer: As an adult working with children, there has to be an understanding of the different signs that may indicate that a child is being abused. Ensuring a childâ€TMs safety whilst in your care, looking for signs that they are being mistreated whilst outside of school is important too, this could be both physical and behavioural changes.
There are four main types of abuse which are as follows:
Physical abuse
This being physically hurt or injured, injuries may come from children being hit, punched, shaken, kicked or beaten. Physical abuse can often be obvious, if injuries become more frequent, take action. Less obvious signs may include near of physical contact with others, reluctance to get changed for PE, wanting to stay covered up – even in hot weather and aggression. Be careful and aware that some injuries can be caused by genuine accident.
Emotional abuse
This involved a child being continually †̃put downâ€TM, criticised, bullied, discriminated and racism agains them, humiliation, name-calling and not given love or approval at a time when they need it most.
It can also take place on social networking sites. The signs are that a child is withdrawn, lacking in confidence, low self-esteem, shows regression or is †̃clingyâ€TM towards adults. Children may be anxious about new situations, show extremes of behaviour or appear distracted and unable to concentrate.
Sexual abuse
This involves and adult or young person using a child sexually. This may be by touching their bodies inappropriately, forcing them to look at sexual images or have sex. Signs of this within a child may include sexual behaviour, inappropriate to the childâ€TMs age, genital irritation, clinginess or changes in behaviour, regression and lack of trust of adults. It is a very difficult form of abuse to identify and its signs can be caused by other forms of abuse, therefore it is important that any signs are seen as possible rather than probable
indicators.
Neglect
This means a child is not being properly cared for and not having its basic needs for example, shelter, food, love, general hygiene and medical care by the childâ€TMs parents or carers. Signs may include being dirty, hungry, seeking attention and generally failing to thrive.
Question: Question 4b
Answer: Teaching assistants are in a good position to notice changes in a pupilâ€TMs behaviour which may be a possible sign of abuse. A child or young person may confide in a teaching assistant or allege that abuse has taken place. If this happens, a teaching assistant should record and report this to the relevant person within school which may be the class teacher or schoolâ€TMs Child Protection or Safeguarding Officer. This may then need to be followed up by one of these professionals by following the safeguarding policy and, if necessary, local authority guidelines.
Question: Question 4c
Answer: If the situation occurs where harm or abuse is suspected or alleged, it is important to remember that all individuals involved need to be treated with respect and have their own rights. In any case of harm or abuse to a child, all parties have a right to be investigated through the relevant channels and the outcome to be documented accordingly. All involved are also subjected to confidentiality and have the right to this; any investigation should be reminded of this too.
Question: Question 5a
Answer: Children and young people may be victims of different types of bullying. There are a number of ways in which bullies can target children and the increasing use of cyber-bullying is rising by the day and of particular concern as this type of bullying is †̃invisibleâ€TM. Bullying can be in a physical form, verbally, emotional, cyber-bullying on social networking sites or specific bullying which can relate to all of the others stated.