Work matters: Management: Safeguarding Children and Families: Part 1 - Develop policy and practice

Nursery managers and their staff are in a very special position when it comes to parent-child relationships. They can help to nurture the growth of love between parents and their children, assisting parents in really enjoying their 'unique' child and promoting good-quality attachment.

Recognising that parents have what the Assessment Framework 2000 refers to as 'emotional warmth' with their child has a lot to do with safeguarding.

An emotionally warm relationship between parent and child will be recognised in day-to-day interactions. As observant managers, we should notice:

- The parent and child being pleased to see each other at the end of the day

- The parent being warm towards their child, giving cuddles, having conversations

- The parent who is 'in tune' with their child, what comforts them, what frightens them, what interests them, what they like to eat and play, with the child actively seeking reassurance from their parent.

When children are emotionally attached, they feel secure and safe, confident to go off and explore. But without a reliable person to attach to, children might seem unsure, demanding in their behaviour or withdrawn. These are also mostly the children who come across as needy and may be at risk of harm.

The role for the manager then is to develop a staff team which is sensitive to both the child and their parent's needs, observant and able to act on their responsibilities across the entire safeguarding spectrum. That is, from the early intervention stage - perhaps helping to support a mother suffering post-natal depression to receive assistance from her health visitor, to a more targeted level of support for a child with additional needs, right through to the child protection level of need, such as a child who has been emotionally and physically neglected by a parent with mental health needs and a dependence on alcohol.

The manager is responsible for ensuring that there is a clear philosophy for the setting that reflects the values, beliefs and principles of high-quality child care. This would naturally include the setting's commitment to having children and parents at the heart of everything it does, a clear Safeguarding Children policy, and a Code of Practice to guide staff conduct.

At each stage of the staff member's 'journey' with the setting, safeguarding children needs to be clearly on the agenda. At interview and recruitment stage, for example, specific questions should be designed to 'test' an applicant's knowledge and experience, including what they would do if they noticed a member of staff neglecting or harming a child. Equally, upon the practitioner's arrival at their new setting, a thorough induction should be provided according to the Children's Workforce Development Council's Induction Standards.

This would include clear reference to the Safeguarding Children policy, the procedure to use when an allegation is made against a member of staff. This includes the practitioner's role and responsibilities in all safeguarding matters, along with the name of the lead person for safeguarding within the setting.

As a matter of good practice, all staff should be issued with their own copy of the 'What to Do if You're Worried a Child is Being Abused 2007' summary guidance and a copy of the Information-Sharing pocket guide 2008. Within the first six months of employment with the setting, stsaff should also receive a formal training opportunity to fully understand how their role links to those in the wider professional network within their area, including Children's Social Care and the police child abuse investigation team.

Safeguarding Children training must focus on the practitioners' responsibility to identify and act on 'signals or clues' to a range of needs in both children and their parents. It is essential that this is recognised, as these fundamental principles were identified as key failings across the majority of child death inquiries, including the recent case of 'Baby P'.

Courses for early years practitioners should include the importance of working with a wider network of Children's Service professionals across the entire safeguarding spectrum, including where a Common Assessment (CAF) is being initiated.

Addressing any concerns

The lead person for safeguarding children within the setting has a pivotal role to play in providing an overview of the whole team's understanding of safeguarding on a day-to-day level. For this reason it is vital that this person is very well informed themselves, is confident in their professional role and has excellent communication skills to enact the role professionally. It is essential that this person has sufficient seniority to influence change within the setting.

As the Early Years Foundation Stage makes clear, the lead person holds the primary responsibility (like lead and designated persons in all professional services) for:

- guiding and developing safeguarding children practice within the setting, assessing both individual and whole-team knowledge and skill, including how this is translated into practice

- assisting practitioners in talking with parents about safeguarding concerns from an early stage (if possible) and making the decision to move these discussions towards formal assessment (CAF) or referral to Children's Social Care (child protection), as appropriate

- establishing and maintaining communication with the wider professional network of Children's Services practitioners and ensuring that support and assistance to children and their parents is both suitable and effective

- taking an objective overview on both setting and external professional practice, and noting where relationships with the child and parent may have become 'over-familiar' or 'blurred' professional boundaries, including where there appears to be an 'over-optimism' as to how work is progressing with the family, as was the case with Baby P

- confidently challenging poor or ineffective practice within the setting and beyond, including escalating these concerns through the appropriate management systems.

I believe that the public response to news coverage of Baby P's death provides a golden opportunity for talking openly with parents about our safeguarding role. This is an era for transparency, a chance for us to honestly 'own' our professional knowledge and to share this with parents.

Further information

Catherine Rushforth is director of Catherine Rushforth & Associates, Training and Consultancy, which runs a number of workshops addressing issues to do with safeguarding, particularly with parents as the focus. E-mail: Catherine.rushforth@ntlworld.com

'What To Do If You're Worried a Child Is Being Abused 2007' is available at www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare. For the CAF see www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/delivering services/caf

Part 2 will be published on 26 March.