What are the key principles of safeguarding?
Several key principles underpin safeguarding to ensure the welfare and happiness of children, mainly:
- A child's needs should be put first — always
- It's important to help and support children as early as possible before issues escalate and become more >damaging
- Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility and everyone at a setting should act in a timely and coordinated manner to respond to any concerns about the welfare of a child
- The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the foundation of safeguarding measures for early years providers to follow
They are based on four overarching principles, including:
- Children learn and develop best in an enabling environment.
- Children are unique, learn constantly and can become resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Children learn and develop best in different ways and at different rates
- Children learn strength and independence from positive relationships.
Safeguarding at Bright Start
We take safeguarding very seriously and have policies and procedures in place to ensure children are kept as safe as possible in our care.
Regular training is provided to staff to ensure that knowledge is kept up to date and relevant:
- Paediatric First Aid (renewed every 3 years)
- Safeguarding Training (renewed every year)
- Food Hygiene (renewed every 2 years)
Mandatory Background Checks on Staff
- All staff are verified by the Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service
- All staff are on the update service to ensure our records are kept up to date
- Sufficient references are obtained prior to staff starting with us
- We also have Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL's) who are the first point of contact regarding safeguarding concerns.
