The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) makes clear what early learning and care providers must do to keep young children safe, including what they must do to ensure practitioners and other people aged 16 or over likely to have regular contact with children are suitable. Further to the EYFS, the DCSF have provided additional guidance on the actions that providers should take to safeguard and promote children’s welfare, and to ensure that they have access to all the information they need to make the right decisions about employing only suitable people to work with children. We have also provided guidance on what people who work with children should do if they are worried that a child is being harmed, whether by an employee or another adult or young person.
This guidance is available through the following links:
- The welfare requirements of the EYFS, available at http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/83954
- Ofsted forms and guidance on childcare, including details of the checks that need to take place prior to registration at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all-by/Care-and-local-services/Childcare
- 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' available at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/resources-and-practice/IG00060/ ,
- Information on safe recruitment via http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/EYFS/Welfare_requirements/Suitable_people/Ensuring_suitability/Safe_recruitment/,
- Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education, http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/staffingandprofessionaldevelopment/recruitment/ ,
- Information about 'The Protection of Children Act 1999' and PoCA list http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/familyandcommunity/childprotection/poca/
- Advice for schools on child protection procedures http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/atoz/c/childprotection/.
- Advice on what to do if a provider is worried that a child is being abused. This includes important information about the legal issues involved in sharing information. It can be found via: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/resources-and-practice/IG00182/
From October 2009 the new barred list of the Vetting and Barring Scheme comes into force. This will ensure that unsuitable people will be barred from working with children. There will be a duty on providers to refer workers they have found to be unsuitable to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) for consideration for barring in the list. ISA will begin to register new childcare employees and providers in July next year. Further information about VBS can be found at: http://www.isa-gov.org.uk.