Safeguarding guidance for early years settings

Staffordshire County Council in conjunction with Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) have revised the Recording of Incident documents for those working with children in the private and voluntary sector (PVI).

This guidance covers the general principles of keeping accurate and up to date records in relation to incidents involving children.

This guidance aims to assist practitioners in providing clarity over the following:

• Who records can be shared with and why
• How to effectively transfer records in relation to safeguarding
• Assist in supporting practitioners to write a clear picture of what is happening in a child’s life.

Introduction

This guidance covers the general principles of keeping accurate and up to date records in relation to incidents involving children sustained outside of the organisation to promote their safety and welfare. This guidance aims to assist practitioners in providing clarity over the following:

• who records can be shared with and why
• how to effectively transfer records in relation to safeguarding

This guidance is not a stand-alone document and should be read in conjunction with the following documents:

• Working together to safeguard children 2023, this document covers the legislative requirements and expectations on individual services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It also underpins legislation that is pertinent to a particular sector for example, early years.
• Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework- Group and school provision and Childminders.

Upon completion of an incident record form, the practitioner should then have a discussion with their designated safeguarding lead/line manager/childminder. This discussion should look to review the information gathered in relation to the incident alongside any historical information i.e., previous concerns/ incidents (recorded on Appendix 2) whilst being proportionate and balanced. Careful consideration should also be given with regards to the context of the child’s own development and capabilities alongside a good understanding of the care they are receiving at the hands of their parents/carers. If your concern does not relate to a child at significant harm, then you can discuss your concerns with ESAS.

Consider the following points: 

1. Does the explanation for the injury match the child’s developmental capability and likely behaviour? Was the child developmentally capable of causing these injuries to themselves?
2. Does this pattern of bruising match the developmental capabilities of a child of this age with these particular developmental needs?
3. For a child who is otherwise meeting developmental milestones, might a parental explanation for injuries be too readily accepted?
4. Is there a full understanding of the caregiving the child receives at home?

Appendix 1 - Incident record form

As the designated lead for safeguarding (DSL) it is important to check the Incident Record Form so that it contains sufficient detail and to ensure that it has been signed and dated by the person who has reported the concern.

Appendix 2 - Record of historical concerns and action/outcome

Recording historical concerns in relation to the welfare and safety of a child is critical as it allows you to analyse the needs of the child whilst assessing the risk, both historically and currently. It will also enable you to determine whether the risk has increased/decreased/stayed constant which when compared to the child’s development and development capacity will inform your response.

Appendix 2 is to be completed by the DSL and is a written record of your response or action(s) to every incident record form passed to you. The level of detail of this record will clearly depend on the nature and seriousness of the concern but may include:

• Requests to practitioners for monitoring specific aspects of the child’s presentation, behaviour, attendance etc.
• Discussions and telephone calls (with colleagues, parents and children/ young people and other agencies or services).
• Professional consultations.
• Letters sent and received

The outcome section is for you (the DSL) to record the outcomes of any responses or action taken e.g.

• Early Help Assessment/other early intervention
• Referral forms e.g. MARF (multi-agency referral form)
• Contact from children safeguarding advise support services SCAS– Staffordshire) or a safeguarding team social worker in response to referral.
• Strategy meeting under child protection procedures.
• Appointments e.g. for Child with Educational Psychologist.

Appendix 3 - Transferring of records

When children transfer from your organisation/setting i.e. from an early years setting to a school and records of child protection/welfare concerns exist these should be sent to the receiving setting/school without delay. This transfer should be arranged separately from the child’s main file.

A telephone discussion with the Designated Safeguarding Lead in the receiving setting/school should take place to verbally advise of the concerns and make arrangements to securely and confidentially transfer these records. Wherever possible, these must be passed directly to the DSL or another authorised person in the receiving setting/school.

If the original files are physically handed to the receiving setting/school by the sending organisation and a record of all files transferred is fully documented and signed off by both parties, as having been sent and received, then copying the documents would not be necessary.

If this is not possible, e.g. due to the new setting/school being at a considerable distance from your own, the security of the file must be considered e.g. secure courier. The organisation should copy the file and the original documents should be sent under separate cover to new setting/school whilst the child is still under 18. The copies should be shredded once confirmation is received from the receiving setting/school that all relevant documents have arrived. The sending organisation should retain a record of the confirmation and a record of when the files were shredded.