Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility

As a Nursery we take all necessary steps to keep children safe and well, we refer to this as ‘safeguarding’.

At Happy Corner, safeguarding is the responsibility of all those who come into contact with the children. We hold polices to ensure that our setting follows the safeguarding requirements  set by Ofsted and the Statutory framework. These state that early years providers will;

  • Recognise positions of trust; A person in a position of trust refers to anyone who carries out work( paid or unpaid) and who has access to children or to confidential information about  children
  • Protect children from harm; It is the practice of Happy Corner to make referrals to outside organisations if there are any concerns regarding a child’s welfare.
  • Maintain confidentiality; All suspicions and investigations are kept confidential and are only shared with those who need to know.
  • Follow safer recruitment procedures; The Nursery checks the suitability of all adults who have  contact with children.
  • Promote good health; We use snack time and lunch time to help children make healthy  food  choices. Happy corner follows the ‘Start well programme’ of promoting and enjoying a healthy lifestyle

Child Protection

As Early Years practitioners, staff at Happy Corner have a duty of care to keep children safe from abuse. This applies to paid staff, volunteers and students.

Happy Corner Nursery identify that all staff and volunteers are fit to be in contact with children and ensure they know what to do when they have concerns about a child

Nurseries are required to have a designated member of staff, who will take the lead on any child protection issue. These are referred to as  ‘Designated Senior Leads’ (or DSL’s)  

When recruiting new staff we follow necessary steps to ensure all candidates are suitable to work with children. During interview, the applicant will be required to discuss personal                    background including any criminal convictions they may have.

All members of staff / volunteers and students will secure an enhanced certificte from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formally CRB) before a post is offered and basic child protection training will be provided and all staff/ volunteers and will be made aware of potential circumstances of child abuse and neglect.

Second-hand Smoke around Children

Dangers to children of second hand tobacco, cannabis & vaping smoke.

Evidence shows that when you are around someone who is smoking  either tobacco, cannabis or vaping, the smoke gets into your system.  How much of it gets in depends on:

  • How close the person is.                                                            
  • How many people are smoking and how much.
  • How long you spend near them . 
  • How much ventilation there is in the space

The advice we give to parents who smoke is, even if your child isn’t around, don’t smoke somewhere they will be. Such as your home or your car. Smoke lingers, when we make choices that have risks, it’s not fair to impose those risks on other people — especially children, and especially when they could literally be harmed for the rest of their lives.

But research is clear that cannabinoids can be very serious to children, the chemicals that cause the “high,” get into their bodies even when they are exposed to inhaling second hand marijuana smoke, there is the additional concern about long-term effects on the brain.

There is evidence to suggest that when children whose brains are still developing are exposed to marijuana, it may have permanent effects on executive function, memory, and even IQ.

This is not what we want for our children and nursery take this matter very seriously. We have a duty of care to children and a legal requirement to report any parent we suspect has been using or is under the influence of any substance to local authorities.