Safeguarding procedures | Hunnypot Corner Day

Hunnypot Corner’s Safeguarding Children from Harm Policy

Policy Statement

Hunnypot Corner Day Nursery recognises its key statutory duty to safeguard children who attend its services. Everyone employed by the service has a responsibility in relation to child safeguarding. This includes staff being aware of the potential risks of abuse and raising any concerns to their line manager.

In this regard, the organisation recognises the definition of safeguarding adopted in statutory guidance:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children’s health or development
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Hunnypot Corner Day Nursery recognises the importance of good leadership in establishing a culture of safeguarding and ensuring that the appropriate policies and procedures are in place and are followed by all staff. At all times, the organisation will seek to take a child-centred approach where the needs of the child are put first.

The Aims of the Policy

The aims of this policy are to:

ensure that children in this setting feel “protected and safe” at all times
establish a positive culture of safeguarding
ensure that staff are clear about the procedures to follow where they are concerned about the safety of a child
raise awareness of individual responsibilities in identifying and reporting possible cases of abuse
provide a systematic means of monitoring, recording and reporting of concerns and cases
provide guidance on recognising and dealing with suspected child abuse
provide a framework for inter-agency communication and effective liaison
identify strategies and interventions available to support children at risk.

Guidance

Hunnypot Corner Day Nursery recognises that it must have regard to all relevant statutory and best practice guidance on child safeguarding. In this regard, staff and managers are expected to be aware of the requirements of the following guidance:

Working Together to Safeguard Children — A Guide to Inter-agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children (march 2026), HM Government
Keeping Children Safe in Education — Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges (September 2026), Department for Education
The Revised Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales (2024), HM Government
What to Do if You’re Worried a Child is Being Abused — Advice for Practitioners (March 2015), Department for Education.

Managers and practitioners should also be aware of and follow any professional guidance that applies to their roles.

Procedure

In order to safeguard children, this organisation will:

embed a positive culture and ethos where safeguarding is considered as a key part of everyday life and the service provided.
empower staff to deliver a strong, robust and proactive response to child safeguarding that reduces the risk of harm or actual harm occurring
ensure that staff are clear about procedures where they are concerned about the safety of a child
adopt child safeguarding procedures and guidelines as recommended by our local safeguarding partners
work closely with the safeguarding partners and engage fully in local strategies and processes, including those related to learning from reviews
implement appropriate procedures and audit their effectiveness
raise awareness with staff that concerns about the welfare of a child and child protection are taken seriously, with appropriate action being taken
create an environment where children are listened to and their concerns taken seriously
ensure a timely response to any safeguarding concerns
practice effective multi-agency working to help plan support around a child
share information with other agencies on a need-to-know basis
involve parents and children, except where doing so would put the child at greater risk of harm
ensure that children are protected from all forms of potential abuse, including bullying, homophobic behaviour, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination
follow safer recruitment guidance and procedures which includes the vetting of all new staff
provide effective staff management through access to supervision, support and training
review this policy at regular intervals to ensure it is updated and informs day-to-day practice.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) at this setting is Charley King. Her role is to help co-ordinate any concerns that are raised regarding the welfare of a child and to liaise with other professionals where appropriate, including the local authority safeguarding board and social care.

The designated person will:

co-ordinate action within the provision and liaise with social care and other agencies over cases of abuse and suspected abuse
act as a source of advice within the provision
ensure that staff are familiar with the provision’s policy and procedure
make child protection referrals, recording and reporting accordingly
liaise with agencies about individual cases
organise training on child protection and safeguarding children within the provision
ensure that appropriate strategies for recording and reporting incidents are kept within the provision
provide appropriate feedback to members of staff as and when necessary.
Follow a personalised DSL job description for the setting.

Leaders and Managers

At Hunnypot Corner Day Nursery, it is recognised that leaders, managers and senior practitioners have a key role in helping to set a positive culture where safeguarding is seen as a high priority and abuse in any form is not tolerated.

Staff

Staff should:

be alert to the signs of abuse as detailed in the child protection policy
report any concerns immediately, where possible to the designated person (DSL).
consult with the designated person if in any doubt as to how to proceed
make any necessary written records in an appropriate and timely way
attend appropriate training and ensure that they are updated
follow the advice given in this policy in relation to how to handle disclosures.

Partnerships with Parents

It is important that the provision has an established approach to working with parents. Parents’ and children’s need for privacy should be respected. However, the priority is the needs of the child and effective liaison is crucial for this.

It should be recognised that families from different backgrounds and cultures may have different approaches to child rearing. These differences should be acknowledged and respected provided they do not place the child at risk as defined later in this policy.

Where possible, staff should work with and share information with parents. Permission for liaison and information sharing with outside agencies should be sought unless it places the child at risk. In these cases, it is preferable to seek advice from social care or make a child protection referral and if a child is thought to be at risk this will be done without parental consent.

Informing Parents

Parents are normally the first point of contact. If a suspicion of abuse is recorded, parents are informed at the same time as the report is made, except where the guidance of the LSCB/ local authority children’s social care team/Police does not allow this. This will usually be the case where the parent or family member is the likely abuser, or where a child may be endangered by this disclosure. In these cases, the investigating officers will inform parents.

Support to Families

The nursery takes every step in its power to build up trusting and supportive relations among families, staff, students and volunteers within the nursery.

The nursery continues to welcome the child and the family whilst enquiries are being made in relation to abuse in the home situation. Parents and families will be treated with respect in a non-judgmental manner whilst any external investigations are carried out in the best interests of the child.

Confidential records kept on a child are shared with the child's parents or those who have parental responsibility for the child, only if appropriate in line with guidance of the LSCB with the proviso that the care and safety of the child is paramount. We will do all in our power to support and work with the child's family.

Guidance on Recognising Abuse

Child abuse is a term used to describe ways in which children are harmed by someone often in a position of power. It is not the responsibility of staff to decide whether child abuse is occurring but to act on any concerns and report these to the appropriate party. The health, safety and protection of a child are paramount.

Abuse might fall into the categories of:

physical
emotional
sexual
neglect.

In addition to the above, staff should also be alert to the risks of other specific safeguarding issues, including:

bullying (including cyberbullying)
children missing education
children missing from home or care
child sexual exploitation (CSE)
domestic violence
drug misuse
online abuse
fabricated or induced illness
faith abuse
female genital mutilation (FGM)
forced marriage
gangs and youth violence
gender-based violence/violence against women and girls
hate crime
“honour” based violence
radicalisation
human trafficking (County Lines)
Peer on Peer abuse
Breast ironing

Note:

This list is not fully inclusive and staff should refer to appropriate statutory guidance such Keeping Children Safe in Education (March 2026).

Staff should respond appropriately to signs and symptoms in a child which gives them cause for concern.

These include:

significant changes in children’s behaviour or appearance
frequent mood changes
deterioration in their general wellbeing
unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse
signs of neglect such as being unkempt
comments children make which give cause for concern
not wanting to go home
seductive behaviour
a child who is quiet and withdrawn
a child who gives the impression of being unloved and unhappy.

More details on how to recognise signs of abuse are included in the staff handbook.

Policy on Dealing with Suspected Abuse

All staff should refer concerns to the designated person as soon as possible. In the meantime, they should:

consider the child’s welfare as paramount
believe the child and take them seriously
remain calm and caring
reassure the child that they have done the right thing in talking to them
make notes of the conversation as soon as possible, using the child’s own words
explain what will happen next and who will be told.

Staff should not:

promise confidentiality
postpone the discussion until a different time
interpret what they have been told
probe or ask leading questions.

Where the staff member suspects that a child is being abused, they should:

immediately tell their line manager or the designated person for safeguarding and child protection about their concerns
make factual notes of what has occurred, using the child’s own words where relevant, and any action taken.

The designated person will follow the procedure below.

Where possible, they will discuss concerns with the child and their parents and obtain agreement to making a referral to children’s social care unless this discussion would put the child at increased risk of significant harm.
Seek professional advice if unsure about whether or not to talk to parents first.
When a referral is made, agree what the child and parents will be told by whom and when. Inform the recipient of the referral what information has already been discussed with the child and their parents.
If a telephone referral is made, it must be confirmed in writing within 48 hours. Children’s social care should acknowledge the written referral within one working day of receiving it, indicating the course of action chosen. If nothing has been heard back within three working days, contact children’s social care again.
Under no circumstances confront the abuser. There is a risk of forewarning the abuser and compromising any investigation or prosecution.

Confidentiality

Relevant information about the protection of children must be shared with the investigative agencies, but only on a “need to know” basis.

Staff should be careful in subsequent discussions and ensure that information is only given to the appropriate person. All staff should be kept aware of issues relating to confidentiality and the status of information they may hold.

Staffing, Volunteering and training

Our policy is to provide a secure and safe environment for all children. We only allow an adult who is employed by the nursery to care for children and who has an enhanced clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to be left alone with children. We do not allow volunteers to be alone with children or any other adult who may be present in the nursery regardless of whether or not they have a DBS clearance.

All staff will attend child protection/Safeguarding training annually via our training platform or face to face with the local authority they also receive initial Safeguarding and child protection training during their induction period. This will include the procedures for spotting signs and behaviours of abuse and abusers/potential abusers, recording and reporting concerns and creating a safe and secure environment for the children in the nursery. During induction staff will be given contact details for the LADO (local authority designated officer), the local authority children’s services team(MASH), the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and Ofsted to enable them to report any safeguarding concerns, independently, if they feel it necessary to do so. Knowledge gained through safeguarding training is monitored through ongoing questioning and quizzes during staff meetings and day to day practice.

Allegations against a member of staff, volunteer or support worker:

If an allegation is made against a member of staff, student or volunteer or any other person who lives or works on the nursery premises regardless of whether the allegation relates to the nursery premises or elsewhere, we will follow the procedure below.

The allegation should be reported to the senior manager on duty. If this person is the subject of the allegation, then this should be reported to the registered owner instead.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Ofsted and the LSCB will then be informed immediately in order for this to be investigated by the appropriate bodies promptly:

The LADO will be informed immediately for advice and guidance

A full investigation will be carried out by the appropriate professionals (LADO, Ofsted, LSCB) to determine how this will be handled

• The nursery will follow all instructions from the LADO, Ofsted, LSCB and ask all staff members to do the same and co-operate where required

• Support will be provided to all those involved in an allegation throughout the external investigation in line with LADO support and advice

• The nursery reserves the right to suspend any member of staff during an investigation

• All enquiries/external investigations/interviews will be documented and kept in a locked file for access by the relevant authorities

• Unfounded allegations will result in all rights being re-instated

• Founded allegations will be passed on to the relevant organisations including the local authority children’s social care team and where an offence is believed to have been committed, the police, and will result in the termination of employment. Ofsted will be notified immediately of this decision. The nursery will also notify the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to ensure their records are updated

• All records will be kept until the person reaches normal retirement age or for

10 years if that is longer. This will ensure accurate information is available for references and future DBS checks and avoids any unnecessary re- investigation

• The nursery retains the right to dismiss any member of staff in connection with founded allegations following an inquiry

Our nursery has a clear commitment to protecting children and promoting welfare. Should anyone believe that this policy is not being upheld, it is their duty to report the matter to the attention of the registered person at the earliest opportunity.

The Setting’s legal responsibility for safeguarding the welfare of children goes beyond pure child protection. The duty is now to ensure that safeguarding permeates all activity and functions. This policy therefore complements and supports a range of other policies.

Mobile phones

To ensure the safety of children within our care the following stipulations have been put into place regarding mobile phones smart watches and tablets:-

Mobile phones/smart watches and tablets are not to be turned on during your working hours and must be locked away in the office or in your lockers

Mobile phones/smart watches and tablets must not be used unless on a designated break and then this must be away from the children

Mobile phones/smart watches and tablets should be stored safely in staff lockers or manager’s office at all times during the hours of your working day

If any of the above points are found to be happening then the member of staff involved will face disciplinary action, which could result in dismissal.

The only time a staff member will have a phone with them around the children is if they are on a nursery outing and have the nursery mobile phone which is not a smart phone and is a basic model used for calls only. (Phones are used for emergencies only).

Cameras

Only nursery iPads are the only devices used to take photos of the children, no personal cameras are allowed to be used. Photos are taken of the children on trips out but the iPads are returned back to nursery and do not go home with any staff members. All photos are printed on nursery premises and used accordingly. Once the photos are finished with they are either sent home with the child or shredded and deleted from the iPads. We receive prior permission from the parents to take photos of all the children. At the end of each day all the iPads are locked in the office.

Parents are asked not to take photos of the children when helping out on trips. For special occasions and parent parties we ask for parent permission for photos to be taken, if any parents do not wish this to happen no parents are allowed to take any photos.

No photos are to be put on any social networking sites, Hunnypot Corner does not have any active social media pages that are used to post pictures or videos this is only done on the famly app.

DSL: Charley King 07854622571, Becky Leaney 07794991212

LADO: lado@havering.gov.uk or 01708431653

MASH: 01708433222. Out of hours: 01708433999

If you feel a child is in immediate risk and you are unable to contact any of the above the police should be called immediately.