Designated Child Protection Officer

Designated Child Protection Officer

 

Every Nursery must have a staff member who takes on the role of Designated Child Protection Officer, DCPO.

 

In this nursery that person is Caroline Laidlaw

 

Each setting also has a deputy Designated Child Protection Officer DDCPO in case the DCPO is accused of abuse or is absent.

 

The Deputy Designated Child Protection Officer, DDCPO, in this nursery is

Charlotte Hampshire

 

The role of the DCPO/ DDCPO is:

·         to attend the more detailed multi agency training to enable them to identify, understand and respond appropriately to signs of possible abuse and neglect.

·         To share information with the staff team

·         To access information and liaise with outside agencies to ensure all information is accurate and up to date.

·         Collate information where there are concerns about a child.

·         Contact Surrey Safeguarding Children Board teams who provide relevant and up to date advice and make decisions about referrals.

·         To provide support, advice and guidance to other staff.

·         To have regard to the Government’s statutory guidance “Working Together to Safeguard Children”

 

Nursery records such as accident and incident records should be checked once a month to ensure that any patterns, health and safety issues or child protection issues are picked up.

The person/s in this setting who monitors this information is

 

Caroline Laidlaw

 

Out of operational hours we still have a duty of care to the children. The senior team are aware of their responsibilities and the need to be contactable.