Dear
Parents and Carers,
Parent’s
Evening
Parents
evening is next Thursday (8th September).
Pop
in anytime between 6.30-8.30, to chat to your child’s key person.
The
Pre-School team will be completing a ‘Going to School’ presentation at 6.30pm
to let you know what we do in the Pre-School to get your child ready and
excited for school.
You
can also have a look at the next room if your child is due to move up and have
the chance to talk to other parents.
Hope
to see you all there!
Grandparent’s
week
We
are celebrating our Grandparents next week.
We
are having Grandparents stay and play sessions which all Grandparents are
invited to!
Please
ask and pass the information on to all grandparents.
There
will be a sign up sheet for anyone interested. Please talk to the staff in your
room.
Sunflowers
Summer Picnic
Sunflowers
will be having a summer picnic tea in our garden on next Wednesday (7th
September 3.45pm-5.00pm). Parents, Carers and Grandparents are all invited. If
your child is not in on that day please come along with them J
Lost item
Sunflowers
are missing a white flowery pair of sunglasses that have a daisy on. Please can
you all keep a look out for it just in case it has
been taken home by mistake! Thank you.
Policies
The
policies have been reviewed and updated and it would be great to get some
feedback from some of our parents.
You
don’t need to read them all if you don’t want to, just pick the few that
interest you the most and let us know what you think.
If
you would be happy to help, let me know and I will email you a copy.
Interactive
Learning Diary
Don’t
forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their
ILD profile.
We
aim to put at least one observation up per week.
Policy
of the week
We will be displaying a different policy every week
at the bottom of this newsletter.
If you would like to see this or any of our
policies please ask Jess or Charlotte.
Our Policy of the Week: Child protection policy
Useful
websites:
Here are the links for the Surrey
Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding), Free
Early Education for Two year olds and Early Years
Pupil Premium funding.
Menus
There are no planned changes to this week’s menu.
See attached document for the weekly menu.
If you would like to see a copy of our allergens
menu at any time please ask!
This week’s activities
Each key person will be responsible for designing
an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are
in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.
If the key person is on holiday or off, another
staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the
children do not miss out.
For more information on the Early Years Foundation
stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, please visit:
This week’s planned activities are also on the ILD’S.
Buttercups
Topic of the month: Under the sea
Monday – Charlotte’s group are exploring marks and
patterns while making marks with paint sticks
Tuesday – Charlotte’s group will be developing an
awareness of sounds while creating music on a variety of different surfaces
Wednesday – Shula’s group are discovering the under
the sea display, counting and sticking the fish on building their number words
Thursday – Shula’s group is choosing their own
snacks from a selection of fruit to encourage the children to try new flavours
and textures
Friday – Mel’s group will be investigating the cosy
fabrics and cushions while playing Peek - A - Boo in the tent promoting an
interest in relationships
Charlotte is off Wednesday, Mel is off Monday –
Wednesday and Shula and Nilem are in all week.
Bluebells
Topic of the month: Family
Monday – Donna’s group will be looking at their
family board encouraging the children to find and talk about their family
photos/members
Tuesday – Donna’s group are using the linking
elephants to promote sorting and counting skills
Wednesday – Megan’s group will be using utensils
while creating ham and cheese pockets supporting hand control and movements
Thursday – Megan’s group are building their
knowledge of people who help them while reading stories and creating pictures
of fireman, policeman and doctors
Friday – Chloe’s group will be experimenting with
colours while creating pictures using paper, paint, cars and a slide promoting
an interest in media and materials
Donna is off Friday, Megan is off Monday, Almu is
in all week and Chloe is on holiday all week.
Sunflowers
The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused
activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it.
This will work alongside their weekly planned
activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.
This week’s activity is: Taking part in sports
activities in the garden
During this week’s activity the children will be
talking about the Paralympics for their topic of the month. The children will
then take part in different physical activities in the garden with their friends.
The children will then talk about how they feel after taking part in the
activity.
Topic of the month: Paralympics
The letter of the week is: P
The children will be:
Writing the letter P with stencils
Talking about the Paralympics
Thinking of words that begin with P
Taking part in painting activities
Writing with pens
Creating paper planes
The Number of the week is: 20
The children will be:
Number puzzle up to 20
Jumping 20 times
Writing the number 20
Singing up to 20
The shape of the week is: Star
The children will be:
Looking for stars around the room
Talking about the star shape
Singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’
Making a star shape with our hands
Talking about when and where we see stars
Leanne is off Monday, Hector is off Thursday and Becci
is in all week.
Child protection policy
Aim of policy
To protect the welfare of
every child in our care. All staff have a responsibility to do this, as stated
in their job descriptions.
We aim to comply with the
local child protection procedures and make sure that all adults working with,
and looking after children are able to put these procedures into practice.
Points to consider
The following policies
should be used alongside the Child Protection policy to form a full
safeguarding procedure:
- Confidentiality policy
- Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
- Local Authority Designated Officer LADO
- What to do if you are worried about a child?
- What to do if a child discloses abuse?
- What will happen if you are accused of abuse?
- Suspected abuse by an Early Years Worker
- Whistle blowing
- Disclosing information
- Safeguarding training
- Suitable people and safer recruitment
- Social Networking
- Bruising on not independently mobile children
- Physical intervention policy
- The Prevent Duty
- Common Assessment Framework CAF
- Anti-bullying policy
- Lost/missing child policy
- Late/non collection of child
- Arrival and departure procedure
- Non-attendance policy
- Intoxicated persons policy
- Mobile phone policy
- Using tablets/IPads in the setting or club
- Using images policy
- Multi agency working and information sharing policy
- Data Protection policy
If we have a concern about
a child we will share these concerns with parents/carers. However, if sharing
these concerns puts the child at risk of significant or further harm we will
seek advice from the local authority team and the police depending on the
circumstances.
For best practice
practitioners are asked not to use the word “secret” as we do not want the
children to keep secrets from us or their families. Instead practitioners are
advised to use the word surprise.
Child Protection/ Safeguarding
When starting at the
setting or club we record the following information for each child:
- Child’s name
- Child’s address/es
- Gender
- Date of birth
- People with parental responsibility
- Legal contacts
- Who the child normally lives with
- Any other setting the child attends
- If a Common Assessment Framework CAF, or Early Help Assessment has ever been done on the child.
The Manager is responsible
for ensuring this information is updated annually.
Information relating to
individual children with regards to child protection concerns or cases will be
kept in a secure location with access limited to those deemed suitable.
Child protection is an
extremely sensitive and complex area.
However, during the course of their work, staff may be concerned about a
child’s welfare. All agencies that work
with children have a duty and responsibility to report and assist in child
protection investigations.
Identification of child
abuse is difficult and will normally be a combination of both social and
medical assessment. No list of signs or
symptoms can be exhaustive. The
following are for guidance only. It must
be remembered that alternative medical or social explanations may exist for the
problems listed here.
However, if anyone has a
concern about a child, they must report it, so a referral can be made. See the
flow chart on page 15 as to who you should report to.
It would be normal to look
for evidence of abuse in 2 categories:
- Physical signs
- Behavioural symptoms
Signs and symptoms
Significant harm can be the
result of:
1. Neglect
2. Physical abuse
3. Sexual abuse
4. Emotional abuse
5. Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
6. Female Genital mutilation (FGM)
7. Domestic violence and abuse
1. Neglect
Neglect results from
failure to meet basic needs of the child.
This may include failure to provide food, warmth, clothing or consistent
caring.
Signs and symptoms may
include:
• Inappropriate or inadequate clothing
• Poor hygiene
• Developmental delay, poor speech and play skills
• A child whose parents persistently fail to seek or follow medical
advice
• Some cases of failure to thrive have a basis of neglect
• A child whose parents persistently fail to ensure the
child’s safety
2. Physical abuse
Most injuries to children
are accidental and can be explained.
Factors associated with
injuries, which may arouse suspicion that they are not accidental, may include:
• Where the explanation is not consistent with the injury or
with the stage of development of the child
• Where there are changes of explanation or no explanation
• Where there is a history of frequently repeated injury
• Where there has been considerable delay in seeking medical
advice
• Where there are bruises of different ages on the child at
any one time, other than on the common sites of accidental injury in a child of
that age (e.g. on shins and forehead)
• Where there is facial bruising, other than over the bony
prominences, particularly around the mouth, eyes or ears
• Where there are unexplained burns, bite marks, severe
bruising or any combination of these
• Where there are bruises on the buttocks or thighs
• Any bruising in a baby not yet mobile, reluctance to move
limbs or tenderness on handling
3. Sexual abuse
While there are many signs
associated with sexual abuse, many of these are also associated with other
problems. It is rare for sexual abuse to
be recognised by one symptom rather it is a matter of developing a full picture
of the child. A child who is or has been
sexually abused does not always display behavioural disturbance.
Factors that may arouse
suspicion of sexual abuse may include:
• Over sexualised behaviour
• Sexual awareness and knowledge in advance of developmental
age
• Withdrawn behaviour
• Drawings or play activity which are explicitly sexual
• Compulsive masturbation
• Wetting and soiling (once toilet trained)
• Recurrent urinary tract infections
• Sexually transmitted disease
• Genital or anal inflammation or irritation
• Genital or anal bleeding or lacerations
• Change in behaviour
• Anxiety during nappy or toileting times
4. Emotional abuse
There is an element of
emotional abuse in all forms of abuse, but some children may be very well
physically cared for whilst being emotionally abused. An emotionally abused child may be subjected
to constant criticism and scapegoating.
There may on the one hand be continuous withholding of approval and
affection, accompanied by severe discipline, or on the other hand a total lack
of appropriate control. Alternatively a
child may be exploited to fulfil the parents’ emotional needs.
The child may:
- Have an impaired ability for enjoyment and play
- Lack curiosity and natural exploratory behaviour
- Be delayed in language development and play skills
- Have low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness
- Show eating disturbances or growth failure
5. Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse in which a
young person is manipulated, or forced, into taking part in a sexual act. This
could be part of a seemingly consensual relationship or in return for
attention, affection, money, drugs, alcohol or somewhere to stay.
Signs which may suggest sexual abuse:
- Pain, bruising or bleeding in the genital area
- Vaginal discharge or infection
- Stomach pains
- Changes in behaviour
- Fear of being left with a specific person or group of people
- Sexual knowledge beyond their developmental level
- Sexual drawings or language
- Eating problems
- Self-harm
- Acting in a sexually explicit way towards adults
6. Female genital mutilation (FGM)
FGM ‘includes all procedures which involve partial or total
removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital
organs for non-medical reasons whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic
reasons’ (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, 1997).
FGM constitutes child abuse and causes physical, psychological
and sexual harm which can be severely disabling.
In the
case of suspected FGM providers must not contact parents before seeking advice
from the local authority
Signs which may suggest FGM
- A child may talk about a special procedure or ceremony that is going to take place
- Prolonged absence from the setting
- Change in behaviour on return
- Damage to the genital area and/or adjacent tissues
- Pain or difficulty in sitting
- Bleeding or infection
- Urine retention
- Fracture or dislocation as a result of restraint
- Psychological damage, including depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction
- More information
7. Domestic violence and abuse
The cross-government definition of domestic violence and
abuse is ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive,
threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are,
or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.
The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to:
- psychological
- physical
- sexual
- financial
- emotional
Signs which may suggest children are exposed to domestic
abuse:
- Aggressive behaviour
- Displaying anti-social behaviour
- Acting out their experiences
- Suffering from depression or anxiety
- Not achieving potential - due to difficulties at home or disruption of moving to and from refuges.
Indicators of abuse
It is vital that staff are aware of the range of physical
and behavioural indicators of abuse and report any concerns to the safeguarding
and child protection designated person. It is the responsibility of the
childcare setting to report concerns, but that it is not their responsibility
to investigate or decide whether a child has been abused.
Indicators could take a number of forms, and individual
indicators will rarely, in isolation, provide conclusive evidence of abuse.
They will be viewed as part of the picture, and each small piece of information
will help the safeguarding and child protection designated person decide how to
proceed. The setting does not need absolute proof that the child is at risk to
act.
Children who may be particularly vulnerable to abuse
All children should receive equal protection, so providers
should be particularly aware of children in the following circumstances who may
be particularly vulnerable.
- Looked after
- Disabled or have special educational needs
- Living in a known domestic abuse situation
- Affected by known parental substance misuse
- Asylum seekers
- Living in temporary accommodation or living transient lifestyles
- Living in chaotic, neglectful and unsupportive home situations
- Vulnerable to discrimination and maltreatment on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion or sexuality
- Do not have English as a first language
- Having a parent with enduring or untreated mental health problems.
If you suspect
abuse you must follow the relevant policies and flow chart on page 14
Kind Regards
Jess, Charlotte and the South Hill Team
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