2.2/1.1 Identify the Current Legislation, Guidelines, Policies and Procedures for Safeguarding the Welfare of Children and Young People, Including E-Safety.

Under the Children Act 2004 a wide range of organisations and individuals working with families have statutory duties to ensure the welfare and protection of children:

The focus of this report is to demonstrate how multi-agency teams show best practices in safeguarding children’s rights. This report will look at the history of safeguarding and how safeguarding incidents have changed government legislation. This report will include how safeguarding policy contributes to the development of children in the Early Years and will reflect on how the multi-agency team promotes best practice. In addition this report will look at the meaning of safeguarding, looking at the signs/symptoms and types of abuse. Research into this report will look at the barriers multi-agency teams and practitioners are faced with

To be able to understand what ‘safeguarding’ means you must first understand what ‘child protection’ is.

The Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) guidance highlights that the need to all share in the responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Voluntary and community sector organisations are often the ones who work very closely with families and may be the most important service to a child and their family but this might not always be known to other agencies needing to support families. Many organisations have its own mission or values

'Working together to safeguard children ' 2013 defined safeguarding as protecting “children form maltreatment, preventing impairment of children 's health and development, ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision and effective care and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.” Having safeguards in place not only protects and promotes the welfare of children but also it enhances the confidence of staff, volunteers, parents/carers and the general public in the schools and other organisations working with children.

An outline of current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare covers a number of different responsibilities including protecting children from abuse, preventing damage of children’s health or development, making sure that children are growing up in an environment that is safe and effective and allowing children to reach their full potential and to enter adulthood successfully. Having that high understanding of safeguarding is essential because it enables all the practitioners to protect children from harm.

Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare covers a number of different responsibilities. The Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) document clearly outlines inter-agency working to ensure children are best protected within the policy of safeguarding.

All children have the right to feel safe and be free from harm and abuse. With this in mind there are guidelines and legislation which have been put in place which relate to the safeguarding of children and young people. The Children Act of 1989 and the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child also of 1989 were significant pieces of legislation and guidelines which were introduced nearly 30 years ago. However, it is only over the last 10-15 years where there has been a significant increase in legislation and guidelines which have been introduced to recognise the rights of children as individuals, protect vulnerable children and ensure that multi-agency teams work together. Tragically a lot of these have been introduced since there were a number of high profile cases of serious child neglect leading to the tragic and horrific deaths of children.

Safeguarding is much more than just protecting children from direct abuse. The staying safe action plan recognises a number of important aspects in the wider

• Children right’s to be protected • Express there views and to be listened to • Right care and series for disabled children All practitioners working to safeguard children understand their full responsibility. Safe Guarding Safeguarding is the action taken to promote welfare to children prevent them from harm,protecting from abuse and preventing harm to children health and development as they grow up with the right care.

The United Nations have set 54 articles which explain the rights and freedom that all children should have. For example:

Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (March 2010) makes it clear that the responsibility for safeguarding children/young people is a shared responsibility. The guide makes the point that effective information sharing underpins integrated working and is a vital element of both early intervention and safeguarding. It set out how “organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard children and local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) were established through local authorities.”

Some of the policies and procedures that the school may follow are: Working together to Safeguard children 2010, this policy gives the guidance to help set out the responsibilities and duties of the organisations and authorities and how they must work together to help safeguard children and young people.

According to the working together to safeguard children 2010 ‘child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children’ this refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or likely to suffer from significant harm. Significant harm includes physical, sexual, emotional abuse as well as neglect and domestic violence. ‘Harm contributes to the impairment of health and development or ill treatment’ to another person. The issue can occur due to personal judgement determining what amount of ill treatment is significant harm. (www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk)