How to Safeguard the Well-Being of Children and Young People

1.1 Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedure within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

Children Act 1989 – Determines the duty of early year’s practitioners to identify and meet the separate and distinctive needs of children and to keep them safe. It initiated the belief that the child ought to be at the centre of planning and that a child’s well-being and safety are vital when judgements are made concerning them. This act also recognises the accountabilities of parents in keeping their offspring safe. In this act there are two particular segments that relate to the duty of local authority with concern to child protection, these are-

In order to not only promote the welfare of children within a setting but also to protect them from harm and abuse there are a number of pieces of legislation and statutory guidance that must be adhered to. Both laws and statutory guidance are mandatory and so legally enforceable and must act as a foundation of which policies and procedures within any setting can be based upon.

There are many policies and procedures within the UK that outline the current legislation and guidelines to help with safeguarding children and young people.

It is everybody’s responsibility to safeguard children – This means every single staff member within a setting; irrelevant of what role they may have there. This also includes non-staff members, such as volunteers, student’s third-party companies (visitors, service providers etc). Each setting should therefore adopt their own safeguarding policy, of which has to be kept up to date and followed at all times.

Children’s Act 1989: Identifies the responsibilities of parents and professionals who must work to ensure the safety and welfare of the child/young person. Two important sections included in the act are:

Today we use the term safeguarding instead of child protection because it covers a much broader range. These changes were influenced by the first Joint Chief Inspectors’ safeguarding report 2002 and formalised in the Every Child Matters legislation outlined in the Children Act 2004. By safeguarding a child or young person we ensure they get the very best of the opportunities available to them for them to achieve the best of their potential while keeping them safe from bullying, crime, accidents, neglect and abuse.

Outline the current legislation that underpins the safeguarding of children and young people within own UK Home Nations.

National and local guidelines, policies, and procedures determine the nature of relationship and interaction with children and young people. The policies decide on the rights and privileges of children and young people in the society thus outlining how this group should relate to the entire community. National and local guidelines, policies, and procedures for safeguarding determine practice, planning, and organization of all activities in relation to children and young people. The policies ensure that the procedures for protection of children and young people are clear to all in the daily interactions. The policies enlighten the entire society on how to spot child abuse, violence, and exploitation. The policies also have the essence of creating positive and safe environment for the development of children and young people. Policies also

The main current legislation guidelines policies and procedures within own UK home nation for safeguarding children and young people.

To be able to safeguard children effectively we need to be aware of the following policies:

Legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures affecting the safeguarding of children and young people would be:-

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

1.1- Outline the current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people-

The following is an outline of current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation for safeguarding children