When devising your policies and procedures, consideration needs to be given to who your audience is - and exactly how much they need to know.
Your audience, in essence, will be made up of your key stakeholders, and that means the staff, parents, children and other professionals connected to your setting.
Thought needs to be given to the relevance of the policies. Consider your health and safety policy, for example: would a telephone engineer or a student need to know every detail? It may be that the only part they need to know for a short visit is the fire drill and means of escape in case of emergency.
Focusing on this point, it may be helpful to have a summary of your policies and procedures available for different stakeholders involved in your setting.
STAFF
Staff need to know policies, procedures and records that are relevant to their day-to-day responsibilities. Remember though, as discussed in part one of this topic, that we have to be aware of how effectively we present the information to staff.
It is important to highlight that if a serious incident and/or a fatality were to take place involving a child, visitor or colleague, staff would need to know they could be prosecuted if they were subsequently found to have failed to adhere to, or implement, certain procedures.
Likewise, employers can also be taken to court if there is breach of legislation or negligence.
This is why it is imperative that the 'knowing, understanding and implementing' of your setting's policies and procedures should be given priority and be effectively put in place.
IN PRACTICE
Knowing:
How do we make sure that staff know what they are supposed to know?
Understanding:
How do you help members of staff to grasp the information you want and need them to understand?
Implementing:
How do staff implement policies, procedures and records on a day-to-day basis?
Staff should also play a part in the devising of policies and procedures; this will help with their understanding of why they are important, give them an awareness of legislation and national guidance, and help to empower them to put these important documents into practice. The more we involve staff with the devising and planning of systems and day-to-day practice the more they will take ownership and embrace your policies and procedures.
In order to have an effective working party when devising policies and procedures, it is essential that the working party is not just made up with members of the senior management team but the whole staff team; including room assistants (Level 2 and 3, 4, graduates), EYPs, administration and domestic staff.
This is crucial because staff who are employed in varying positions look at things differently according to their responsibilities and roles. Incorporating their ideas from a range of viewpoints helps to form far more effective, realistic and practical documents.
Therefore, within these working parties, it is helpful to ask staff for their opinions and suggestions as to how the policies and procedures impact on them. In addition, effective working parties are also part of team building and help staff to get to know each other and gain a greater understanding of colleagues' roles.
There are a lot of other issues to consider when formulating a working party, such as timing of the meetings. Understandably, this can be very difficult when most settings are already to the wire with ratios. It may be impossible to meet during the day as cover will be needed so meetings may have to be arranged in the early morning or late afternoon when things are quietest, or even in the evening or weekend.
It is essential that you introduce the policies and procedures during induction and make them available on your website and/or intranet, keeping them in a folder that is accessible at all times in the communal areas such as the entrance or staff room. I know some settings actually give staff their own personalised copies of policies and procedures.
Regarding content, it may be helpful to think about whether staff need to know everything in full detail, or whether it might be better to provide a summary of the information? It could be that a selection of documents appear in full but others only require an edited version.
Policies and procedures should also be shared with students, volunteers, management committee and governors. In addition, include other key stakeholders connected to your setting. Again, a short summary of useful pointers may be helpful for these individuals.
PARENTS
Parents, of course, need to know procedures that will directly impact them, such as sick child procedure and the safeguarding policy and procedure. For instance, they should know that when their child is sick with an infection their child may need to be excluded, along with the reasons for this and how long the exclusion can last. Importantly, they need to know your commitment to children's safety and welfare and that if you are concerned about their child or family you have a duty of care to share this information with the local children services and Ofsted.
Parents must be informed about your policies and procedures from the very start. However, this does not mean that they should be overloaded during a 'show-around' visit. Instead, they should be informed about the importance of the policies and procedures during registration and the settling in period. Remember that the key person should also share policies and procedures with parents, as part of building rapport with parents. It may also be useful if the key person revisits the policies and procedures with parents within meetings, especially if any have been updated and changes have been made.
Ensure you share information with parents via different methods, such as your prospectus, website or social media avenues, and have paper copies available.
Likewise, if you have an existing parents' group or forum or are thinking of starting one, encourage parents to contribute to the policies and procedures. An example of this could be 'Working in partnership with parents policy'. Ask your parents for their views on partnership, what it means to them as a parent and user of your setting, and what their expectations are about this.
CHILDREN
Children can be involved with the process of policies and procedures in the form of a pre-school council. A member of staff could draw out their ideas and suggestions. Children can also take photographs and contribute. This also develops and enhances children's skills within the seven areas of learning.
For instance, a practitioner could explore children's thoughts on the policy for supporting children with their behaviour, asking children open-ended questions on how they would like to be treated within the setting and how they treat their friends.
It may be helpful to add the children's comments to your policy, with any mark makings and photographs that they have created. This can give children a real sense of belonging within the setting.
Another example of involving children could be after you have carried out a fire drill - by giving the children an opportunity to debrief. Give them the chance to discuss how it went from their point of view and any thoughts that they may have to share regarding the fire drill. You could then evaluate their ideas to perhaps add, or make adaptations, to the policies and procedures.
Ensuring your stakeholders are on board helps to make sure that your policies and procedures are adhered to and creates a transparent approach within your organisation, keeping everyone informed on your commitment to the overall operation of your setting.
Laura Henry is managing director of Childcare Consultancy