The government is proposing significant amendments to the safeguarding and welfare requirements outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). These welcomed changes aim to enhance the existing guidance in Section 3 of the EYFS and provide much-needed clarity to ensure the safety of children in all early years care and education settings.
Several proposals within the consultation seek to enhance the sector's understanding of safeguarding and child protection requirements, facilitating ongoing learning and improvement in the knowledge, skills, and behaviours necessary to safeguard children in any EYFS provision effectively.
The EYFS underwent its last update in January 2024, and a government response to this consultation is expected in the Autumn Term. The consultation puts forward several amendments to section 3 of the EYFS (the safeguarding and welfare requirements) that are in both the childminder and group/school-based provider versions of the EYFS.
While many providers may already implement or have recently implemented new safeguarding requirements as a result of changes made to the EYFS in January 2024, incorporating these further new proposals formally into the EYFS will continue to promote a consistent approach to the safeguarding and child protections of babies and young children.
The government's background information in the consultation highlights the drive and current focus onexpanding the early education and childcare sector. ‘The early education and childcare sector is expanding, and talented practitioners will be recruited from a wider pool’. This reference comes from another current consultation, the Childminder Recruitment and Retention consultation. This aims to increase the workforce and provide families with greater childcare options.
The childminder recruitment and retention consultation has an ambitious vision. Measures are already in place to help grow the workforce and give childminders more flexibility to support the delivery of the government’s childcare reforms and therefore give parents greater childcare choices. Plans are already in place to allow an increase in the time childminders can spend working from non-domestic premises. An introduction of a new category of childminder is proposed that will allow working 100% of the time from non-domestic premises will have implications for all.
Lessons gleaned from past safeguarding cases and sector feedback have driven the need for clarity in the consultation in several ways.
Safer Recruitment
Ensuring the suitability, competency, and capability of staff members is paramount. Proposed changes emphasise obtaining references before interviews to address any concerns upfront.
Child Absences
Implementing an Absence Policy for parents to clarify the expectation to report absences and outlines provider procedures. Decisions on prolonged absences will be made based on individual circumstances, with a requirement for two emergency contact details.
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
The consultation proposes shifting from the ambiguous term 'lead practitioner' to 'designated safeguarding lead' (DSL), aligning with established safeguarding guidance such as 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' and 'Working Together to Safeguard Children'.
Safeguarding Training Annex C
Introducing a new Annex C in both group/school-based provider and childminder versions of the EYFS that will set out minimum requirements for effective safeguarding training. This will guide providers in selecting appropriate training, whether online or in person, and empower them to deliver in-house training if they feel confident and capable to do so.
Key points and clarifications within Annex C include:
- Recognising inappropriate behaviour from practitioners, assistants, or household members, emphasising the importance of vigilance in all settings where children attend and in all situations at home or elsewhere.
- Understanding indicators of neglect or abuse outside the setting. Knowing children, their families, and the context in which they live comes from positive partnerships with parents and families. Clarification in Annex C that domestic abuse, as defined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is not a separate type of abuse, rather a significantly identified risk that results in child victims experiencing neglect and or abuse. Therefore, it is not a separate type of abuse.
- Cultivating a safe organisational culture that prioritises safeguarding and aligns with an EYFS provider's vision, values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and capabilities of the team.
There are more proposals for changes around Paediatric First Aid for students and trainees, safer eating including: allergies and anaphylaxis, weaning and choking. Toileting and Privacy. Please have your say by reading and submitting your responses to the consultation here.
In conclusion, we all wish that there wasn’t such a need for comprehensive and robust safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures, but what we need to wish for is that we get much better at recognising, responding, reporting, recording and referring.