How national and local guidelines affect day to day work Essay

National and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding that affect a practitioner’s day to day work relating to; Childcare practice The Education Act 2002 poses a duty on education authorities to promote and safeguard the welfare of children and young people. This affects my day to day work as I must be aware of the child protection procedures at all times, such as how to spot the signs of abuse, how and who to report my concerns, how to maintain a safe school environment, be aware of the health and safety of children and to be able to undertake any training required of me. Child Protection In my settings policies and procedures for safeguarding it states that all employees, volunteers and students should be properly vetted, which includes checks into the eligibility and the suitability, and that crb checks should be carried out. If I didn’t produce a crb check to make sure I didn’t have any criminal convictions or to check my suitability to work with children and young people then I would not be allowed to work in my setting. Risk assessment Risk assessments are an important factor in safeguarding children and in my day to day work, before I carry out any activity with children and young people I am required through my setting policies and procedures to carry out a risk assessment first to make sure all involved is safe, for example, if I were to plan an activity, such as an art and craft activity I would need to risk assess the potential danger of scissors, small objects, i.e beads and amend my plan accordingly to suit each individual. Ensuring the voice of the child or young person is heard Advocacy safeguards children and young people and protects them from abuse and poor practice. The government developed national standards for advocacy practice to ensure that children are able to speak out and have their views heard. The national Standards for the provision of children’s advocacy 2002Â  is this standard. This affects my day to day work as I need to know how to access advocacy services should a child require it and a child can request that I act as an advocate for them and in that case I will need to know where to look for support from the advocacy services. Supporting children and young people and others who may be expressing concerns Following my settings policies and procedures, if a child or young person were to express any concerns I would in my day to day work show a child that I am taking them seriously, that I am here to listen and have empathy, I would reassure the child that I will help in any way I can, I would record the conversation following the correct procedure, I would not make promises, or say that what has been discussed is confidential, I will not come to my own conclusions or ask questions and I would seek support and advice from the designated child protection officer.