Safeguarding and Ofsted

[Fitrix]

Got to admit this safeguarding and Ofsted's expectations are making my brain ache at the moment! It seems to me a lot of safeguarding comes down to personal opinion and what some people deem a risk to children, others don't. I also personally do not want to go running to Ofsted / Social Services at every tiny matter when you know some people are just misinformed / have lower standards etc. There have been instances in my setting where I have had a concern but kept a close eye on the situation and it has thankfully resolved itself with no harm done. But I'm fairly sure that Ofsted would have deemed it necessary to alert Social Services and I could then be in the postition of being responsible for needlessly upsetting lovely families. I don't believe that is my job. We need to show Ofsted that we are keeping children safe, but if we outline some measure we have put into place to do so are we not breaking confidentiality of that child?
I have a parent who recently asked me if I would sign a letter to DLA saying her child was behaving a certain way. As it would have been a total lie, I refused. I guess I'm supposed to notify someone as it comes down to child welfare? But I don't want to - I'm assuming any child services she is trying to pull her stunt with is able to see that the child in question is fine. And they are a lovely family - they just try to claim any benefits going!
But if I outline to Ofsted in my SEF for example that I did this to protect the child's welfare, would I get it in the neck from them??

[sarah707]

Too many childminders are getting into big trouble for not reporting things at the moment. It almost seems in some instances as if we are scapegoats - because we work on our own we don't have anyone to back us up.

We have to be absolutely clear in our policies that we will report any incident where a child makes an allegation - and if we are concerned about sending the child home for any reason...

If you are supporting a child then it's a judgement call - what would an inspector say if they visited? If there was a complaint made have you documented everything to protect yourself?... you need to ask yourself questions like that.

Definitely over document if you have any concerns. Better to have it written down and not needed than not to have evidence available.

I hope that clarifies a little xx

[TooEarlyForGin?]

Too many childminders are getting into big trouble for not reporting things at the moment. It almost seems in some instances as if we are scapegoats - because we work on our own we don't have anyone to back us up. We have to be absolutely clear in our policies that we will report any incident where a child makes an allegation - and if we are concerned about sending the child home for any reason... If you are supporting a child then it's a judgement call - what would an inspector say if they visited? If there was a complaint made have you documented everything to protect yourself?... you need to ask yourself questions like that. Definitely over document if you have any concerns. Better to have it written down and not needed than not to have evidence available. I hope that clarifies a little xx

How frustrating, when we have seen some very high profile cases recently, top managers, doctors and HV's involved and they rarely loose their jobs, we are such easy targets.