I've read that I should be able to answer the question "what would you do if an allegation was made about you or a member of your family" I'm not sure what I should say to the inspector if she does ask me. If it happened I would seek help and guidance from NCMA. Please Help!!!

First thing you should do is inform ofsted :) I didn't realise this

This is what my safeguarding policy says on the subject... hope it helps :D


If there is an allegation of abuse against me, I will –

•Record factual information in my Complaints Record

•Aim to support the child

•Contact Ofsted and the Local Safeguarding Children board immediately for advice, support and help; contact the Police if necessary

If an allegation of abuse if made against a member of my household, another child in my care or a regular visitor to my home, I will -

•Ask the person against whom the allegation has been made to leave the premises and not return during Childminding hours until the allegation has been investigated

•If the allegation is against one of my children, they will be asked to stay in their rooms and not come downstairs during Childminding hours until the allegation has been investigated

•write a detailed record of all allegations on a Complaints Record

•ask any witnesses (if there were any) to also write a statement detailing the incident they witnessed, giving their contact details in case it needs to be followed up by the authorities

•contact Ofsted and the local Safeguarding Children Board and take advice; contact the Police if necessary

•aim to provide support to all parties throughout the subsequent investigation

•an unfounded allegation against another child/adult will result in the child/adult being re-introduced into the Childminding environment, after taking support and advice from advisory agencies

•a founded allegation against another child/adult will result in them not returning to my Childminding environment at any time – I will use Police support to ensure this happens if necessary

If an allegation was made against me personally I would want it in writing from the accuser.

If an allegation was made against me personally I would want it in writing from the accuser.

Sorry Tracy, but that's not a good idea... that sort of information is for the police / social services to collect.

Whatever might be said, you stay right out of it.

By asking for written accusations etc you could be accused of trying to pervert the course of justice / pushing the person into writing something that's not right / putting pressure on the accuser etc... especially if it goes to court, the solicitors will take any interventions from you as another stick to beat you over the head with...

Plus it might be from a 2 year old child who says something to mum or does something with a doll that concerns mum ... mum then rings police in a panic rather than rings you to confirm what has really happened, so it's taken out of your hands from the off...

You must always follow the procedure laid down by your Local Safeguarding Children Board - who informed the writing of my policy - and let it be dealt with through the proper channels of the law...

Very hard subject especially in light of recent apparent miscarriages of justice, which is another reason why it's best not to intervene...

Sarah is right........

It is down to the authorities to investigate and to know the full details.

You will of course be interviewed and you will have to answer the questions that are asked......they will put together all the pieces of the jigsaw from all the information gathered.

Although instinct says you want to know who is accusing and what has been accused but you are beter off not knowing full details so that you can answer questions honestly and cannot be accused of making up answers as you have prior knowledge of the exact details of the complaint iyswim.

It is definately a horrible situation to be put in:(

I agree with Sarah and Dee, as hard as it is you must follow the procedure as a way of protecting yourself. To try to intervene, as tempting as it may seem, you would make things far worse for yourself.

Best to bite your tongue, step back and let the professionals deal with it, like Dee says then you can answer any questions without your answers being affected by what you 'think' might have been said.

I think you have misunderstood what I was asking here...

The word "Allegation" means "a statement of a fact by a party in a pleading, which the party claims it will prove"

I asked the question in relation directly to what I should do if an allegation is being made about myself or a member of my family. I have a great respect for Sarah as she is extremely helpful & supportive to any and all who use this forum, but I am afraid I must disagree with her in this instance. (Sorry Sarah!)

If someone makes an allegation (as a statement of fact) against me or my family, I would expect for the allegation be put in a written document (though not necessarily to me,
but definately to Ofsted) that can be examined and supported or defended as is required by all parties.

I said that if an allegation is made against me personally, then I would want it in writing from the accuser. I would expect, as a minimum, for details of the allegation to be put in writing to the authoritative body (i.e. Ofsted) so that they could take action as they deemed appropriate. Clearly, it is down to Ofsted and/or whoever is investigating the allegation to decide on whether or not the written statement can be given to me.

Without this course of action being taken, the allegation becomes heresay and therefore cannot constitute an investigation of any sort.

For the sake of argument, if I am asked the question "what would I do if an allegation is made against me or a member of my family", I would request that the person making the allegation puts their concerns in writing to Ofsted. I would then immediately inform Ofsted that an allegation had been made.

I would hope that this is satisfactory.
Tracy XXXXX

I think you have misunderstood what I was asking here...

The word "Allegation" means "a statement of a fact by a party in a pleading, which the party claims it will prove"

I asked the question in relation directly to what I should do if an allegation is being made about myself or a member of my family. I have a great respect for Sarah as she is extremely helpful & supportive to any and all who use this forum, but I am afraid I must disagree with her in this instance. (Sorry Sarah!)

If someone makes an allegation (as a statement of fact) against me or my family, I would expect for the allegation be put in a written document (though not necessarily to me,
but definately to Ofsted) that can be examined and supported or defended as is required by all parties.

I said that if an allegation is made against me personally, then I would want it in writing from the accuser. I would expect, as a minimum, for details of the allegation to be put in writing to the authoritative body (i.e. Ofsted) so that they could take action as they deemed appropriate. Clearly, it is down to Ofsted and/or whoever is investigating the allegation to decide on whether or not the written statement can be given to me.

Without this course of action being taken, the allegation becomes heresay and therefore cannot constitute an investigation of any sort.

For the sake of argument, if I am asked the question "what would I do if an allegation is made against me or a member of my family", I would request that the person making the allegation puts their concerns in writing to Ofsted. I would then immediately inform Ofsted that an allegation had been made.

I would hope that this is satisfactory.
Tracy XXXXX

No this wouldnt be satisfactory. You should have a procedure to go through like Sarah's this should be wrote down as one of your policys. Any allegation whether verbal or in writing will be investigated. Ofsted is one of many you would contact incase of a allegation.

Straws x

Straws x

I think the answer lies in the difference between the severity of a word like allegation and something that sounds a little less horrendous, a complaint. To my way of thinking, an allegation is generally about abuse or neglect and wuold be a police matter, not an OFSTED matter (although you must inform OFSTED).

If you get a complaint about oh say, you don't have enough toys on display or you are overminding, that's a complaint and would go to OFSTED, who will send you a letter stating nature of complaints, though not who has made them (but prob not hard to figure out).

If it's something that a parent can talk to you about, they could just write it in your compaints book (or you could after a verbal discussion) and then you can deal with it.

Either way, you need a very thorough and correct policy on both issues. I'd seek advice on both matters from NCMA or the local safeguarding children's board.

I think the answer lies in the difference between the severity of a word like allegation and something that sounds a little less horrendous, a complaint. To my way of thinking, an allegation is generally about abuse or neglect and wuold be a police matter, not an OFSTED matter (although you must inform OFSTED).

If you get a complaint about oh say, you don't have enough toys on display or you are overminding, that's a complaint and would go to OFSTED, who will send you a letter stating nature of complaints, though not who has made them (but prob not hard to figure out).

If it's something that a parent can talk to you about, they could just write it in your compaints book (or you could after a verbal discussion) and then you can deal with it.

Either way, you need a very thorough and correct policy on both issues. I'd seek advice on both matters from NCMA or the local safeguarding children's board.


I agree with you Tatia. I was thinking about the difference between a complaint and an allegation.

I should think if someone was making an allegation against you the first you would know about it would be when the Police or Ofsted contacted you.

I have a complaints policy and and as part of my safeguarding children policy an allegations policy. Bad childminder that I am I cannot tell you of the top of my head what my allegation policy states but I am sure it says something about not being able to care for the child or have contact with the family if a serious allegation has been made until a satisfactory outcome has been acheived (as I think this is one of the stipulations Ofsted bring in although not 100% sure on this) although not sure I would be able to work with a family that had made a serious allegation against me