Whistleblowing - a reminder

[sarah707]

You must have a whistleblowing statement as part of your safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures. The statement must say that you will blow the whistle straight away if you are concerned about a child's safety or welfare in any situation - home life, with another cm, in a nursery you visit - anywhere.

You must notify Ofsted and the Local Safeguarding Children Board / police immediately - do not wait and think about what to do for the best or chat to colleagues first - your Safeguarding and Child Protection policy and procedures must contain all the relevant phone numbers.

If you do not follow your whistleblowing procedures you will receive a Welfare Requirement Notice from Ofsted which might lead to a re-inspection and downgrade...

***This information is being shared to remind members that you must act on your whistleblowing procedures if you have any concerns about a child. There is some difference of opinion on what should be reported - it depends on which LA trains you in safeguarding - I have been to 3 and they all say slightly different things.

However, they all agree that if you have any concerns about a child's safety or welfare at home you must inform the notifying authorities... waiting to ask parents could be seen as an unnecessary delay by Ofsted; asking parents and sending child home to get more bruises is clearly unacceptable; thinking that the lovely woman who bought you wine at Christmas could not possibly hit her child is naive... etc...

[moggy]

I don't use the words 'Whistle blowing' in my policy- should we? I do explain I will report concerns etc.

In my policy I say I would 'discuss any concerns with parents, providing it will not put the child at risk' - this is what I have been told at training. Do you advise not to write/do that?

[Simona]

I have never used the word either for the last 22 years.
A Whistleblower is someone who 'informs or reports to stop something' ....in this case when we know a child could be at harm

our policy MUST clearly state that if we have concerns we may approach parents...BUT ...there are instances when we have a duty to go straight to our LSCB

Working Together to Safeguard Children March 2015 is the guidance we must follow and Ofsted follow that too

[lor]

I have a separate Whistle blowing policy - is this enough? or should it be in with my safe guarding children

Sorry not sure if I've made sense??

[Simona]

I have a separate Whistle blowing policy - is this enough? or should it be in with my safe guarding children

Sorry not sure if I've made sense??

As a CM you are the Designated Safeguarding Officer...or whatever name it is referred to now.

If you have concerns you will report them...therefore you become the whistleblower...or informant...or the one who puts children's safety first.
As Sarah says you can approach parents but sometimes that can delay matters

There is no need to have an additional policy on whistleblowing but it is entirely up to you
Look at the guidance and adjust your policy accordingly
The section for Early years and childcare is on page 55

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf

Please note the EYFS 2012 mentions the Safeguarding Guidance dated 2013...this has now been updated to March 2015
That is what Ofsted must follow...the DfE is the legislator...Ofsted the regulator.

I am surprised Ofsted have not whistleblown on the DfE and told them to update the outdated EYFS :angry:

[loocyloo]

thank you.

my child protection policy did say the above, but in other words, I have now re-written it, so there is no possibility of anyone not understanding what I wrote!

mine also says ( like moggy ) I would 'discuss any concerns with parents, providing it will not put the child at risk' ... again this is what I was advised to put at my last lot of training. I've left it in.

[mumofone]

You must have a whistleblowing statement as part of your safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures. The statement must say that you will blow the whistle straight away if you are concerned about a child's safety or welfare in any situation - home life, with another cm, in a nursery you visit - anywhere. You must notify Ofsted and the Local Safeguarding Children Board / police immediately - do not wait and think about what to do for the best or chat to colleagues first - your Safeguarding and Child Protection policy and procedures must contain all the relevant phone numbers. If you do not follow your whistleblowing procedures you will receive a Welfare Requirement Notice from Ofsted which might lead to a re-inspection and downgrade... ***This information is being shared to remind members that you must act on your whistleblowing procedures if you have any concerns about a child. There is some difference of opinion on what should be reported - it depends on which LA trains you in safeguarding - I have been to 3 and they all say slightly different things. However, they all agree that if you have any concerns about a child's safety or welfare at home you must inform the notifying authorities... waiting to ask parents could be seen as an unnecessary delay by Ofsted; asking parents and sending child home to get more bruises is clearly unacceptable; thinking that the lovely woman who bought you wine at Christmas could not possibly hit her child is naive... etc...

Hi sarah, please can you clarify this, sounds like we're all worrying that we need to specify the exact word "whistleblowing" in our safeguarfing policy- do we??

[Simona]

Hi sarah, please can you clarify this, sounds like we're all worrying that we need to specify the exact word "whistleblowing" in our safeguarfing policy- do we??

Sorry Mumofone but not everyone is confused about whistle blowing.
Please read the DfE guidance and make sure you have covered how you would report when you feel a child is at 'significant harm' and you need to act
At your inspection you will be responsible to answer to the inspector how you would report any concerns or whistle blow if that is the terminology you choose.

Whistle blowing is not new...it has been embedded in Safeguarding for many many years
Also look up your LSCB guidance...they will have a sample policy for you to follow on your LA website.

[mumofone]

Sorry Mumofone but not everyone is confused about whistle blowing. Please read the DfE guidance and make sure you have covered how you would report when you feel a child is at 'significant harm' and you need to act At your inspection you will be responsible to answer to the inspector how you would report any concerns or whistle blow if that is the terminology you choose. Whistle blowing is not new...it has been embedded in Safeguarding for many many years Also look up your LSCB guidance...they will have a sample policy for you to follow on your LA website.

Hi Simona, you may not be and that's great but I'm afraid I am. I have a safeguarding policy in place which states what I'd do if I had a new concern. But where does "whistleblowing" come in?

[Simona]

Hi Simona, you may not be and that's great but I'm afraid I am. I have a safeguarding policy in place which states what I'd do if I had a new concern. But where does "whistleblowing" come in?

I think you have answered your own question.

If your policy states what you would do if you had a concern then...that action would be 'whistleblowing'...or 'raising' your concerns by 'reporting' them to the appropriate body.
Whitleblowing is 'reporting'...and the DfE guidance is clear on that....worth reading and also download in a safe place in case the inspector questions you at inspection.
Many providers prefer to explain exactly what their actions would be rather than call it 'whistleblowing'.

Did you check your LA's LSCB to get an idea of what they expect you to do and who to report to in case of concerns?
Most Cms I know have a copy of their LSCB policy filed safely under the EYFS requirement.

If you are confused about 'any' aspect of safeguarding seek help or maybe refresh your training....safeguarding is one area that needs to be very clear for all of us.