In any early year’s environment, safeguarding is part of what we do all day, every day. We live and breathe it. So, understanding and knowledge of early years safeguarding is pivotal in protecting young children and babies. Whether we are part of a nursery or working solo as a nanny, au pair or childminder, we all have a duty of care and responsibility to safeguard and protect the children in our care.
Research shows that 0-2yrs is one of the highest risk age categories alongside adolescents, for experiencing harm through abuse or neglect and this is something we cannot ignore. As a result, everyone working in early years should have awareness of categories of harm and what to do if they think a child is being abused or neglected as well as secure knowledge of whistleblowing procedures within their setting. Thinking the unthinkable may make us feel uncomfortable and sometimes hard to imagine, but it is duty of care and our legal responsibility.
It is commonly recognised that children are most likely to be abused by someone they know. This is most likely family members but is also important to recognise that abuse can also happen when in other people’s care, especially if they play a significant role in the care of the child. Therefore, vigilance in our settings is paramount, alongside reporting any concerns about the conduct or behaviour of members of staff or other professionals, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel.
Why are young children such a high-risk age-group?
There are a number of reasons young children are more vulnerable and susceptible to abuse or neglect. These include:
- Mobility – many children and babies within early years settings have limited or no mobility at this age making them unable to remove themselves from an unsafe situation.
- Communication – young children have none or limited speech making it difficult to disclose abuse. Even when they can speak in short sentences, their vocabulary and expressive language is limited, and their receptive language or understanding is also in the early developmental stage.
- Reliance on caregiver – young children and babies are completely reliant on their caregiver for meeting all their basic needs. If a parent is not emotionally present, the child will lack verbal and play stimulation impacting speech and language development and social development over time. You may notice emotional distance between the child and parent on arrival and pick up and this can cause issues in the child being able to make appropriate attachments. If they are not physically present, the child may be unclean, malnourished or arrive at nursery in heavily soiled nappies which could have been left on for many hours. They may have untreated nappy rash and without the correct clothing and provisions needed for the day. Physical neglect also links with poor supervision so you may notice injuries on the baby or child where they have fallen, pulled objects onto themselves or for mobile children, climbing related injuries.
- Lived experience – babies and young children are too young to know any different, they are fully invested in doing what they are told because they have trust in their caregiver. They don’t have life experience and learning to be able to recognise right from wrong.
Indicators and behaviours
Behaviour is a form of communication, and this plays a significant part in how babies and young children let us know how they are feeling or what is happening to them in their lives. Behaviours displayed and seen in early years can be very different to those in children who are older and it can be more challenging for early years practitioners to recognise signs of abuse. This highlights how vital it is for early years specific training to be accessed for all staff.
Babies and children are naturally inquisitive and hungry to explore their environment. They are often keen to please those whose care they are in, seeking reassurance and approval. The absence of these behaviours can be a red flag, indicating potential neglect or abuse. Changes in behaviour are also key indicators that something is not as it should be. These can be very subtle in the beginning or sudden and significant so observational skills and curiosity will play a key role in understanding what the child’s lived experience is.
With young children and babies, abuse can significantly impact their ability to reach developmental milestones. Although this could be an indicator of medical conditions or even early signs of special educational needs and disability (SEND), we must be open to the fact that it could be an indicator of abuse or neglect. Professional curiosity will play a significant role in understanding the source of the developmental delay to enable appropriate action to be taken.
What do I do if I am concerned about a child?
The first thing is to do is to speak to your DSL. There are two things that are a priority in safeguarding babies and children, and they are:
- Is the child at risk of immediate harm?
- Does the concern need to be reported to children's social care?
If the answer to number one is yes, there should be no delay in making a referral. Most social care referral teams (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub MASH) encourage a verbal discussion to flag the urgent concern followed by the written referral form. This may differ from area to area, so make sure you are familiar with your local authority processes. A social worker will be able to guide you through next steps.
The second point may appear a little strange, but not all concerns meet threshold for referral. You need to be familiar with your local authority threshold document to be able to assess whether to refer the case in. Whether the concern meets threshold or not, your recording of the initial incident or observation within your own recording system should be the same. It should contain factual information about the concern, what your risk assessment was and where it fits within the threshold document, what your actions are and what the outcomes were. Remember to include any discussions with parents and social workers within your records as well.
In summary, young children are reliant on us as professionals to have their safety and well-being at the centre of our daily practice. This means we need to be committed to providing a safe environment for the children with robust safeguarding measures in place which includes whistleblowing processes. Providing regular staff training which develops knowledge and understanding of different areas of safeguarding resulting in consistency. Records which are detailed and updated from ALL staff to ensure no child slips through the net and finally staff who are professionally curious about what they see and hear.
