Understand how to set up a home based childcare service Essay Example for Free

Understand how to set up a home based childcare service Essay This was the name of the green paper produced in response to the laming inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie in 2000. It went on to form the basis of the 2004 children’s act. The paper lists five outcomes which were identified in consultation with children and young people; Being healthy; enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle staying safe; being protected from harm and neglect. Enjoying and achieving ; getting the most out of life and developing the skills for adulthood making a positive contribution; being involved with the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour economic well- being; not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full potential in life. Children’s act 2004 This act sets out the processes for integrating services to children in England and wales, requiring local authorities and their partners to co-operate in promoting the welfare and wellbeing of children.it created the post of children’s commissioner for England and introduced the requirement for local authorities to have a director of children’s services. Children’s act 1989 First acknowledgement in UK law of children’s rights, none as ‘the needs of the child are paramount`. Education act 1993   Secretary of state are required to publish a code of practise for children with special educational needs parents of children under 2 years have the right to ask for the child to be formally assessed. Data protection act 1998 It protects sensitive personal information being published without a person’s consent. where children are involved consent has to be given by a parent or guardian. Food safety (general food hygiene) regulations 1995 Local authorities require registered child-minder’s are to register with their local environmental health department and obtain the following  document. ‘safer food, better business for childminders` Special educational needs and disability act 2001 This act protects persons from discrimination on the grounds of a disability, and it requires that reasonable adjustments must be made to services, provisions and/or premises so that disabled persons do not suffer significant disadvantages compared to non-disabled persons. Children are covered by this legislation as they are persons in the eyes of the law. Role of regulatory bodies Regulatory bodies in the UK are Ofsted (England) The fundamental role of these regulatory bodies is to ensure that all children receive the best possible care in all settings a child attends away from their home. The systems they have in place will also reassure parents, guardians and carers who have to be able to entrust their child to an organisation or individual to look after. They will make sure you meet the welfare requirement’s and learning and development requirement’s as set out in the early years statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, Are a suitable person to provide care for children and can promote an environment where children are well cared for, are safe and their learning and development is catered for. The regulatory bodies have processes and systems to control home based childcare in the following ways. Registration – This covers checks on you, other adults who live with you and the premises where you plan to carry out your business. Inspection This is when inspectors carry out checks on the service you offer and on you once you are registered they produce a report which is then available on the websites of the regulatory bodies and must be offered to parents. Investigation – Following a complaint or concern, an inspector may carry out an investigation into your childcare service to make sure that you are meeting and complying with the welfare requirements. This is in addition to an inspection. Enforcement – If you do not meet the welfare requirements  or standards of your country, the regulatory body can take action against you.in England there are five general welfare requirements. Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare Suitable people Suitable premises, environment and equipment Organisation Documentation. 1.2 Develop policies and procedures for; * Accidents, illness and emergencies The safety of your child is paramount and I will take every measure I can to protect your child from hurting themselves. However, sometimes accidents do happen. I have written the following procedure on how I will deal with such a situation: *I will comfort the child and reassure them. *I will assess the extent of their injuries and if necessary call for medical support/ambulance. *I will give any first aid procedures that are necessary. I have been trained to carry out to these procedures and have required certificate. *Once the child is more settled I will contact you as soon as possible to inform you of the accident, and if necessary I will ask you to return to care for your child / meet me at the hospital. After every accident, however minor I will: *Complete a report in my accident book. *Ask you to sign the report. If the incident requires any medical treatment then I will: *Inform Ofsted *Inform my Insurance Company. *Contact the NCMA for additional advice/support. It is important that you keep me informed regarding your child’s condition following an accident and if you have sought medical advice. Back up registered childminder:_____________________________ Known responsible adult:________________________ *Behaviour Biting can be an uncomfortable subject for parents of both the biter and the child who is bitten. I hope that this policy will explain how I deal with biting in my home. Please do discuss any concerns you may have regarding this issue with me. If your child is known to bite I would prefer to know in advance. Children bite for a variety of reasons. This may be because they are teething, frustrated, exploring using their mouth, asserting their independence and wanting to gain control, maybe of a toy or they could be stressed. It may also be because they want to gain attention. I will work with you and your child to establish when and why they are biting. I will observe the child closely to see if certain conditions or situations trigger the behavior and then work with them to try and avoid the incidents occurring. This may involve altering the child’s routine, giving them more one to one attention, purchasing additional resources so sharing is not such a major issue or if it is because a child is teething provide suitable teething resources. I will ensure that if a child is bitten that they are comforted and given lots of attention. I will ensure that any first aid is applied correctly if required and the incident will be recorded in my book and parents asked to sign it. If your child bites then I will remove them from the situation. I will explain to them, according to their age and understanding that biting is unacceptable behavior. For younger child this may be by my tone of voice and facial expressions rather than lots of words. It may be necessary for me to exclude the child from an activity and use ‘time out’ until they are calm enough to return. I will also encourage the child to apologize to the child they have bitten and work with them to develop strategies to help them deal with the reasons. Many children go through a stage of biting, please don’t be alarmed it doesn’t last forever! Please sign and date to say you have read and understand Managing Behavior Policy Promoting positive behavior is very important and I do this by: *Giving lots of praise for good behavior *Giving the children individual attention so they feel valued *Setting a good example, being a good role model *Listening to what the children have to say *Rewarding good behavior (choosing next activity etc) *Giving children stickers for good behavior, sharing etc. I help the children understand my house rules, which are realistic and I am consistent in the enforcing of them. I do not give out confusing signals, Saying No means No! I am aware of the different reasons why children misbehave and will endeavour to keep to routines so that your child feels safe and is not over tired or hungry. However all children will misbehave at sometime. I have developed several different strategies on how to deal with a child misbehaving and use different ones depending on the age/stage of ability of the child and the situation: *Distraction. Remove the child from the situation and give them an alternative activity. *Ignore. Depending on the situation I may ignore the bad behavior as I feel it is being done to get a reaction. *Discuss with Child. If the child is able to understand I will discuss their behavior and try and get them to appreciate the consequences of their actions on others. I inform them that it is their behavior I do not like, not them. *Time Out. Removing the child from the activity and sitting them quietly for a few minutes. I will never smack, shake or hurt your child. I will not humiliate your child. If a child misbehaves I will let you know by either writing it in their contact book or by ringing you later after collection. Some children can become upset if the incident is retold in front of them. I will also inform you of how the matter was dealt with. If you have any concerns regarding the managing of your child’s behavior, please do not hesitate to contact me. It is important that we work together on managing behavior in order not to confuse your child. Please sign and date to say you have read and understand *safeguarding My responsibility as a childminder is to ensure the safety and welfare of children in my care. I have received training on safeguarding children issues and am aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse, physical, emotional and sexual, and those of neglect. If I have any reason to suspect a problem I will seek advice from the Child Protection Team and / or discuss with the parent. If I have reason to believe that any child in my care is being  abused in any way I will follow the local safeguarding children board procedures and report the matter to the Social Services. Under these circumstances I will not be able to keep information relating to your child confidential, but will need to share it with Ofsted, Social Services and the Police if requested. Please sign and date to say you have read and understand Equal opportunities I give all children in my care the opportunity to reach their full potential. Sometimes this means adapting an activity to the child’s ability and stage of development, providing additional resources or giving one child more attention and support than others during a particular activity or routine. All children in my care are given the opportunity to play with all the toys (subject to health and safety with children under 3 years of age). No toys are just for girls or just for boys. I try to ensure my toys reflect positive images of children and people from different cultures and with different abilities. No child in my care will be discriminated against in anyway, whether for their skin colour, culture, gender, ability or religion. I will challenge any remarks that I feel are inappropriate. I encourage the children in my care to learn more about their own culture and to find out about the culture and religions of other children. We do in this in a fun way through sharing book s, cooking and eating food from around the world. I encourage the children to develop a healthy respect of each other’s differences and to value everyone as an individual. I encourage Parents to share with us any festivals, special occasions or artefacts, which may enhance the children’s learning and understanding. Please sign and date to say you have read and understand All these policies will be implemented by letting the parents no on signing the contract and experience along the way as working as a professional child-minder. 1.3 Explain the importance of confidentiality and data protection. It is important to maintain confidentiality in order to build a relationship of trust between the parent and child-minder. It is important that they can trust you with their personal data and have peace of mind that  you will respect data they have provided. A child –minder is looking after the parent’s most precious thing in their life their child, therefore a relationship of trust and a mutual respect is incredibly important. One sure way of losing this trust is to disrespect the importance of the data to which you are provided. If you cannot be trusted with personal information it may become difficult for a parent to trust you with their child. It is also important to maintain confidentiality to protect the children the children in your care as well as their families, sharing information with the consent of the parent can be of great benefit as long as every party involved is working for the best interest of the child. In the interest of safety the sharing of information could save a child’s life for example medical issues or allergies. Sharing of information can also support learning as a setting can build a solid base for teaching based on a child’s likes and dislikes. If there is an issue at home that affects the child’s behaviour or progress for instance a family death sharing of information can help all involved understand the situation and deal with it appropriately. The main priority should be the interest of the child and this is where it is important to have up to date record, respectfully handled and shared responsibly with parent’s permission.