Looked after children ( Safeguarding Children) - Carmel Caterpillars Preschool

Carmel Caterpillars Pre-School

Looked after children (Safeguarding Children)

Policy Statement

Carmel Caterpillars Pre-School is committed to providing quality provision based on equality of opportunity for all children and their families. All staff are committed to doing all they can to enable "looked after" children in their care to achieve and reach their full potential.

Definition of " looked after children" (LAC): Children and young people become "looked after" if they have either been taken in to care by the local authority, or have been accommodated by the local authority ( a voluntary care arrangement). Most LAC will be living in foster homes, but a smaller number may be in a children's home, living with a relative or even placed back home with their natural parent(s).

We recognise that children who are being looked after have often experienced traumatic situations. However, we also recognise that not all look after children have experienced abuse and that there are a range of reasons for children to be taken in to the care of the local authority. Whatever the reason, a child's separation from their home and family signifies a disruption in their lives that has an impact on their emotional well-being.

Carmel Caterpillars Pre-School place emphasis on promoting children's right to be strong, resilient and listened to. Our policy and practice guidelines for looked after children are based on these two important concepts, attachment and resilience. The basis of this is to promote secure attachments in children's lives as the basis of resilience. These aspects of well-being underpins the child's responsiveness to learning, and are the basis in developing dispositions for learning. For young children to get the most out of educational opportunities they need to be settled enough with their carer to be able to cope with further separation, a new environment and new expectations made upon them.

We will try to offer places to two year old children in exceptional circumstances who are in care. In such cases, the child should have been with the foster carer for at least two months and show signs of having formed a secure attachment to the carer, and where the placement in the setting will last a minimum of three months.
We will try to offer places for funded three and four year old's who are in care to ensure they receive their entitlement to early education. We expect that a child will have been with a foster carer for a minimum of one month and has formed a secure attachment to the carer. We expect that the placement in the setting will last a minimum of six weeks.
Where a child, who normally attends our setting, is taken in to care and is cared for by a local carer, we will continue to offer the placement for the child.

Procedures

The designated person for looked after children is the designated child safeguarding co-ordinator.
NAMED OFFICER IS LOUISE LEPPENWELL
Every child is allocated a key person before they start and this is no different for a looked after child. The designated person ensures the key person has the information, support and training to meet the looked after child's needs.
The designated person and the key person liaise with agencies, professionals, practitioners involved with the child and his, or her family, and ensures appropriate information is gained and shared.
The setting recognises the role of the local authority social care department as the child's "corporate parent", and the key agency in determining what takes place with the child. Nothing changes, especially with regard to the birth parent's or foster carer's role in relation to the setting without prior discussion and agreement with the child's social worker.
At a start of a placement there is a professionals meeting that will determine the objectives of the placement and draw up a care plan that incorporates and the child's learning needs. This plan is reviewed periodically.
The care plan needs to consider such issues for the child as:

The child's emotional needs and how they are to be met
How any emotional issues and problems that affect behaviour are to be managed.
The child's sense of self, culture, language(s) and identity and how this is to be supported.
The child's need for sociability and friendship
The child's interests and abilities and possible learning journey pathway.
How any special needs will be supported.

In addition, the care plan will also consider

How information will be shared with the foster carer and local authority (as the "corporate parent"), as well as what information is shared with whom and how it will be recorded and stored.
What contact the child has with his/her birth parent(s) and what arrangements will be in place for supervised contact. If this is to be the setting, when, where and what form the contact will take, will be discussed and agreed
What written reporting is required
Wherever possible, and where the plan is for the child's return home, the birth parent(s) should be involved in planning
With the social worker's agreement, and as part of the plan, the birth parent(s) should be involved in the setting's activities that include parents, such as outings, fun days etc alongside the foster carer.

The settling-in process for the child is agreed. It should be the same as for any other child, with the foster carer taking the place of the parent, unless otherwise agreed. This process may take longer in some cases, so time needs to be allowed for it to take place without causing further distress or anxiety to the child.
In the first few weeks after settling-in, the child's well-being is the focus of the observation, their sociability and their ability to manage their feelings with or without support.
Further observations about communication, interests and abilities will be noted to form a picture of the whole child.
Concerns about the child will be noted and discussed with the foster carer.
If the concern's are about the foster carer's treatment of the child, or if abuse is suspected, these are recorded and reported to the child's social care worker according to the Pre-School's safeguarding children procedures.
Regular contact should be maintained with the social worker through planned meetings that will include the foster carer.
Transition to school will be handled sensitively and the designated person and/or the child's key person will liaise with the school, passing on relevant information and documentation, with the agreement of the looked after child's birth parent(s).

The Original of this document was signed on behalf of Carmel Caterpillars Pre-School Committee by the current chairperson