Successful practice in safeguarding children and their families is made up of three core elements:
- Knowledgeable, competent practitioners (what we know);
- Professional confidence (the manner in which what we know is applied);
- Mindfulness in how the practitioner conducts themselves with children, their families, other practitioners within the setting, and those across the wider professional network.
Here I am going to expand on what I mean by 'professional mindfulness'. Put another way, it is 'how' practitioners do what they do in everyday childcare practice and specifically in safeguarding children. This includes professional conduct or behaviour, attitudes and ability to reflect on practice.
It is vital that room leaders, managers and the lead person for safeguarding hold a sufficiently objective position within the team, in order to spot and then address signs of poor professional practice or conduct. This involves a managerial capacity to 'hover' over the entire operation of the setting, to note the vulnerability of individual children, parents and staff, and any collusions or 'special relationships' forming in the day-to-day dynamic and to intervene as appropriate.
Relationships between the registered person or management committee members and the on-site manager will need to remain on a professional footing to ensure that this kind of objectivity is the accepted culture of the setting.
Setting the tone
Let's just take a brief 'swerve' here to consider exactly why 'professional mindfulness' is important.
Picture this. Dee is a woman in her mid-thirties, who is qualified to NVQ Level 3. She arrived in your setting following an 'impressive' interview, a clear CRB check and two very strong references. She has integrated well into your team and within a few months everyone seems to love her. One of the practitioners attends the same church as Dee, as do a couple of parents. This practitioner is aware that Dee often hosts prayer meetings and that the same parents attend. She suspects that Dee might also babysit for these parents.
Should the practitioner be obliged to share this information about Dee with the lead person for safeguarding and/or manager? Is it your business?
Imagine now - this morning, one of the parents asks to talk with you privately and says that Dee hit her child when she was babysitting. She says that she thought you only employed competent, qualified staff. As you listen and ask questions, it becomes clear that the parent is alleging that Dee assaulted her child. Is it now your business?
It is, of course, the manager who sets the tone for professional practice within the setting. Naturally this requires a fully integrated approach which would include:
- the setting philosophy;
- the way in which practitioners are recruited and inducted;
- the ongoing nurture of practitioners to attain high standards of childcare practice;
- the application of the setting's whistle-blowing policy;
- the procedure to be followed should an allegation be made against a practitioner.
Successful integration of this approach throughout the staff team is supported well by entering into producing a Code of Professional Conduct with practitioners. This helps practitioners take full ownership of their practice and plays a central part in safeguarding staff, children and parents alike. It benefits all parties in setting the parameters for their relationship to each other. It establishes 'the rules'.
It is then for the setting manager and practitioners to introduce the Code of Professional Conduct to both parents and children. This might begin with a parent meeting, either as a whole setting or with the manager and practitioner along with key group parents. Full implementation would then begin to be shown in the way in which practitioners work with parents and their children, their behaviour and the attitudes they convey. Such a framework sets out clearly what parents can expect of practitioners and what should not be happening. This pro-active approach to childcare also helps 'niggles' in relationships to be resolved at an early stage and often reduces the number of formal complaints and allegations against staff that might arise.
Developing trust
As suggested, a clear Code of Professional Conduct can play a key part in providing a safe environment for parents and children. By establishing open and honest partnerships with parents from their very first contact, the setting can set the scene for warm and consistent relationships, where children are the central focus, and parents can develop trust in practitioners and feel confident to express their views fully.
A Code might include the following:
- Being approachable and friendly, without losing objectivity or blurring or breaching professional boundaries - for example, 'Practitioners and the wider staff team are friendly, but not friends with parents';
- Offering advice, assistance and support to parents in a respectful manner, including a willingness to open up potentially difficult discussions, sign-post on to other services and make appropriate referrals;
- Being explicit about the setting's safeguarding children policy and the way information is shared across services when concerns arise;
- Remaining focused on each parent's child when talking with them, rather than making comparisons with other children or breaching confidentiality;
- Recognising that practitioners hold varying levels of power in their relationship with children and their parents and that this power can be abused, particularly with socially vulnerable families.
It is the responsibility of the practitioner to intervene where they witness a parent being discriminated against or disempowered by anyone in a professional position, by:
- ensuring professional discussion regarding a child or their parent is not conducted in their presence unless in open discussion, where they have equal opportunity to express themselves (not talking or gossiping over children's or parents' heads);
- safeguarding children from disputes or conflicts with parents or work colleagues, and ensuring these are resolved outside of the children's environment;
- striving to avoid the giving of 'special attention' or having 'favourite' children or parents.
The Code of Professional Conduct should be explicit in addressing levels of social, sexual or emotional relationship that are not appropriate - for example, entering into private babysitting arrangements with parents, agreeing to be a godparent for a child, meeting parents and/or their children socially, and practitioners taking parents or children into their own homes.
The responsibility lies with the setting to establish the parameters for relationships with parents and their children. This is primarily enacted by the childcare practitioner on a daily basis and supported in an ongoing way through 'mindful' proactive management.
'Mindful' practitioners will be easily spotted - they will be the ones who have reflected on their 'slightly off-hand' greeting to the parent in the morning and taken the time to apologise at the end of the day. This practitioner will be respectful in their interactions with parents and their children, and hopes that they would reciprocate, although they do not expect it. They maintain consistently high standards in accordance with their Code of Professional Conduct and are aware of their responsibility to model behaviour. The practitioner is also particularly mindful of their conduct when safeguarding matters arise. When feelings run high, they maintain a mature and professionally respectful manner. They contain their own anxieties and concerns with the support of their lead person or manager and keep their sights clearly focused on the child.
This is an example of the practitioners being accountable for their actions, aware of their legal obligations as set out in the Children's Act 2004. They will withstand the close scrutiny of their professional practice and rightly so, for they are 'mindful' of their responsibilities and the values and philosophy that underpin them.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Catherine Rushforth is director of Catherine Rushforth & Associates Training and Consultancy, which runs a number of workshops addressing issues to do with safeguarding. E-mail: Catherine.rushforth@ntlworld.com
- Part 3 will be published on 23 April.
