The Lodge Montessori, Early Learning & Care

Child Safeguarding Statement

1. Nature of our Service:

The Lodge Montessori is a purpose-built and self-contained setting with a secure outdoor area; designed totally for the needs of pre-school children.  This service is fully insured and is registered with Tusla and Early Childhood Ireland.  We are participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE) under the Department of Children & Youth Affairs & Pobal.

We received a high rating of 2 Excellents and 2 Very Goods in our education-focussed inspection conducted by the Department of Education (June 2019).  We qualified as a Healthy Ireland Preschool under Healthy Ireland’s Smart Start preschool programme. 

A member of staff recently graduated from the Leadership for Inclusion programme, ensuring all children have equal access to a quality early years’ experience.  We can provide additional support under the AIM model to allow all children to meaningfully participate in this ELC service.

2. Principles to Safeguard Children from Harm:

We believe that:

• Our priority is to ensure the welfare and safety of every child who attends our service.

• Our guiding principles and procedures to safeguard children and young people, reflect national policy and legislation and we will review our guiding principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures every year.
  
  
• All children have an equal right to attend a service that respects them as individuals and encourages them to reach their potential, regardless of their background.
  
  
• We are committed to upholding the rights of every child and young person who attends our service, including the right to be kept safe and protected from harm, to be listened to and to be heard.
  
  
• Our guiding principles apply to everyone at The Lodge Montessori.
  
  

• Workers/volunteers must conduct themselves in a way that reflects the principles of our setting.

The names listed above are the mandated persons who are responsible to report any concerns to the Designated Liasion Person (DLP) and/or Tusla.  The DLP will have attended ‘Always Children First Child Protection’ training.  The DLP within in our setting will be named and displayed in our Parent Information area.

This list will be reviewed annually, if not sooner, when and if a new member of staff/volunteer/transition year student works directly with the children.

The Lodge Montessori’s Safeguarding Statement has been developed in accordance with ‘The Children First Act 2015’ and ‘Children First: The National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children’.  It is The Lodge Montessori’s ethos to treat each child with the utmost respect.  Each child is valued as an individual and is encouraged to reach his/her own potential at his/her own pace.  We ensure that each child develops all the essential early life skills, in a creative and stimulating environment, where interaction and self-expression are actively encouraged.

3. Commitment to Safeguard Children from Harm

We are committed to safeguarding the children in our care and to providing a safe environment in which the children can play, learn and develop.  We are committed to child focused practice in all our work with the children and in full compliance with ‘Children First: The National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children’.

We recognise the rights of children to be protected from harm, treated with respect, listened to and have their views taken into consideration in matters that affect them. Management, staff, volunteers and students recognise that the welfare of children is paramount, and we will endeavour to safeguard all children.  Our Service is committed to safeguarding the children in our care and to providing a safe environment in which they can play, learn and develop. Management, staff, volunteers and students in this service recognise that the welfare of children is paramount and our service will endeavour to safeguard all children.

Our Activities

At The Lodge Montessori we carry out many duties which involve the safe guarding of children on a daily basis. These are listed below:

• Care giving routine
• Toilet training & support
• How we communicate to the children
• Managing challenging behaviour
• Promoting positive behaviour
• Outdoor play
• Community involvement
• Safe rest time
• Interactions/communicating with children
• Parental involvement
• Administration of medication, Administration of first aid

4. Child Safeguarding Policies & Procedures

Our Policies and Procedures to safeguard children reflect national policy and legislation; as required by the Children First Act, 2015, Children First National Guidance for Protection and Welfare of Children 2017 and the Guidance for Developing for a Child Safeguarding statement for Early Years Services 2018.  

Staff must complete the Tusla e-Learning module within 10 days of commencing employment with us. The policies and procedures are in place to guide all employees in best practice and all staff must ensure they follow the setting’s policies.

Our policy declaration applies to all paid staff, volunteers, students on work placement and workers within The Lodge Montessori.  All staff, volunteers and students must sign up to and abide by our policies, procedures and guidance encompassed by this policy declaration and our child safeguarding policy and accompanying procedures.

The following Policies are in place to safeguard the children from potential harm throughout their enrolment with us:

• Procedures to maintain a list of mandated persons under the Children First Act, 2015.
  
  
• Policy and Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service.
  
  
• Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla.
  
  
• A Designated Liaison Person and Deputy have been appointed.
  
  
• Child Protection and Welfare policy. (Having procedures to recognise, respond to and report concerns about a child. Staff’s protection and welfare that reflect national policy and legislation and are underpinned by Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017, the Tusla Children First – Child Safeguarding Guide 2017, and the Children First Act 2015).
  
  
• Confidentiality Policy.
  
  
• Procedure for Managing Child Protection Records.
  
  
• Procedure for the safe recruitment of staff and selection of workers & volunteers.
  
  
• Garda Vetting Policy.
  
  
• Code of Behaviour for Working with Children.
  
  
• Induction Policy (which includes procedures to access child safeguarding training and inform new staff about the Child Safeguarding Statement and accompanying safeguarding policies and procedures, including the identification of the occurrence of harm).
  
  
• All staff have completed the Tusla eLearning module – Introduction to Children First and relevant staff have attended Always Children First Child Protection Training.
  
  
• Staff have access to regular Supervision and Support in line with the service policy.
  
  
• Complaints Policy.
  
  
• Managing Accidents and Incidents Policy.
• Social Media Management Policy.
• The Child Safeguarding Statement will be displayed prominently.
• Children’s behaviour management policy
• Risk Management policy
• Toileting policy
• Complaints policy
• Accident and Incident policy
• Use of Internet, Email, Social Media policy

Note: We will review our child safeguarding statement and accompanying child safeguarding policies and procedures every year or sooner if necessary, due to service issues or changes in Legislation or National Policy.

5. Risk Assessment

In accordance with the Children First Act 2015, The Lodge Montessori has carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while attending the service or participating in service activities. A written assessment, setting out the areas of risk identified and the service procedures for managing those risks is summarised below:

6. Implementation and Review

• We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the accompanying child safeguarding policies and procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service.

• This Statement will be reviewed annually or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

• This Statement is displayed in our Parent Information area within the setting.

• It has been provided to all staff, volunteers and any other persons involved with the service.

• It is readily accessible to parents and guardians on request.

• A copy of this Statement will be made available to Tusla, if requested.

Signed: ______________________________________ (Fionnuala Kennedy, Manager, DLP)

Date: ________________________________________

Signed: ______________________________________ (Sue Vincent, Deputy Manager)

Date: ________________________________________

Signed: ______________________________________ (Nicola Kelly)

Date: ________________________________________

Visiting student:

Signed: ______________________________________ Date: ____________________________

For queries, please contact Fionnuala Kennedy, Manager, Relevant Person under the Children First Act 2015.