Safeguarding and Child Protection at Wise Owls Childcare 

Our Commitment to Keeping Children Safe 

At Wise Owls Childcare, the safety, wellbeing, and happiness of every child is our highest priority. We are fully committed to safeguarding children and promoting their welfare in everything we do.  Safeguarding means protecting children from harm, abuse, and neglect, and ensuring they feel safe, respected, and supported. Creating a safe environment for children is everyone’s responsibility, and all staff work together to maintain a strong safeguarding culture. 

How We Keep Children Safe 

We provide a caring, welcoming, and well‑supervised environment where children can learn and play safely. Our spaces are carefully organised so children are always visible to staff, and we follow clear supervision procedures throughout the day.  

We have appropriate systems in place to manage visitors, contractors, and temporary staff to ensure that children are always protected. 

1. Safe Supervision and Environment

Wise Owls is committed to maintaining a safe and open environment for all children. To support this: 

• Staff must endeavour to ensure they are never alone with a child or group of children. Where this is unavoidable, another member of staff must be within sight or hearing, the door must remain open and another member of staff must be informed 

• Rooms must be organised and laid out to ensure children are always visible and observable.  

 

2. Behaviour and Interaction with Children

All staff are expected to model safe, respectful behaviour: 

• Staff must never shout at, threaten or raise a hand to a child.  

• Staff must never force a child to do something they do not want to do 

• Staff must never force affection or physical contact 

• All interactions must be calm, respectful and child-centred 

• Staff must respect children’s dignity during care routines and ensure children’s privacy is maintained during intimate care tasks such as: Nappy changing, Toileting, First aid 

• Maintain a balance between privacy and safeguarding, ensuring practice remains open and observable 

 

3. Physical Contact with Children

Any physical contact must: 

• Be necessary and appropriate 

• Be in response to the child’s needs 

• Unnecessary or potentially inappropriate contact must always be avoided 

• If a child seeks comfort (e.g. a hug, holding hands, sitting on a lap), this must take place appropriately and in the presence of other staff 

• If a child requires restraint, staff must use the minimum necessary intervention, and actions must ensure the safety of the child, others, and staff. 

Ongoing professional development   

 

1. Safer Recruitment and Suitability

• All staff, students, and volunteers are carefully recruited, with verified references and full, current DBS certificates. 

• Each setting maintains a Single Central Register (SCR) containing:  

• DBS certificate numbers 

• Dates of issue 

• Safeguarding training dates 

• During each professional development review, staff complete an ongoing suitability check. 

• Any member of staff, student, or volunteer under investigation for alleged abuse of a child will be managed in line with the Staff Disciplinary Procedure. 

• The Company will take appropriate action following any investigation, ensuring the safety of children while upholding fair processes for staff, students, and volunteers 

 

2. Induction and Mandatory Training

• All of our staff complete an online safeguarding course prior to their official start date. 

• All of our staff complete mandatory Level 2 Safeguarding training, as well as:  

• Prevent Duty training 

• FGM Awareness training 

 

Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) complete:  

• Level 2 and Level 3 Safeguarding training 

• Safer Recruitment training 

• Prevent Duty 

• FGM Awareness 

• Online Safety training 

• Safeguarding training is refreshed every two years for all staff 

 

3. Ongoing Training, Supervision, and Knowledge Checks

• All staff and volunteers receive regular refresher training and supervision on safeguarding and child protection. 

• Each setting maintains a Training Matrix to record all mandatory training and refreshers. 

The Manager regularly assesses staff understanding of safeguarding procedures through: 

• Q&A sessions in staff meetings 

• Professional discussions 

• In person observations  

• Policy-related knowledge checks 

 

4. Awareness of Safeguarding Responsibilities

All staff are expected to:  

• Be aware of the main indicators of child abuse 

• Understand their statutory responsibilities regarding the disclosure or discovery of abuse 

• Follow correct legal and reporting procedures 

All staff and volunteers are made aware of:  

• Who the DSLs are on site 

• How to raise a safeguarding concern 

• Visual safeguarding reminders are displayed for staff, visitors, and parents. 

 

5. Support for Staff with English as an Additional Language (EAL)

• Staff with English as an additional language must ensure they fully understand safeguarding policies and the guidance within the Safeguarding Toolkit. 

• Staff may translate policies into their home language for understanding; however, all assessments and verbal reviews must be completed in English. 

 

6. Information Sharing and Visitor Awareness

Safeguarding reporting procedures and key information are clearly displayed within each setting. 

All visitors and temporary staff are informed of essential safeguarding expectations, including:  

• DSL names 

• Fire evacuation procedure 

• Informed of our policy around digital devices – No mobile phone, smart watches and meta glasses  

• Expectations around not being alone on site 

 

7. Unvetted Adults

• Staff will be supervised until a full enhanced clear DBS check is issued.  

• Tradesmen on site will complete a suitability check before accessing the building.  If on site in the vicinity of children, they will be escorted at all times. 

• No unvetted adult is given unsupervised access to the children or allowed to be within the toileting or nappy change spaces 

• Any visitors to the setting are always accompanied by a member of staff and required to sign in, their ID is checked and they are informed of who the DSL’s are, fire point and where to keep their mobile phones. 

 

Recognising and Responding to Concerns 

Children do not always tell adults directly when something is wrong, so our staff are trained to recognise changes in behaviour, mood, or development that may indicate a concern. 

If a safeguarding concern is identified: 

 

• It is recorded carefully and confidentially 

• It is shared immediately with the Designated Safeguarding Lead 

• Appropriate action is taken in line with safeguarding guidance 

Where necessary, concerns may be shared with relevant external professionals to ensure children receive the support they need. 

 

Allegations and Whistleblowing 

Any concern or allegation involving a member of staff is taken very seriously. 

Wise Owls has clear internal processes for: 

• Reporting safeguarding concerns 

• Managing allegations 

• Supporting children and families 

• Ensuring concerns are handled fairly and appropriately 

Staff are encouraged and supported to raise concerns about a child’s safety or the conduct of an adult through our internal reporting and whistleblowing procedures. These processes ensure concerns are addressed promptly, sensitively, and in line with safeguarding guidance. 

 

Online Safety 

We understand that children may face risks online, particularly outside of the nursery environment. Our staff are trained to recognise signs that a child may have been exposed to inappropriate or harmful online content. 

Any online safety concerns are treated as safeguarding matters and managed through our established safeguarding procedures. 

 

Working in Partnership with Parents and Carers 

We believe safeguarding works best when families and settings work together. 

Parents and carers can expect us to: 

• Be open and transparent about safeguarding 

• Act professionally and promptly if concerns arise 

• Communicate sensitively and respectfully 

If you ever have a concern about your child’s safety or wellbeing, please speak to the Manager or Deputy Manager, who are our safeguarding leads. 

 

Our Ongoing Commitment 

Wise Owls Childcare is committed to: 

• Maintaining a strong safeguarding culture 

• Reviewing and updating policies regularly 

• Training and supporting staff 

• Always putting children’s safety and wellbeing first 

Our full Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available on request. 

 

Safeguarding – Parent FAQs