Small Steps Pre-school is committed to the safety, high quality of provision and positive experiences for everyone involved with our setting. We have dedicated this space to evidencing our comprehensive collection of guidance through our policies and procedures to explain how we go about this.
Early years providers must meet all the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and take all necessary steps to keep children safe and well, including by maintaining records, policies and procedures. As working documents, policies and procedures govern all aspects of the setting’s operations and are vital for consistency and quality assurance across the provision. They are required to be in writing for all parents, carers, staff and others to be able to access and so the management of the setting can ensure that they are followed.
Policies describe the approach of operating as an organisation and they incorporate current legislation and registration requirements. Procedures detail the methods by which the policies are implemented. Some may need adjustment following risk assessment carried out in the setting. These documents are working documents and can be reviewed as often as needed.
Staff, volunteers and students need to fully understand and know how to implement the policies and procedures, which must also be accessible to parents, so that everyone knows what actions they need to take in practice to achieve them.
Each of the policies and procedures that providers are required to have in place are provided on our website, as well as some recommended by the Early Years Alliance as good practice. We may also include some that are specific to our location and structure. They have been customised by our Preschool to work in the best way for our setting.
Adopting, implementing and reviewing policies
- Copies of the policies and procedures to be adopted are made available to all parents and staff; giving everyone the opportunity to discuss and fully understand each policy and procedure. They should be reviewed and readopted at the committee AGM annually to ensure relevant and practical.
- It should be explained to parents, employees and volunteers that the policies contain the rules required for running the setting in a way which complies with the requirements of the EYFS and Ofsted registration and must be adhered to by everyone.
- All staff and volunteers should be aware of the content of the policies and procedures, and their role and responsibility in implementing them.
- Each policy and procedure should be continually monitored by collecting evidence about the results of their implementation. The evidence should be used to make any necessary changes to the policies and procedures and/or the way they are implemented.
- All management, staff and parents should contribute to the evidence collected and share in decisions about any necessary changes.
- Named/designated persons in each setting have a delegated responsibility to make sure that relevant procedures are known by all members of staff and are adhered to, bringing any cause for concern to the setting manager’s attention. Example, the Designated Safeguarding Lead should know and monitor the safeguarding policies and ensure setting procedures are up to date and being followed by everyone. The same for the Health and Safety Lead, Equality and Inclusion Lead (ENCO) etc. Regular staff meetings should include the discussion of all policies and how they are working.
- Risk assessment is vital to implementation of many procedures. The setting management ensures that risk assessments as detailed are carried out at least once a year – more if the need arises and will amend or add to the procedures as required.
We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and procedures, and update them when anything changes ensuring they are relevant to our practice.
If there is a policy you would like to view, which you can not see here, please get in touch!
LATEST UPDATE : APRIL 2022
01.06 Short trips, outings and excursions
01.07 Outdoor and Indoor Safety
01.12 Threats and abuse towards staff and volunteers
01.13 Entrances and approach to the building
01.17 Jewellery and hair accessories
01.20 Notifiable incident, accident or non-child protection
01.21 Terrorist threat attack and lock-down
01.22 Closed circuit television
03 Food safety and nutrition policy
03.01 Food preparation, storage and purchase
03.02 Food for play and cooking activities
04.01 Accidents and emergency treatment
04.02 Administration of medicine
04.03 Life-saving medication and invasive treatments
04.04 Allergies and food intolerance
05 Promoting inclusion, equality and valuing diversity policy
05.01 Promoting inclusion, equality and valuing diversity procedure
06 Safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults policy
06.01 Procedure for Responding to safeguarding or child protection concerns
06.02 Allegations against staff, volunteers or agency staff
06.03 Visitor or intruder on the premises
06.04 Uncollected child procedure
06.07 Death of a child on-site
06.09 E-safety mobile phones and devices
06.11d Childrens-Rights-and-Entitlements
07.01 Childrens records and data protection GDPR
07.02 Confidentiality, recording and sharing information
07.03 Client access to records
08 Staff, volunteers and students policy
08.02 Deployment of volunteers and parent helpers
09.01 Waiting list and admissions
09.03 The role of the key person
09.04 Settling in and transitions
09.05 Establishing children’s starting points
09.09 Prime times Intimate care and nappy changing
09.12 Promoting positive behaviour
09.13 Identification, assessment and support for children with SEND
09.15 Progress check at age two
10 Working in partnership with parents and other agencies policy
10.01 Working in partnership with parents and other agencies
10.02 Complaints procedure for parents and service users
13. Severe-Weather-Conditions-Policy
13.a Small-Steps-Boreham-Sun-Policy
16a Staff-with-Children-at-Preschool