Staffing Policy

Staffing Policy (staff = paid employees and regular volunteers)

We believe that thoroughly vetted, experienced, well qualified staff and a high adult:child ratio is essential in providing good quality pre-school care.

Our agreed practice is that:

We have at least one member of staff to each eight children over the age of three, and one member of staff to four children under three years (core staff).

We will aim to have an extra member of staff on duty at each session to carry out observations and various other duties, so that the core staff can focus on their interaction with the children. Staff under the age of 17 years cannot be counted towards the ratio.

There will be a named deputy/senior assistant who is able to take charge in the absence of the manager.

There will be designated members of staff to take the roles of: Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO); Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL); Deputy DSL; Behaviour Management Officer.

All prospective employees and regular volunteers will be thoroughly vetted; references will be requested and followed up.

Appointments will be made subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and a “clean” enhanced Disclosure and Barring Certificate being received from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Additional criminal record check (or checks if more than one country is involved) should be made for anyone who has lived or worked abroad.

All new staff must sign up to the DBS Update Service. Before accessing the DBS Update Service consent must be obtained from the member of staff. If the member of staff refuses to give consent then they will no longer be considered a “fit” person and disciplinary proceedings to terminate their employment will start.

A record will be kept in the confidential staff files of the number and date of issue of their enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure. Staff and regular volunteers are expected to disclose any convictions, cautions, court orders, reprimands and warnings which may affect their suitability to work with children and a declaration to this effect is included on job application forms and will form part of staff and regular volunteer appraisal and supervision meetings.

Where a DBS Update check identifies that there has been a change to the staff’s disclosure details a new enhanced DBS disclosure must be applied for.

All prospective employees will be asked to complete a medical declaration form and employment decisions will be subject to it being satisfactory to the management team. Management may request a medical report from the staff member’s doctor to confirm that they are medically fit for the role.

Staff are expected to keep the setting informed of any changes to their medical declaration and these 2 questions are included in the Safeguarding self declaration form at regular appraisal and supervision meetings:-

1. Do you have a medical condition that could affect your ability to work with children?

2. Are you taking any medication or any other substances on a regular basis?

All prospective employees and regular volunteers will be asked to provide proof of identity, one document must be photo ID (eg passport or photo driving license) and one must provide proof of address (eg bank statement; utility bill) proof of any changes of name should also be provided (eg marriage certificate).

All prospective employees will be asked to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK.

Prospective employees must provide certificates for qualifications that they have obtained. Staff with a level 3 Early Years Educator qualification (introduced in September 2014) must also provide proof that they have achieved a suitable level 2 qualification in English and Maths as defined by the Department for Education on the Early Years Qualifications List published on GOV.UK

We employ staff who are sympathetic to the Christian ethos of the playgroup.

Induction training will be provided for new staff to help them understand how the provision operates and their role within it. It will include training in evacuation procedures, our policies on child protection (including intimate care procedures), Whistleblowing, ICT usage, confidentiality, responsibilities under General Data Protection Regulation 2018, behaviour management, health and hygiene and safety matters and an explanation of the “code of conduct for staff”. At the end of the induction process staff will be asked to sign that they understand and agree to implement the policies and procedures covered.

Ongoing training will ensure that all practitioners have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

All staff are expected to follow the setting’s Staff Code of Conduct and failure to do so may result in a disciplinary procedure.

All staff new to the sector will attend Safeguarding Children training within six months of starting. All staff will refresh their Safeguarding Children training every 3 years (2 years for DSL and Deputy DSL)

At least half our staff will hold a NVQ level III in Early Years Education and Childcare or an equivalent qualification. Staff will be supported in improving their qualification levels.

All staff must hold a paediatric first aid (PFA) qualification which meets the criteria set out in The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage April 2017, Annex A. Newly qualified level 2 and 3 staff entering the workforce must obtain a full PFA or an emergency PFA certificate within 3 months of starting work in order to be included in the required staff:child ratios in the setting. PFA certificates must be renewed every three years.

All staff will obtain a level 2 qualification in food handling within 6 months of starting.

Regular staff meetings provide opportunities for staff to undertake curriculum planning, to discuss the children's progress and any difficulties. These meetings also provide an opportunity for training and for the staff to feed back to each other and evaluate the setting and their own work.

Regular (usually annual) staff appraisals will be carried out to identify the training needs of staff and termly one to one supervision meetings will be held to review progress, support continuous improvement and to encourage discussion of sensitive issues and concerns.

Training is available to all staff through the Surrey Supporting Children Team and other agencies.

Our playgroup budget includes an allocation towards training costs.

Staff will be provided with a written statement of what data the playgroup may hold about them, why it is held, how it is kept safe, what we use it for, who it may be shared with and how long the data is kept before it is destroyed/deleted. They will also be told of their rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to access their data, have wrong data corrected, request that data is not processed and request that data is transferred.

The policy was adopted by Laleham Church Playgroup at a meeting on...12th October 2018

Signed on behalf of Laleham Church Playgroup...........................................