Stress about safeguarding issue

[Guest]

Hi all,

 

I need to vent my frustration and share the stress with people who might actually understand - husband not helpful here.

Over last few months it's been brought to my attention that my safeguarding rep had some concerns about twins we have in our setting. These were minor, but children made comments we had to follow up with mum and put on record. It happened 3 times. You know, a chat on a side. Child said this, could you explain please and so on. Each time mum gave a satisfactory explanation. Today another comment was made by one of the twins that the safeguarding rep asked mum about. She got all defensive, laughed everything off but then proceeded to make an allegation of inappropriate sexual language used to a child... by me!!!

So now, my colleague has to investigate me (her manager) and we both know it's rubbish.

I cant be involved in it at all, as a manager I have my hands tied and have to wait for what my colleague will do.

My worry is that mum did it to distract us from looking into what's going on at home. I will be ok. Allegations are absolutely untrue and I am confident they will be dismissed. But I feel rotten.

 

Had to let it off my chest.

 

Thanks

[narnia]

Of course you feel rotten...and of course, your colleague is duty bound to follow all procedures to the letter. Anything else would not be in your interests,those of the setting, or, more importantly, the children. So, write down, if you haven't already, ANYTHING you recall about conversations with mum that was to do with her children's comments...and her replies to those. Your colleague needs to contact your LADO to discuss what has happened, and she must be impartial, sticking to facts only. Make it clear that this has only come to light because mum has been asked again about comments the children have made.

I hope this is all cleared up very quickly nad that the concerns about the children are followed up. Good luck. x

[Guest]

Hello,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your current situation. Child protection issues are always very delicate and can be distressing. If the feeling in your gut is telling you something is not right based on the evidence collected I would report the situation to your LSCB. Information sharing is crucial to safeguarding children.

 

Hope everything sorts itself out! :0)

[HappyMaz]

I can only send you a big virtual hug and offer a listening ear if needed. What a rotten situation to be in - and as you say, this is very likely all part of a deflection exercise. As narnia says, your safeguarding person will now just need to follow procedure and show that everything is being played by the books.

Get as much personal support as you can - although you know absolutely 100% that the allegation is unfounded and malicious you're going to go through a difficult experience and of course you're going to feel rotten.

Hang on in there, and come back here and feel free to rant away.

[sunnyday]

Great advice already - I can only offer another hug.........

[flowlow]

sending a huge hug too!! horrid situation to be in hope it all sort out soon

[Guest]

Guys, it's turning into a nightmare. This morning allegations of physical vilance were added. Im suspensed pending investigation.

What do I do now? Setting is without a manager, staff confused. Im in bits.

Is there any support out there for people in my situation?

[HappyMaz]

Oh dear, that must be awful.

I'm guessing you're not in a union at all, because I'm sure that would be your first port of call.

I'm not sure what support there is for people in your situation - but if it were me I think I'd be getting myself some legal advice.

I'd also call my Local Authority and LSCB to find out if there are sources of support locally. Hopefully the LA will already be offering the group support, especially since they are currently without a manager.

I really hope you find some support - what a sad situation.

Take care. xx

[Helen]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Maz has some good advice- I think a call to the LA and LSCB are essential now. Try to stay positive and keep in mind why you raised concerns initially.

[Stargrower]

I feel so sorry for you. It's a manager's worst nightmare. Please take the advice and seek support from your LA. Our LA used to have a person you could talk to in these kind of circumstances so hopefully yours does too. We're all thinking of you and hope you get it sorted out as quickly as possible. The parent concerned has to live with her conscience but I hope any safeguarding issues with her children are resolved too.

[Guest]

I contacted our LADO as thats what local children's services told me to do. He phoned back going all 'where do you have this number from?'. Told me he couldnt help or offer support or even direct me to anyone who could. Any concerns about that family are a separate issue. BUT he told me that he adviced the setting to proceed with internal investigation and he is not getting involved.

I havent heard from the setting apart from the committee chair calling to say they all with me, that thy dont believe a word that was said.

I also called my solicitor just in case. And he told me not to talk to police without his presence. I hope it wont come to that.

Now we are bound to be inspected (overdue anyway). And with me on suspension - I can only imagine...

What a mess!!! Ive got massive headache and its time to put a happy face on and collect my kids from school and childminder.

Thank you so much for all the word of advice and support.

This forum is amazing.

 

Jo

[sunnyday]

Guys, it's turning into a nightmare. This morning allegations of physical vilance were added. Im suspensed pending investigation.

What do I do now? Setting is without a manager, staff confused. Im in bits.

Is there any support out there for people in my situation?

I'm so sorry to read this.........

Can only echo advice from others - LA and LSCB are the 'people' to contact now......

What's happening at your setting now - I take it you have a named deputy who can keep things 'ticking over' for you?

Please take care of yourself - we are all here for you.....x

[zigzag]

Jellyjo what an awful situation you find yourself in. Just follow your allegations policy to the letter . I cannot imagine what you must be going through but stay strong. Also make sure that your safeguarding person is still investigating the family, I think you may have something with the idea of these accusations being used as a distraction. Chin up and keep us informed of any developments.

[Guest]

Deputy and admin in charge. In normal circumstances I am on the phone every hour when away from setting. I hope they are ok. Well, Im sure they are.

So worried about ofsted. This can cause a detailed rigorous inspection. We worked so hard to be good and maybe even outstanding. I just hope this incident didnt jeopardised that.

 

Thanks again x

[SazzJ]

Oh no so sorry your going through this

 

Have you rang you LA teacher? If not I would do. Can't believe LADO can't help.

 

Keep your head held high though

 

On a separate note I would be trying to raise the issues/comments with the necessary agents to for them children. You can rightly ask for the matter to be reported to police if they feel it is violence.

[barcombeplaygroup]

Are you a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance? If so their Lawcall line is very helpful and free to you as member. I was in a similar situation a few years ago with a completely unfounded accusation (although there were no safeguarding issues with a child just a parent not wishing to pay money she owed us) Even though you know you are completely innocent it is a horrible experience to go through. My committee and staff members were excellent as I am sure yours will be. Times like these make you realise what a vulnerable position we are all in - thank goodness on the whole all parents are fine and grateful for what we do.

[Guest]

Ad I am suspended I cannot represent the setting in any way. We are PLA member, but i think they provide support for setting not for an individual?

Question - does the setting have to tell me what te allegations are exactly? I only know bits of it as I didnt want to interfere with the investigation. But to be fair I dont know what grounds I was suspended on. If it was me dealing with it (you may only imagine what not being in charge does to a committed manager!) I would inform staff of the accusations and the date of the interview in writing.

Im worried about my future at this setting. How will I continue working there, with this fanily jn particular!

 

We are doing the thoughest job out there!

[narnia]

Ok, PSLA might well be able to help........because you have the support of your committee, they can surely phone Lawcall to ask what help they can give you??

[Guest]

I just got email from setting forbidding me ant contact with staff and the committee...

[mundia]

Hi jellyjo.

Along with others here, Im so sorry to hear about this, and I know it must be devastating you.

I am surprised in one sense by the response from your LADO, as that wasn't very helpful, but the designated officer in your setting (or deputy if the DO is you) needs to contact the LADO. Maybe your LA has different processes in place than ours but that is your first port of call in mine, if the allegation is against the manger or DO. Do you have guidance from the LA about this?

As others have said, you need to check and follow your allegations against staff procedures. This may or may not include suspension, but it will be something you need to consider once this is all over. It is awful I know, but it may also be in your policy as standard pending investigation. It often is an automatic suspension during investigation. If you have an early years team, or union, you can try and get their advice asap. In my LA though, we would pass this onto the LADO and not get involved as we can't.

One reason you have a deputy is so that they can take over from you when you cant, for whatever reason, be there, and so trust them to do their job.

For your own protection I would write down anything you can recall from conversation that led up to the allegation for example was the allegation made directly to you, were you told about it by someone else, have you spoken to the parents since the allegation etc. Write this down whilst fresh in your mind. Do not wait until you need it. Record dates and times and who was present, including any possible witnesses to the conversation. Stick to the facts. If the allegation was not made directly to you, then the person who was told will need to record what happened, but it cannot be you that interviews or gets involved (as you said).

Respect the committee's request not to have contact with the setting, and this includes things like facebook.

In terms of OFSTED, you (or rather your deputy or reg body) will need to inform them within 14 days, but the parents may have made a complaint themselves and you wont necessarily know that. OFSTED are human (yes they are!), and they will want to know how the matter was dealt with and if correct procedures were followed. This is why recording everything is important, including the phone call to the LADO.

Hang on in there.

[barcombeplaygroup]

~In my case the committee followed the procedures set out in our policy for allegations against a staff member and luckily I was not suspended. All OFSTED wanted to know was that the correct procedures and been followed and that no welfare issues had been breached. This is such a horrible situation for you to be in - I think it is very unfair that you have been suspended with no idea what you have actually been accused of, surely this cannot be right. How can you prepare to answer the accusations if you do not know exactly what they are. Did any of your staff or other parents witness what was supposed to have happened - this could help you if they did. I would agree with the previous post that you should write every thing down that you can remember (if you have not already done so). I hope this all works out for you such a horrible situation to be in. Keep strong.

[SazzJ]

You should have in writing why you have been suspended.

 

I am sorry but I think you have every right to be in contact with your committee! After all they are your employer and have a duty to inform you of why you have been suspended. so sorry you are going through this and some very good points have been raised above.

 

Write down anything and everything.

 

I understand it will be difficult returning to work but I think your best raising above it and trying to maintain a professional relationship with the family. Though just try and ensure that where possible any dealings with either ther children or parent that there is another staff member within ear shoot of you who can back it up what has been said

[HappyMaz]

Given the sensitivity of the nature of this thread, I've moved it into the Lounge area which isn't visible to non-members.

[Fredbear]

So sorry to hear of your situation JellyJo, great advice already from your forum friends, be sure to take care of yourself through this.

Virtual hugs Fx

[Guest]

HI, i would like to try and offer you some support as my setting has been through nearly two years of hell with at least 12 malicious complaints against both myself (deputy) and my manager. This has resulted in 3 visits from the compliance and investigation unit of Ofsted, 2 full inspections within 6 months of each other endless phone calls from LADO and social services turning up at MY HOUSE, due to allegations against me!

Through all this time we have had NO ONE to give us any support what so ever ! PLA, Lawcall, Union......absoloutley no one to support the staff. I ended up going off sick in June because i could no longer cope with it all, i have only just returned to work.

If there is ANY allegation of abuse, it MUST NOT be investigated internally. This is the job for LADO and OFSTED. On the first complaint we got, the committee started to investigate and as a result, when the inspection was carried out we were down graded to satisfactory

The complaints were sent mainly to OFSTED anonymously but two complaints were also sent to the local primary school and also the school were my own children go stating that i was living with a known paedophile and allowing him access to the playgroup (i am a single mum to two young children) !

 

In March we decided we could no longer allow this to continue and we called the police in. Sadly this is still not resolved and is still ongoing, With the police actually interviewing someone today about all the malicious allegations !

During all these allegations, no staff have ever been suspended during investigations.

I can imagine exactly how you are feeling, it is one of the most awful situations to be in. Please feel free to message me if i can be of any help to you.

 

It really is time that there is some sort of support network available for staff who are wrongly accused of things, it truly is devastating.

[sunnyday]

lovemyjob - I couldn't possibly just 'read and run' - what a terrible catalogue of events - I am so sorry for you and your team - do hope that the police are able to make some headway with this for you.......

[Guest]

Lovemyjob - my dear God, if my stress levels are through the roof I can only imagine how you feel!

I hope the police will help you. So sorry you are still going through it.

 

As for my situation - a letter from the committee wa hand delivered this morning. It says "you are hereby suspended on full pay in for (name of setting) to conduct an investigation into an allegation that you have ABUSED A CHILD while they were in the care of (name of setting)"

I still dont know what the allegation is exactly. It could be anything!

I think I may still be in shock - it cannot be happening!

My interview is tomorrow. I rang the committee and said I damand to be told wht is the nature of the allegation. They would not tell me. They said here is one possible outcome and I should not worry. That helped a bit. But then they said to write everything down. What "everything" is I have no idea.

I agree - it is time to do something about lack of support for falsely and maliciously accused practitioners. You are left to your own devices and own resources.

 

I have to say - this experience is up there with worst times of my life. At the moment I want to work at the checkout in Sainsbury's and never ever go anywhere near any child that is not mine. I hope it will pass as I love my job.

How will I face those people who lied about me is another story...

[Guest]

I'm nit 100% sure I really want it to happen - I have to calm down and get some perspective first - but is it at all possible to terminate a place for the family who did it to me???

[barcombeplaygroup]

I understand where you are coming from - it might be frowned upon due to inclusion etc. etc.. I would have though that the family concerned would feel very uncomfortable continuing to use your setting once this is all over and their accusations are proved unfounded so might leave of their own choice. It would be very awkward for both parties if they carried on coming.

 

Hope all goes well.

[sunnyday]

I'm nit 100% sure I really want it to happen - I have to calm down and get some perspective first - but is it at all possible to terminate a place for the family who did it to me???

Hi - why would they want to continue coming if they seriously think anything 'untoward' has happened........

Really hope all goes well for you x