Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Please could someone help me here !!!! Am updating the Op. plan - do I really need a Whistleblowing policy? Have managed to find some on the web. but they are very in depth. They are not always confined to Child Protection either, and I am wondering whether the employer (e.g. Committee) should be the ones writing it (Mind you , they haven't written one yet !!!!!! ) For those of you that have recently had Ofsted, or are doing the Acreditation - did they ask for it? I would be so grateful for any help that anyone could give me here !!!!!! Thanks in advance! Janice
Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 What do you mean by a whistleblowing policy? We had our OFSTED inspection in November and nothing was mentioned then!! I assume this is to do with child protection?? Are you talking about parents or staff?? You should have a child protection policy in place which includes staff . You should have it written into your policy the procedure you would take if you suspected them of abuse in the pre-school. This usually falls in line with your local child protection. Linda
Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Thanks for the reply Linda - I can see this is going to get complicated!!!! A whistleblowing policy is for staff and refers to anything that they might have concerns about - not especially Child Protection e.g staff might think there are episodes of bad practice, or that the Leader is pocketing the fees, or other staff are taking equipment etc.etc. or that the NEG is being claimed for more children than are actually eligible for it - these are just my examples of how I read it - I might be totally wrong! I am beginning to get confused now! But do I really need one ????? All opinions greatly appreciated! Bye for now Janice
Steve Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Hi Janice - It sounds like one of those whacky policies that become part of a nursery myth. Who is telling you you need it? We had an inspection in February and have no whistleblowing policy, or a bellringing policy either. Linda has probably hit the nail on the head again in that a good child protection policy is what you need.
Sue R Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 I second Steve and everyone else.! Sounds like a myth. Keep smiling Sue
Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Ok thanks ! I will now abandon any thought of writing one - the more I think about it, it isn't just related to Child Protection. And I still think it is for the committee and not me! As you can see, the stress of this impending visit has forced me to change my avatar - I will have my bouncy alien back when it's all over ! Bye bye Janice
Steve Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Don't let the committee run you ragged Janice. You're the expert and you're the one the Ofsted Inspector will spend most of their time with. Have faith in yourself!
Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Steve - oh now you are really trying to worry me ..... Ofsted spend most of their time with me ....oh nooooooooooooooo ! Remember, you've had yours, I haven't got a clue what is coming !!!!!!! Byeeeeeeeeee Janice
Guest Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Don't worry too much about it Janice and have faith in your capabilities!!! It is a stressful time but only because we are all under pressure when being observed and questioned. We all try so hard to say and do the right thing!! But I can honestly say it wasn't as bad as we anticipated-and there is the thing. The anticipation!!! Linda
Beau Posted April 16, 2004 Posted April 16, 2004 Hi Janice, I am in Scotland and we have different regulations here but we were told we needed a Whistleblowing Policy. We now have one from the SPPA (like the PLA in England). Its basically about raising concerns about misconduct or malpractice within your organisation. This is more than just a Child Protection issue but about being able to raise concerns about another member of staff - this could be anything. Did you want a look at it?
Guest Posted April 16, 2004 Posted April 16, 2004 Hi Carol - wow that would be really good of you if you could e mail it to me. I will send you a pm with my address. What I could do I 'spose is write one up quickly and then if they ask to see it, I could just suddenly produce it from another file !!!!!! Thanks to everyone ! Janice
Steve Posted April 16, 2004 Posted April 16, 2004 Whoops. Well you learn something new every day... Carol, if it's not copyrighted to the SPPA you can post it here if you're happy to. Just use the File attachment section below the dialogue box when you make a post.
Guest Posted April 16, 2004 Posted April 16, 2004 Hi all Had a good think about this last night. It is a requirement that the complaints procedure for OFSTED be available to parents. In other words, if a parent or carer has a complaint about the setting they should be able to have access to how they contact OFSTED without having to go through the group. Perhaps this should be extended to staff. There must be situations where staff are concerned about practices going on within a setting, such as taking children under age, going over numbers etc. They should be able to contact somebody about these concerns and this could be the same route that parents take. Linda
Beau Posted April 16, 2004 Posted April 16, 2004 Hopefully this will work!! Just bear in mind I am in Scotland so instead of the PLA we have the SPPA and instead of OFSTED we have the Care Commission. Whistleblowing_Policy.doc
Alison Posted April 20, 2004 Posted April 20, 2004 Hi Janice in drawing up you own policy you could consider child protection complaints proceedure staff individual supervision meetings and staff appraisals out line how all of the above allow all users of the group oportunities to raise their concerns and compliments, we have never been asked about whistle blowing but we have been asked about staff supervision meettings which should be an integral part of staff mangement and allow chances for staff to air their concerns and greivences in strict confidence I will say that when ever OFSTED have mentiond aspects like complaints or concerns they have also mentioned compliments and said dont focus of negative communication allow staff and parents to share their compliments and praise for the group which inturn boosts the morale group dont worry about OFSTED they are humans too!!! dispite rumours to the contrary. check the list of policies in national standards if there is no mention of a whistle blowing policy then I would agree with Linda it is quite possible a myth but dont bin what you have written so far there is no law that says you cant have extra policies than those listed in national standards and OFSTED might see it as good practice that you have shown some initialtive in creating such a policy and who knows what policies may be introduced in the future
Guest Posted April 20, 2004 Posted April 20, 2004 Hi Alison - thanks for your reply which really makes lots of sense! I haven't got round to writing one yet (but then again they're not here yet !!!!) Now then ........ when I do get one written, where do I put it ...... under Standard 1/2 or 13 ?????????!!!!!!!- or is there another slot where it can go !!!!!!!!!!! Bye for now Janice
Sue R Posted April 22, 2004 Posted April 22, 2004 Hi Janice, If that was a serious question, which I suppose it was.... , then I suggest both Std 2 and 13 are appropriate, but wherever you put it, cross reference to the other! How's that for hedging your bets - but I am actually serious. It doesn't really obviously sit anywhere, does it? Let me know what you decide, Sue
Guest Posted November 1, 2007 Posted November 1, 2007 Hi, Just attended Day 1 of Safeguarding Children B and have been informed that all settings require a Whistleblowing Policy as well as their Safeguarding Children Policy. So 3yrs after original post it is now a compulsory policy. Net x
Guest Posted November 1, 2007 Posted November 1, 2007 Hi Janice, wow, you've really opened up a topic here. Our staff are issued with a policy booklet and within that we do state that if staff have any concerns of miscondut or similar regarding staff or mangagement, they should take this to their manager (me) or if they feel unable to do this they may take it to the Chair/vice chair. They are all issued with phone no and it is explained that the matter would not be discussed over the phone, but they could use the phone number to make an appointment to see the chair - I know that seems tedious, but you can't both sign the end of a phone call to say you agree on any action. We also invite them to join a union of their choice within their contractual forms, so they can access any back-up if they need it. This is at their own expense. I think this covers part of your initial question? Abby
Recommended Posts