Some great new guidance!

As many of my followers know, I work right across different sectors with my training and consultancy offer. I enjoy working  with small organisations who are developing services in the not-for-profit sector. I was therefore particularly excited to see this publication from the Department of Education. It focuses on the good practice to develop when working in what we might call the ‘informal childcare’ sector. A club running after the school day, extra tuition, and so on.

I have so many queries from people who have great ideas about how to deliver services for children locally.  I always encourage them to  do some market research to look at the level of demand for their proposed services, and to scope out what already exists.  There is no point in duplicating services, or having all the out of school activities for children running at the same time each week.

Sustainability is also key – how will the idea be funded.

Once a robust idea is on the table, the next step is to check whether the services need to be registered under the OFSTED framework. If so there’s lots of guidance out there. Sometimes more challenging are those groups such as informal clubs, music groups etc. where registration is not a requirement. However it is of course essential that these are on safely and follow good practice.

This guidance gives some great tips on how to do this. It explains about responsibilities relating to safeguarding – and included some really easy to follow information about writing down procedures I was delighted to see that it suggests writing down procedures and policies even if you are very small setting.

Those who have trained with me know I’m a great believer in checking every now and then whether systems are working and the audit checklist provided is good for this.

It also highlights the role of Designated Safeguarding Lead and how this can work in a more informal setting.

The guidance can be accessed here.

As always, If I can help in anyway please do get in touch!