Safeguarding
You cannot notice a change in someone you do not know
Safeguarding is not a procedure the home will run alongside the care. It is most of what the care is for.
The practical work of keeping a child safe begins with adults who are around often enough to know what that child is normally like. Everything else on this page exists because knowing a child well is necessary — and not, on its own, sufficient.
Recognition
Most safeguarding starts as somebody thinking “that’s not like them”
Recognising that something is wrong almost never begins with a disclosure. It begins with a small change — in how a child sleeps, who they are spending time with, what they will and will not talk about, how they are on a Sunday evening.
Noticing that requires a baseline. A baseline requires having been there.
A house for two children with a small, consistent team is built for exactly that.
Children will be supported to do this for themselves too — to understand risk, and to know the adults they would go to if something felt wrong. Being able to ask for help is a skill, and it is taught.
If the first one misses it
Four things stand between a child and harm, and none of them is the same thing
- The child Told how the home works and how to complain, in a form that suits their age and the way they communicate — and supported to reach an independent advocate whenever they want one, without asking our permission.
- The adults around them The same few people, often enough to know what ordinary looks like for that particular child — which is what makes a change in them something anyone can notice at all.
- The home itself Concerns recorded rather than remembered. Supervision, team meetings, incident review and monthly audit — and a manager accountable for whether any of it is actually working.
- Outside the home An Independent Person who will visit monthly under Regulation 44 and report to Ofsted rather than to us; a six-monthly review of the quality of care under Regulation 45; and the child’s own social worker and Independent Reviewing Officer, who do not work for this home.
They are not a chain, and they are not ranked. Each one is designed to work on the day the one inside it does not.
What this page does not contain
Some of this belongs in a document, not on a website
Oasis House has policies and procedures covering exploitation, children who go missing, online safety, self-harm, bullying, allegations and whistleblowing.
The detail of those procedures is not published, because operational safeguarding detail works against the children it protects.
The standard they are written to is public: the child’s welfare comes first; concerns are recorded, not carried in someone’s head; and any risk of significant harm is referred to the relevant agency promptly, whether or not it is convenient.
Placing authorities, commissioners and Regulation 44 visitors are welcome to see the full policies. They are written to the Children Act 1989 and 2004, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Quality Standards, Working Together to Safeguard Children, and Keeping Children Safe in Education where it applies.
A child’s own routes
A child should never have only one way to be heard
None of these will depend on a member of staff’s help, or on their permission.
- Any adult in the house. Complaints can be made out loud, in writing, or through somebody else — and a child does not have to call it a complaint for it to be treated as one.
- An independent advocate. Every child will be given information about independent advocacy and supported to reach one whenever they want to, including to disagree with us.
- Their social worker and their Independent Reviewing Officer. Neither works for this home, and children will be actively encouraged to talk to them.
- The Independent Person who will visit under Regulation 44, who will speak with children privately and reports to Ofsted rather than to us.
- Ofsted, and their placing authority’s complaints service. Current contact details will be in each child’s own Children’s Guide and complaints information, in a format that suits them.
One honest limit: safeguarding sometimes requires an answer a child does not want. They are entitled to a real explanation — and to keep disagreeing, with help, to somebody independent of us.
When the concern is about us
The test of a safeguarding culture is what happens to a complaint about staff
Any allegation that someone working here has harmed a child, may have harmed a child, or has behaved in a way suggesting they could pose a risk to children will be acted on immediately and in line with statutory guidance. Referrals will be made to the local authority designated officer, the placing authority, Ofsted and the police as required. The child’s safety is the first consideration, not the home’s reputation.
Staff who are the subject of an allegation will be dealt with fairly while that happens — both things are possible at once.
Staff will be expected to raise concerns about practice — internally where they can, externally where they cannot, including to Ofsted and the local authority designated officer. Nobody will be disadvantaged for raising a genuine concern in good faith, and every allegation and concern will be recorded, reviewed and used to change something.
Independent oversight
Nobody should have to take a children’s home’s word for it
Once the home is operating, an Independent Person will visit at least monthly under Regulation 44 — speaking with children and staff, reading the records, and producing a written report that goes to Ofsted and to the placing authority as well as to us. Recommendations are responded to formally.
A Regulation 45 review of the quality of care will be completed every six months and submitted to Ofsted — alongside monthly provider visits and the home’s own daily, weekly and monthly internal checks.
Everyone who works here will be recruited through safer recruitment, including enhanced DBS checks and full pre-employment vetting, and will hold safeguarding training appropriate to their role, refreshed and supervised rather than completed once.
Raising a concern
If you have a concern about a child, we would rather hear it early
Concerns about a child, this home, or anyone working in it are welcome from anybody. They will be recorded and acted on, and you will be told what happened next. If a child is at immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services first.
Planning for a particular child? Discuss a Future Placement