Sep
Confidentiality
All information on children, families and anyone working with me is kept securely and treated in confidence. Information will only be shared if the parents, carers or co-workers give their permission or there appears to be a child protection issue. All details will be kept confidential and records are kept secure. The details are easily accessible if any information is required for inspection by Ofsted.
Procedure (how I put the policy into practice)
All parents receive and have access to a copy of my policies and procedures, which detail how I run my child care business.
My certificate of registration is displayed and available to all parents.
I am aware of my responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I have registered myself as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner and you can check my registration on the Data Protection Public Register.
I maintain a record of parents’ and/or emergency contact details, the contact details of the child’s GP and appropriate signed consent forms.
If a child is identified as a child in need (section 17 of the Children Act 1989) I will, normally with the parent’s permission, give appropriate information to referring agencies.
I expect parents to inform me of any changes in the child’s home circumstances, care arrangements or any other change which may affect the child’s behaviour such as a new baby, parents’ separation, divorce, new partner or any bereavement.
All information shared will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed without the parents’ consent, except as required by law, for example, if there appears to be a child protection issue. Please see my Safeguarding Children Policy.
Ofsted or the CSSIW may require to my see records at any time.
Parents have the right to inspect all records about their child at any time.
All accidents are recorded in an accident book. All accidents which clearly might result in an insurance claim, e.g. an accident involving a doctor or hospital visit, must be notified immediately to NCMA. NCMA will log and acknowledge receipt of the correspondence and forwards the information to the company providing my public liability policy to enable a claim number to be allocated.
I am using the National Childminding Association (NCMA) public liability insurance. The total life of the policy is 21 years and 4 months to enable the child to make a claim against the policy at a later date.
All significant incidents are recorded in an incident book and will be shared and discussed with parents so that together we can work to resolve any issues.
If I keep records relating to individual children on my computer I will ask for the parent’s permission. The information will be securely stored for example, in password-protected files, to prevent viewing of the information by others with access to the computer. Backup files will be stored on back-up hard drives and CD which will be locked away when not being used.
