While recent events may have put child safeguarding under a more refined lens, families have always sought to understand how ECEC providers commit to keeping their children safe. Ideally high transparency means everyone in the community knows and models what they do to protect children, however this needs to be backed up by frequent and varied communication – it doesn’t just take place naturally.
Effective communication between early childhood educators and their families is a critical driver of mutual trust.
If you are looking to develop (or maintain) community partnerships with the aim of strengthening safeguarding for the children in your care, how to communicate your child safeguarding practices deserves examination.
Trust one another, and value what you are doing
ECEC environments are marked by empathy, understanding, and respect which is actively lived, not only taught. Yet, news stories and tension in the wider ECEC community can cause fear and uncertainty among teams, ‘Are we doing the right things?’ ‘Is everyone in our team onboard and aware of how important it is to get things right?’ Amanda Higgins, Storypark’s lead pedagogical consultant emphasises, to “not let the current environment and stressors cause you to throw out trust with each other.” If you have strong safeguarding policies and practices, they build the foundation on which trust can be sustained. Before communicating what you are doing with parents and families, value what you are doing, why you are doing it and how each one of your team contributes. In your safeguarding approach, your team can only be stronger working together. If you begin with confidence in your approach and amongst one another, your communication externally will be much clearer and cohesive. For teams who may need further support in their safeguarding approach first, consider both an educator use agreement and reviewing the NQF Child Safe Culture – Self-assessment and risk assessment tool.
Communicate early and often
If you’re bringing in new safeguarding measures to your service, telling your community only once you’ve changed something can be abrupt, and risks the message being missed.
Consider how you might (in advance of any changes) cover the following:
– What is going to happen?
That is, what is the new measure or practice, and how is it different from what you do now?
– Why is it going to happen?
For example, knowing why your service is no longer going to allow families to take their own photos at events may go a long way in reassuring them of your concern for their child’s safety as well as encouraging them to get on board. Security and safeguarding measures can often appear onerous or obstructive when we don’t understand why they are important.
– When will this happen?
Is it a gradual/phased change, or is there a specific date when it comes into effect for everyone?
– How will it affect different groups?
This might have multiple answers depending on the different groups in your community. Consider whether they will need different information about how the change will affect them.
Plan to communicate changes multiple times over multiple weeks; follow up your initial message over several weeks using the different methods you have available to you, family handbooks, parent information nights, emails, newsletters and community posts for example. Consider the use of posters in community languages to complement your communication and as a visual reminder in the physical spaces that your change/s apply to. You can even get pre-school children involved in learning about these changes as they make simple posters — check out early learning initiative, Playing IT Safe’s, great collection of A4 printables.
Remain open and demonstrate partnership 🤝
You will need to create multiple opportunities for families to hear, digest, and understand any changes, particularly where it seeks to address common and well ingrained behaviour(s). Make sure this includes opportunities to discuss them with you and your team, providing space to ask questions will help them to feel comfortable.
If for example your service has restricted the use of personal devices, parents could be confused if they see an educator using a phone in a classroom. Let parents know who to go to if they see something they are unsure about or if they have any questions. Where changes could feel restrictive or black and white, providing space for questions and conversation demonstrates your commitment to shared responsibility, openness and partnership.
This is how we do it and we’d really like you to help.
Effective partnership can look like asking for help and support. The NQF Child Safe Culture Guide reminds us, “Children are safer and thrive when their families are involved in the service’s child safe practices.” Where might your community’s active and ongoing participation be needed to consider this change a success?
There can also be opportunities to connect digital safeguarding changes to learning opportunities at home, and engage children and families in thinking and exploring the way they use technology. Here are some great resources you might find helpful to share:
Playing IT safe
The eSafety Commissioner’s advice for parents and carers
Raising Children Network
Connect Safely’s Parent Guides
The Family Online Safety Institute
Netsafe’s online safety hub for parents and caregivers
Netsafe’s Online Parent Safety Toolkit
The ECEC community is largely made up of people who care deeply about the safety and wellbeing of the children in their care. As you make changes to strengthen your safeguarding of children, don’t forget to pause, value what you and your team are doing and bring your families on the journey too.
Share this: