Safeguarding – splat

Child Protection & Safeguarding

At SPLAT Day Nursery & Forest School, your child’s safety, well-being, and emotional health are our highest priorities. Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and responsive environment where every child can thrive.

We know safeguarding is more than policies, it is about people, practice, and proactive care. Every member of our team is trained and regularly updated in line with the EYFS September 2025 revisions, ensuring our practice is current, confident, and exemplary.

Areas we have recently reviewed include:

Early identification of SEND and timely support, with stronger processes for intervention.

Online safety and digital awareness, helping children and families navigate technology securely.

Staff training and supervision, with increased expectations to ensure reflective, knowledgeable teams.

Mental health and emotional well-being, given equal weight alongside physical safety.

Safer recruitment and whistleblowing procedures, reinforcing accountability and transparency.

By embedding these principles into daily practice, we ensure that safeguarding at SPLAT is lived, not just written, creating an environment where children are protected, respected, and supported to thrive.

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs)

We have three trained Designated Safeguarding Leads who take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection across the setting:

Gemma P
Ellie
Kayla (Deptuty DSL)

All DSLs receive advanced safeguarding training every 3 years, and are supported by the whole team, who receive annual safeguarding training and ongoing refreshers throughout the year. Our staff are regularly monitored to ensure they remain alert, observant, and confident in responding to any signs of concern.

A Trauma-Informed, Emotionally Safe Environment

At SPLAT, we are proud to be a trauma-informed setting. This means we work from a place of understanding, empathy, and emotional sensitivity, recognising that every child’s experiences shape how they feel, behave, and learn.

Trauma-informed care doesn’t just benefit children who have experienced trauma, it supports the emotional well-being of every child in our setting. We aim to create an environment where children feel safe, seen, and supported.

Our staff are trained to:

Recognise signs of emotional distress
Respond with compassion and calm
Support children in understanding and regulating their emotions
Build trusting, secure relationships

This approach helps children develop resilience, process big feelings, and feel confident in who they are. In addition, all of our team are trained in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and 5 to Thrive.

Early Help & Family Support

We understand that parenting is one of the most beautiful, but also most challenging journeys. Children don’t come with a manual, and no one gets it right all the time, and that’s okay.

At SPLAT, we are here to support you every step of the way.

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, unsure, or just need someone to talk to, our experienced team, including our empathetic Director, a mum of four herself, will listen without judgement and provide meaningful guidance. Our goal is to help before things escalate, by offering Early Help support to families when they need it most.

This can include:

Signposting to local support services
Helping you navigate routines, sleep, behaviour or health concerns
Supporting mental health and emotional wellbeing
Assisting with funding, referrals, or specialist services

When needed, and always in the best interest of the child, we may seek advice or support from external safeguarding agencies, but we aim to start with supportive conversations and proactive care first.

Keeping Children Safe in a Digital World

As technology becomes part of daily life for even our youngest children, we work closely with families to promote safe and mindful digital use.

We aim to:

Help parents understand online safety risks
Share resources and guidance on age-appropriate technology
Support you in setting safe boundaries around screen time
Introduce digital safety as part of the curriculum in age-appropriate ways

By working together, we can keep children protected both offline and online.

Your Child’s Safety Is Everyone’s Responsibility

At SPLAT, safeguarding is woven into every part of our practice, from our routines and training to our conversations and care.

Every child has the right to feel safe, loved, respected and protected, and our promise is to uphold that right every day, for every child.

If you are worried about a child please contact :

Central Bedfordshire Access and Referral Hub on 0300 300 8585

If you urgently need help outside office hours you can contact Social Care Emergency Duty Team on 0300 300 8123

Hertfordshire 0300 123 4043 – call us anytime if you’re a child or young person being abused or mistreated or if you’re an adult worried about a young person.

Police on 101 or in an emergency 999 if you’re in immediate danger or a crime is being committed.

NSPCC 0808 800 500