national cares tandards early education and childcare up to the age of 16

12-14 Confidence in management

12 Confidence in staff
13 Improving the service
14 Well-managed service

Confidence in staff

Standard 12

Each child or young person receives support and care from staff who are competent and confident and who have gone through a careful selection procedure.

1 You can be confident that the service recruits and selects staff and volunteers through a process which takes account of safe recruitment practices. These include:

• enhanced disclosures from Disclosure Scotland;
• checks with previous employer;
• taking up references; and
• cross-referencing to the register of the Scottish Social Services Council or other professional organisations.

2 You can be confident that the service:

• complies with the input standards on adult:child ratios and staff qualifications in Annex A;
• applies procedures to select staff with a range of qualifications, skills and experience relevant to the aims of the service;
• provides staffing levels which are sufficient to provide for the needs of children and young people and allow for continuity of care;
• uses staff in ways that make good use of their expertise; and
• has an effective system for identifying and monitoring staff development needs; training is carefully planned and evaluated in line with national and local guidelines.

Improving the service

Standard 13

You can be confident that the service will evaluate what it does and make improvements.

1 You can be confident that:

• staff are involved in the systematic evaluation and discussion of their work and the work of the service, including the use of assessment information;
• parents/carers, children, young people and staff will have the opportunity to contribute as appropriate to evaluation;
• evaluation is continuous and takes account of relevant national and local advice; and
• staff will have clear plans for maintaining and improving the service.

Well-managed service

Standard 14

You can be confident that you are using a service that is well managed.

1 You know that the manager makes sure that management responsibility and accountability are well defined and communicated.

2 You can be confident that the records, plans and policies are properly made and kept in accordance with national and local guidance. These should include:

• details of the aims and objectives of the service;
• admission criteria and process;
• charges;
• complaints procedure;
• accident and incident reports;
• injury insurance;
• contact details;
• confidentiality;
• emergency procedures;
• child protection policy; and
• whistle-blowing.

3 You know who the person in charge is and how to contact them.

4 You can be confident that the manager demonstrates effective leadership qualities and communication skills and fosters effective working relationships between staff, with parents and carers and with children and young people.

5 Parents and carers, children and young people are encouraged to make a full contribution to the life and work of the service.

6 You can be confident that the manager demonstrates a high level of professional competence and skill and a thorough understanding of childcare issues.

7 You know that the person in charge and senior staff monitor effectively the quality of work of each member of staff and the service as a whole.