Policies and Procedures | The Learning Experience
The Learning Experience

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Policies and Procedures

Safeguarding and Child Protection. 

At The Learning Experience UK, children’s welfare is paramount, and we ensure that a culture of safety is a golden thread that runs throughout everything we do. We follow the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) guidelines on how to effectively protect children from harm from others.   

At The Learning Experience UK, our Safeguarding policies and procedures are built upon national safeguarding legislation. All staff and volunteers are required to undertake enhanced criminal records and barred list checks prior to their posts being confirmed, ensuring that no disqualified or unsuitable person works at any TLE centre or has access to children. This is also continually monitored through our robust ongoing supervision systems. 

Staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding and can recognise potential indicators and signs of abuse and neglect and are competent on the procedures to record and report any concerns. Parents are normally the first point of contact and concerns are discussed to ascertain their views of events, unless it is felt that this may put their child or another person at risk or may interfere with any other courses of action recommended by the LSCB. 

If you would like further information regarding our Safeguarding and Child Protection policies and procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Food safety and menu planning  

Safeguarding and ensuring your child’s nutritional needs are met at the Learning Experience UK, is of paramount importance. If your child has a diagnosed allergy, we ask for all parents to advise your child’s teacher and the Centre Director in writing of any food allergies, food intolerance, or foods your child cannot eat due to religious practices. A substitute item may be offered by the centre. The Learning Experience® is a nut-free facility. All families and staff are asked to carefully monitor all product ingredients to avoid nut-containing products.  

We know that good eating habits and a positive attitude toward food should be established at an early age. It is essential to have a nutritionally balanced diet for healthy growth and development. The Learning Experience® menus meet the Eat Better, Start Better guide for healthy meal and have been designed to include items from the four basic food groups with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. There are a variety of healthy snacks served once in the morning and once in the mid-afternoon. Breakfast is provided to the children daily. All meals are a social occasion. Preppers and Pre-school children will be encouraged to self-serve during lunch and tea. Menus are posted, and copies are available for you to take home 

If you would like further information regarding our food preparation and menu planning policies and procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Administration of Medication  

The Learning Experience® staff will dispense prescription medications, during the day only with written parental authorisation and in accordance with label directions. The Medication Administration Authorisation Form must be completed in full with the name of the medication, prescribed dosage, and times to be given. The medication is to be in the original container with the child’s name and dosage instructions on the pharmacy label and must not be expired. Please alert us to any possible side effects of the medication and when it is to be discontinued. When the medication is administered, the time, date, amount, and responsible party will be recorded. The Learning Experience® company policy does not permit nose suctioning, the removal of splinters or the distribution of vitamins, Pedialyte, and/or any medication that releases vapours into the air except for nebulizers. The Learning Experience® company policy expressly prohibits the distribution or application by TLE® staff of any medication that is administered rectally. 

If you would like further information regarding our Medication policies and procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Uncollected Children. 

At The Learning Experience UK, as part of our commitment to Safeguarding procedures we have procedures in place to safeguard a child’s safety and emotional wellbeing. If a child is not collected and a parent/guardian has not been in contact after 15 minutes of their expected collection time, then the designated SLT member will contact the child’s parents/carers. If parents/carers have not made contact and are not contactable on the details provided, then the next emergency contact details are tried. If these persons are also non contactable then, after 60 minutes social care will be contacted in line with our policies and procedures. 

If you would like further information regarding our Safeguarding- Uncollected Child policy and procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Making a complaint:   

At the Learning Experience UK, we firmly believe that every child and parent are entitled to expect courtesy and prompt, careful attention to their needs and wishes. We welcome suggestions on how to improve our centres and will give prompt and serious attention to any concerns raised about the running of a centre. We anticipate that most concerns will be resolved quickly, by an informal approach. However, if this is not the case then we do have a staged approach outlined in our complaints policy and procedures. 

If you would like further information regarding our Complaints Policy, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Parental Involvement 

At The Learning Experience UK, we recognise parents as the first and most important educator in their child’s life. Each child will have a nominated key person that will support with settling in our centre, building positive attachments and being a point of contact regarding your child’s progress. We also aim to support parents in their own continuing education and personal development. 

If you would like further information regarding our Parental Involvement Policy, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy.  

The Learning Experience UK, is a fully inclusive setting that values the similarities, differences, and uniqueness of every individual, ensuring that we make positive differences in the lives of children, their families, and the communities we serve.  

To fulfil our mission, we ensure that all our practices, policies, and procedures, enable our children to reach their full potential.  We follow the statutory SEND Code of Practice. In our TLE settings we recruit and continually invest in our TLE early educator workforce, ensuring that we have highly motivated and trained staff that are able to assess child development effectively, putting any necessary strategies in place to support development and progress.  

In our TLE centres we also ensure that we have trained Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinators (SENCO), ensuring that all practitioners in the setting: 

  • understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEN   
  • advising and supporting their colleagues   
  • ensuring parents are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform any action taken by the setting, and   
  • liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting for example speech and language therapists and local authority SEND advisors. 

If you would like further information regarding our Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy, please speak to the Centre Director. 


British Values (Diversity and Inclusion) 

At The Learning Experience (UK), we actively promote inclusion, equality of opportunity, the valuing of diversity and British values. Under the Equality Act 2010, we have a legal obligation not to directly discriminate against, harass or victimise those with protected characteristics. We make reasonable adjustments to procedures, criteria, and practice to ensure that those with protected characteristics are not at suitable disadvantage.  

Through our curriculum and everyday interactions, our staff at TLE, ensure that our learners have rich experiences that support their social and emotional development and that as children grow and develop, they are equipped with the necessary skills to be social citizens in age-appropriate ways.   

If you would like further information regarding British Values, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Admissions 

At The Learning Experience (UK), our intentions are to make our centres accessible to children and families from all sections of the local community. We aim to ensure that all sections of our community have access through open, fair, and clearly communicated procedures. 

If you would like further information regarding Admissions Procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 


Mission and Values: 

Our mission is to make a positive difference in the life of a child, their families, and the communities we serve.  

Our Core Values are the guiding tenets of our company. They are timeless, enduring, and intrinsically important. 

Our Core Values support TLE’s mission, vision, define our culture, and reflect the collective identity of our people. 

Innovative Mindset: Having a leadership attitude to drive growth and continuously seek new and better ways. 

Collaborative Spirit: Create a fun, team-oriented environment of respect and trust to maximize each person’s impact.  

Community Impact: Sharing our passion as a brand to influence those around us and make a difference. 


Diversity and Inclusion Statement: 

At the Learning Experience UK, we are committed to ensuring that our service is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of the children in our care. 

We recognise that children and their families come from a wide range of backgrounds with individual needs, beliefs, and values. 

We are committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity and value the diversity of all children and families using our settings.   

We aim to: 

  • Promote equality and value diversity within our service and foster good relations with the local community. 
  • Actively include all families and value positive contribution they make to our service. 
  • Promote a positive non-stereotype environment that promotes dignity, respect and understanding of the differences in all forms. 
  • Provide a secure and accessible environment in which every child feels safe and equally included. 
  • Improve our knowledge and understanding of issues relating to anti discriminatory practice. 
  • Challenge and eliminate discriminatory actions on the basis of protected characteristics. 

 
Smoke-Free Policy 

Smoking and Vaping is banned in all premises on any Company site, in the UK. The ban applies to anything that can be smoked or Vaped, which includes cigarettes, pipes, cigars and herbal cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vape devices.   

Smoking in smoke-free premises is also a criminal offence in the UK and may incur a fixed penalty fine and possible criminal prosecution.  

Setting based employees must not smoke or vape whilst in uniform. 


Health and Safety 

TLE holds health and safety as a paramount priority in the business and we are committed to the following:  

  • Providing safe and healthy working conditions for all.  
  • Adhering to the statutory health and safety requirements and continually reviewing existing practices.  
  • Ensuring the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure the health and safety of all employees.  
  • Ensuring that managers, supervisors and all employees understand their responsibilities to ensure maximum health and safety at work; and  
  • Obtaining the co-operation of all employees in the observance of this policy in order to provide healthy and safe working conditions and freedom from accidents for all. 


Induction: 

At The Learning Experience, we have a written induction plan for all new staff, which includes the following; 

  • Introduction to all employees 
  • Familiarisation with the building, health /safety and fire evacuation procedures.  
  • Ensuring that polices and procedures are read, acknowledged, and adhered to, including but not limited to Child Protection and Safeguarding procedures. 
  • Familiarisation with all children, with specific attention to key children. 
  • Introduction to all parents, specifically parents of allocated key children. 
  • Familiarisation with confidential information in relation to any key children. 
  • Details of tasks and daily routines to be observed and practiced.  

During the induction period, individuals must demonstrate their understanding of policies and procedures, tasks and routines.  They will have access to TLE’s internal intranet where they will undertake a suite of in-house mandatory training.  Employees will also be given access to a range of external training, that will further support knowledge and understanding.  


Missing Child(ren) 

Children’s safety is our highest priority, both on and off the premises. Every attempt is made, through the implementation of the outing’s procedure and our exit / entrance procedure, to ensure the security of children is always maintained.  In the unlikely event of a child going missing, our missing child procedure will be followed.* 

The Learning Experience are committed to working in partnership with external agencies and will ensure that if such an incident should arise, they will ensure that all relevant agencies are contacted.  The Centre Director will also inform the Parents of the incident. 

If you would like further information regarding our Safeguarding- missing child (ren) policy and procedures, please speak to the Centre Director. 

 
Family Handbook 

As part of our commitment to parental partnership and their journey in a TLE centre, our Family Handbook has a wealth of handy hints and information regarding our TLE centres robust Health and Safety procedures, ensuring safe and secure environments for routines such as sleeping and toilet training. Our TLE Family Handbook also supports with behaviours such as biting and TLE’s views on staff babysitting as well as many other TLE policies and procedures.   

 
CCTV  

Each TLE Centre is equipped with a Closed-Circuit Television System (CCTV); a system in which signals are not publicly distributed but are monitored, primarily for classroom observation and security purposes. The system does not record and is not permitted to record at any time. Our CCTV operation complies with ICO guidance.