Moonstone follow guidelines set out by the UK Government, Birmingham and Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board to ensure we keep children safe from harm and those who may harm them. 
Our safeguarding procedures are based on Working Together to Safeguard Children (March 2018). This guidance sets out what should happen in any local area when a child or young person is believed to need support. Effective safeguarding arrangements should aim to meet the following two key principles: 
** Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility: for services to be effective, everyone and       organisation should play their full part; and 
** A child-centred approach: for services to be effective, they should be based on a clear       understanding of the needs and views of children. 
 Working Together to Safeguard Children defines Safeguarding as: 
* Protecting children from maltreatment. 
* Preventing impairment of children's health or development; 
* Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe    and effective care; and 
* Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. 

Each of our settings our setting has a Designated Senior Lead Practitioner and at least one assistant, one of whom is always contactable.  

The DSL is responsible for liaising with children’s services and the Local Safeguarding Children Team. The Lead practitioner attends safeguarding training which enables them to understand and respond to possible signs of abuse and neglect. All DSL’s attend designated DSL training yearly provided by the council along with attending the localities DSL networking meetings. This ensures that the DSL is up to date with their knowledge.  
As part of safeguarding children, our responsibilities include giving them the age-appropriate skills and knowledge, so they are empowered to keep themselves safe. Ways to do this include providing activities regarding stranger danger, they can also do this through talking to the children about keeping themselves covered up and how nappy times and toilet times are private occasions.  
Due to the many hours of care we provide, staff will often be the first people who sense that there is a problem. They may well be the first people in whom children confide about abuse. The nursery has a duty to be aware that abuse does occur in our society. Therefore, all staff members are trained and provided information in which will aid them in noticing signs and symptoms of physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as neglect. They are also made aware of how and to whom they should report if they have a concern.