DOCUMENTING AND REPORTING
- Details of other witnesses – could be other children or staff or educators – if other children are present and hear the disclosure you will need to advise their Parents / Caregivers.
- Details of action taken – including action taken in relation to witnesses.
- Name and signature of record maker.
- Can be short and sweet – just do it!
Record the details of any other witnesses to the observation or disclosure – remembering that they may be other children. So in this example you would record Nathan as a witness – and if Nathan said anything you would record that also.
This is important because you will need to advise Nathan’s Parents about what took place. If children overhear graphic details about abuse they might bring this up at home or ask their Parents about words they heard – so you want Parents to be prepared – and more importantly you want Parents to understand the context in which their child heard or learnt these words.
You will also need to record what, if any, action was taken. So for example if you were just recording a simple observation about a possible indicator then there would be no action taken other than to document your observation.
But if you were documenting a disclosure or a serious injury you would include details of obtaining emergency medical assistance, reporting to authorities, contacting Parents, photographs taken, paperwork completed, advising Parents or Caregivers of any child witness of exactly what they saw or heard etc.
Name and signature are important because these records may become critical long after you’ve left the service – make sure you write this in full so that even years later you can be identified as the person making the record.
Remember also that most times you will just be documenting an observation that concerned you but doesn’t justify contacting authorities. So your entry could be as simple as, “Date, time, noticed a bruise on Sonny’s cheek, have noted in “Injury on Intake” book for his Mum to fill out and sign.”
Short written notes about something you thought at the time was trivial or insignificant can be the one vital piece of evidence or information that authorities need sometimes in order to take action to protect children or prosecute offenders.
Your service may already have an incident form so please check with your Senior Supervisor/Team Leader/Coordinator. In the absence of such forms you may wish to utilise this simple Record of Concern report.