How will you make sure that you maintain a child-focused approach at all times and meet cultural needs, yet at the same time ensure that the child is safe?

1. This three-year-old girl has attended your nursery for nearly fi ve months. Her parents were initially doubtful about the nursery’s behaviour policy and expressed vague reservations based on their Christian faith. Her father has since made several comments that children need more discipline than the nursery provides; for example: ‘You don’t understand. Children need fi rm guidance and our daughter is very wilful.’ Ann-Marie came in last week with severe bruising to her bottom, which became obvious because she winced when she sat at the table to play. In reply to a gentle question, Ann-Marie said a few words about an ‘accident on the stairs’. When you asked her father about the bruises, he confi rmed that Ann-Marie had slipped on the stairs but was otherwise evasive, saying, ‘I don’t know, she was coming down too fast. We’ve told her so often to be more careful.’

Ann-Marie did not return to the nursery for three days, by which time she no longer seemed to be in pain. Today you notice red marks on Ann-Marie’s palms and she is unwilling to explain what has happened beyond that she was ‘very naughty’. At pick-up time Ann-Marie’s mother is initially apologetic about an unspecifi ed ‘accident’ to her daughter. Then she blurts out, ‘Anyway, my husband says you should respect our beliefs and what we do in our own home.’ Then she rushes off with Ann-Marie.

● What would concern you for the child in this situation?

● What might be the complicating factors for practitioners to consider?

● What should probably be your next step?