Provide a Safe Environment at Preschool
When choosing a preschool for their children, parents might consider a number of different factors, including cost, location, curriculum, hours of operation and environment. A preschool environment should be safe, above all things, and ensuring safety in a preschool setting encompasses a number of considerations. Follow these guidelines for how to provide a safe environment at preschool.
Steps
- Hire ample, qualified staff members. You should have enough employees to supervise all of the children in your preschool, and to ensure that all of the areas in the preschool where children congregate are monitored at all times by staff members. Additionally, you should require that your staff is trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and is certified in first aid.
- Check the play area regularly.
- Employees need to have references checked on, and pass a background check.
- In the US (and most other locales) there are legal ratios of staff to children, dependent on age.
- Staff get sick, need to go to training sessions and meetings, need to go to medical appointments, vacations take lunches and breaks--be sure there is coverage with substitutes to allow this.
- Arrange the classroom in a way that allows you to see all of the children, at all times. Make sure there are no blind spots where children can get lost from your sight.
- If you use cubicles or partition walls, configure them in a way that allows you to see around them from as many angles as possible. For example, it is better to put a partition wall at a right angle to a perimeter wall than it is to put 2 partitions walls at right angles to each other in the center of the room.
- Set up play areas in the center of the room.
- Arrange chairs, desks and work tables in circles.
- Adhere to food safety guidelines. When it comes to preparing, storing and serving food, there are a number of precautions you should take to ensure daycare safety. Your government's daycare facility regulatory agency can provide you with a comprehensive manual of food safety guidelines.
- Safeguard the outdoor play area.
- Ground covering must be soft to cushion falls.
- The height of swings, slides and other playground equipment must be a safe distance from the ground.
- There should be no bolts, nuts, screws or other fasteners protruding from the playground equipment in a way that could potentially harm children.
- Openings must be large enough to ensure that body parts cannot get trapped. A standard rule is to make sure there are no openings between 3.5 inches (8.4 cm) and 9 inches (21.6 cm) wide.
- Space play equipment at least 12 feet (3.7 m) apart.
- Clear traffic areas of tripping hazards. Examples of tripping hazards include tree branches, boulders, sudden shifts in elevation and tree stumps.
- Check playground equipment regularly for ease of operation and structural integrity.
- Elevated platforms should have guard rails.
- Encircle the playground with a tall safety fence, and make sure any gates leading to the outside are locked.
- Keep chemicals locked away from children. In a preschool environment, cleaners, insecticides, first aid solutions, medications and all other toxic substances should be kept in a high, flame-resistant and safety-locked cabinet.
- Inspect for environmental hazards regularly. Common environmental safety issues include water impurities, lead-based paint, mercury, asbestos, waste management and indoor air pollutants like mold/mildew, carbon monoxide, tobacco smoke, allergens and dust. Call the appropriate authorities to the premises to test for environmental hazards before allowing children to enter the preschool environment, and place applicable electronic detectors throughout the facility.
- Have emergency plans in place. Conduct fire and natural disaster drills on a regular basis to ensure that everyone at the preschool is familiar with the proper procedures for handling emergency situations.
- Create rules. Rule lists can be used in a variety of ways to promote a safe environment at preschool.
- Post school rules clearly where are preschoolers can see them, and be sure to address them on a regular basis so that the children are familiar with them. For example, rules like "keep your hands to yourself" and "tell the teacher if you have a problem with another student" can help prevent physically harmful arguments in the preschool environment, and rules about washing hands and covering sneezes can help prevent the spread of illness.
- Establish a set of rules for picking up and dropping off preschoolers. For example, you may require parents to provide photo IDs, fill out forms for other parties they wish to pick up their children, sign in and out, stay inside a pickup zone during pickup time and/or call ahead of time if the pickup method is to temporarily change.
Tips
- Hire a CPR and first aid certification organization to come to your preschool and teach your employees on location.
- Use an integrated pest management (IPM) program to prevent infestations before they happen in order to avoid the unnecessary use of pesticides in the preschool environment. You can find strategic IPM plans and resources on the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities website.
- You may acquire comprehensive daycare safety tips, tools, guidelines and government regulatory requirements through the government body that you received your license, certification and/or registration from.
Warnings
- Avoid pressure-treated wood for playground equipment, as it is treated with toxic chemicals that are dangerous to children.
- Be aware that most of the factors concerning daycare safety are regulated by the government and, therefore, can differ from area to area. Be sure to check with your government's preschool regulatory agency to ensure you are in legal compliance with safety standards.
Related Articles
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- Recognize a Common Core Standards Classroom
