Responsibilities for Children's Health and Safety in Early Years

• Mathematics
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Unit 5 - Keeping Children Safe.

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Session 1 

Introductions 

My name is Manpreet. 

I am a level 3 course leader for T - Levels, previously course leaded BTEC Level 3 for many years. 

I have a daughter called Ayva & a dog named Blue. 

I love watching EastEnders and eating galaxy chocolate bars. 

Your turn.....

Learning Objective

By the end of the lesson learners will:

 *Understand the unit 5 specification by working together to highlight key information.

*Be able to explain the responsibilities for children's health and safety. 

* Explore the approaches used by practitioners to keep children healthy and safe.

Starter Activity

In pairs work together to read and understand the unit 5 specification. Use highlighters and different coloured pens. 

Try and make notes in your notebooks ready for feedback.

Why is this important?

Understanding the requirements of the specification is essential as it allows your to understand what you are learning and why. 

Everything in the specification will be taught and will contribute to the completion of your assignment.

Key word Bank 

Legislation - Government enforced requirements for all.	Legislation helps Early Years setting maintain a standard and good quality practice.
Statutory - When something is regulated by laws, its not optional.	For example: Settings have Statutory legislations and requirements they must follow.
Safeguarding - Promoting individuals health, wellbeing and right from harm and abuse.	Ensuring your are observant and vigilant in promoting the policies and procedures around keeping children safe.
Policies - Policies are a guideline created by the employed for staff to follow to ensure standards are consistent.	All Early Years settings will have their own policies based on legislation, these policies must be read and understood by all practitioners and staff.
Procedures - The way you meet the requirements of the policies set by your employer.	All practitioners must follow standardised procedures as part of their duty of care to children.
Practitioner - Someone who is qualified in their designated profession.	An Early Years practitioner is a member of staff working children, often they are qualified level 2 and above.

The duty of care to protect children.

Keeping children safe in Early Years is part of our duty of care when working with children.

A duty of care is a term used to describe the standards that are expected when working with children, it ensures we are promoting the children's interests and keeping them safe from any form of harm.

In small groups or pairs discuss what approaches you may use when keeping children safe and healthy in Early Years. 

For example: Ensuring all the doors are shutting them safe at all times.

Our responsibilities 

• Ensure children's dirty nappies, vomit and other waste is disposed of correctly. 
• Ensure all chemicals such as bleach are stored in a locked cupboard. 
• Ensuring all gates and doors are kept locked and supervised at all times. 
• Maintain good child & adult ratios. (we will look at this shortly).
• Maintain safe practice, wearing gloves when needed for example.
• Ensure DBS checks are complete. 
• Appropriate risk assessments to be completed to ensure safety.
• Attend all training courses to update knowledge and skills. 
• Be aware of fire evacuation procedures and fire evacuation point. 

Supervision & observations

Supervision is essential to ensure the safety of children left in your care. It involves actively monitoring and guiding children's activities to prevent accidents and promote their well-being.

 Observations help Early Years practitioners assess children's development, identify potential health concerns, and address any safety issues. They involve carefully watching and documenting children's behaviour and interactions.

Lets mind map
the different
approaches to keeping children safe.

Approaches 

Supervision (close supervision & Supervision with sight) 

Awareness 

Keeping up to date registers 

Role Modelling safe behaviour

Recognizing hazards (indoor & outdoor)

Effective planning for outings

Appropriate reporting 

Maintaining a child - centred provision 

Group Task 

Work together to research and complete the following table on ways to minimise risks and your responsibility in doing so. 

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.