I will be answering questions about keeping children safe, and what legislations influences healthy, safe and secure environments in a early years setting.

Unit 4 – keeping children safe

I will be answering questions about keeping children safe, and what legislations influences healthy, safe and secure environments in a early years setting. What procedures there are if a child has an incident or has an illness, I will also be discussing the issues that may arise when trying to plan a challenging environment for children?

E1. Here is some legislation that provides health, safe and secure environment:-

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
helps keep the employees safe from all hazards that may occur when working in any environment. Also the employees must take some of the responsibilities of themselves and others working around with them. They must display a Health and Safety poster everywhere, where it can visible to everyone working.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
when a child is injured or has had an accident must always is recording into written no matter how small it might be. You must follow the policy and procedure of how to treat the child if they have any injuries. Also if a member of staff is badly injured which is making them stay off more than two/three days from work they must complete the relevant documents and send a report to the health and safety executive. There might be an investigation into why you have not been into work.

Data Protection Act 1998
settings hold information either paper based or on recorded onto a computer this is how they keep every bit of information about a child confidential. For example they would take children’s details so that if any problem occurs while at the setting e.g. the child is ill then they would have to go into the record where they world have a password or locked cabinet to ensure that all the information would be kept safe.
Food Handling Regulations 1997
when handling food you must always wash your hands and when do the preparation for the food you must wear protective gloves because it is more hygienic. You also must follow all policies and procedures when handling food because it’s the law that you have to follow every policy and procedure.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 1994
there are some substances that are hazardous to health and would have to be risk assessed then stored appropriately in line with the COSHH regulations. For example things that would have to be assessed dishwater detergent or cleaning solutions.

E2. If a child has had a accident like a bump on their head, even if it’s a small little bump then sit them down quickly and give treatment to the child with a cold compress which would make the swelling decrease if it’s swollen a little bit. But you must watch out for any abnormal behaviour for example unconsciousness, vomiting, they lose their balance when walking and if they are continuing crying over more than an hour. If they don’t recover after a few minutes then you must seek medical aid quickly. Also if you see any of these signs ...

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If the child has an illness like diarrhoea the child would have watery stools this can be very serious for young babies, especially combined with vomiting as it can lead to serve dehydration. As the practitioner you should be giving small drinks of cooled boiled water if the child seems to be dehydrated. If the child still has diarrhoea after a couple of days then you may take the child to the hospital if they have blood in the stools, refuses to drink anything, diarrhoea and vomiting has gone over 24 hours, also has a fever after 24 hours, dry skin or lips, strong yellow urine and fewer wet nappies than usual. Also reassure the child and always stay calm. (www.babycentre.co.uk on 2nd September 2011)

And if any child has meningitis then you should seek medical help urgently, help reduce the child’s temperature and always reassure the child that everything will be fine and stay calm with the child as they would become scared if you are worried in front of them and contact the child’s parents urgently. The signs that you would see would be raised temperature, they may have blotchy rash on their skin, refuse to eat, have a sniff neck, high pitched cry and they may have a seizure, and they might also have headaches, drowsiness and might be confused. When this occurs you should ring for the emergency services e.g. ambulance if you delay the child might suffer from the complications are deafness, brain damage and death. But if you take the child to the hospital in time they doctors can give the child antibiotics and observe the child.

E4 – E5. This is an appropriate care of a child aged 1 and 3 years old at a childcare setting. Instead of a child aged 3 having their nappy changed they would be using the toilets, washing their own hands and brushing their teeth after their snack time in the afternoon.

8:30 - the child arrives at the childcare setting. And would have some breakfast

9:00 – all the children will come and sit on the carpet for the register then followed by some nursery rhymes and stories

9:30 – 10:30 - the children would be doing the activities that are set out for them

10:30 – 11:00 – all the children would be having their snacks after washing their hands and having their nappies changed

11:00 – 11:45 – children would be playing outside before their lunch

11:45 – 12:45 – all of the children would have had their hands wiped down and eating their lunch

12:45 – 1:00 – children would have washed their hands been to the toilet and now having there naps

1:00 – 2:00 – all of the children would be sleeping

2:00 – 3:00 – most of the children would have woken up by now and playing on the carpet, reading stories or doing an activity

3:00 – 4:00 – all the children would have washed their hands and having snacks

4:00 – 5:00 – all of the children would have had their nappies changed and hands and faces wiped down and are having story time and singing nursery rhymes with the room leader

5:00 – 6:00 – the parents of the children start to come so they can pick them up. Also the room leader tells the parent what the child has got up to today

E5. The affects that may occur when planning for a challenging environment for children could be policies and procedures because it ensures that you as staff member are at less risk of being accused of something such as neglectful behaviour or being abusive in a situation. And it is a requirement of ofsted to have a written policy on safeguarding and they have an inspection to ensure this is a part of a daily procedure and practice. Procedure needs to be followed to ensure that best practice is put in place. It gives staff support for if they do have to report possible abuse. They follow the procedure to make sure that everyone’s rights and responsibilities are respected, that information is securely passed. And to ensure that setting is running smoothly and that everyone is acting in a consistent manner.

As one of the rights that children have there is a particular one that says children have the right to be kept safe and not hurt or neglected. When planning for a challenging environment for children you need to make sure that you have done a risk assessment and checked all the equipment is safe and age appropriate. You must always remember that there is also no type of harm that may cause the child any harm or danger. And always check that the equipment is not broken if so replace the item or get rid of it or out of the child’s sight. Health and safety wise you must always keep fire exits and doors clear at all times in case of an emergency, safety devices for doors, windows and stair gates should be in place and checked every day. The ratios that must be followed as are 0-1 would be 1:3, 2-3 to 1:4, 3-8 to 1:8 depending on the location the ratio can be changed this are the main issues that would affect you when planning for a challenging environment for children. As there would be less staff and more children and the ratio has to be accurate so that the children are looked after properly.

E6. A Forest school is a school where children get to learn through outdoor play and learning. The theory behind forest schools is that they encourage individual children at any age to learn through positive outdoor play experiences. By taking part in activities in a woodland environment each individual child has an opportunity to develop motivation, sound emotional and social skills. Through these’s self awareness can be developed to reach personal potential. ( at 18th November 2011)

Forest Schools has had success with children of all ages who visit the same local woodlands on a regular basis and through play, who have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others. In forest schools when learning from outdoor play children use full sized tools, play, learn boundaries of behaviour; both physical and social, establish and grow in confidence, self-esteem and become self motivated. Forest schools help to develop self awareness, self regulation, intrinsic motivation, empathy, good social communication skills, independence and a positive attitude, self esteem and confidence while learning through outdoor play.

These types of schools influence