Health and Safety

Hiring the venue

If you are a school allowing use of one or more of your rooms, (along with any shared spaces) to an external provider please ensure that you have agreement in place with the external provider, usually a TOCA (Transfer of Control agreement) for the periods/times an external provider is occupying the space is sufficient for this purpose. Template TOCA agreements are available from the Local Authority and can be amended to fit individual needs.

Valid DBS checks, public liability Insurance, employers liability insurance for these periods must be valid as the school, nor the Local Authority will accept liability for any injury or damage to property, persons or belongings.  Any items such as furniture, belongings or resources left at the school are at the owners risk and must be stored separately for the purposes of education to an early years setting unless agreed otherwise with the school setting.

If you are a PVI using a space in a school do you have a sessional hire agreement in place with the school? If you do not, this must be negotiated with the School Senior Leadership team at the earliest opportunity and agreed in writing before any sessions can take place.

Valid DBS checks, public liability insurance, employers liability insurance for these periods must be valid as the school, nor the Local Authority will accept liability for any injury or damage to property, persons or belongings.  Any items such as furniture, belongings or resources left at the school are at the owners risk and must be stored separately for the purposes of education to an early years setting unless agreed otherwise with the school setting.

Security

Consider the security of the building especially the points raised below:

If the building is a shared building who else is in the building?

Are others in the building DBS checked?

Is the outdoors safe and secure? Are site checks completed and recorded to check the safety of the outside grounds?

How do families access the building to drop off and collect their children? Is there a doorbell or phone to call?

Risk assessment

Completing a risk assessment allows you to identify and evaluate hazards and risks at the provision. The purpose is not always to remove risk but instead to manage it and take steps to prevent harm being caused. These are required by law and should be recorded and regularly reviewed.  

You may want to think about: (not an exhaustive list)

• Toileting - Can children access the toilet safely and are staff aware of their whereabouts?
• Transportation of children to and from the setting - Does a walking bus take place?
• Security - Are the premises secure?
• Visitors, planned and unplanned - is there a way that visitors can be clearly identified? Visitors to the setting should sign in upon their identification being verified. Recorded information should include full name, time of arrival and departure and reason for visit.
• Drop off and collection of children - is there a registration system in use? OR children should be signed in and out when dropped off or collected from the wraparound provision. When collected, this should be by an adult who has permission to collect the child. Consider how messages, details of accidents, incidents and feedback are communicated at these transitions.
• Evacuation and invacuation - Are regular fire drills practised with children, so they are familiar with the process. Is there a process to get children safely inside in the event of an unwanted visitor or a dog for instance?
• Outdoor area - Do checks take place prior to children being able to access the outdoor space? If using a community space, ensure that the outdoor area is clear from litter and obstructions and that any equipment is in a satisfactory condition. Consider the weather, for example, wet equipment can be slippery and extra precautions may need to be taken.
• Environment and resources - Resources should be regularly cleaned and maintained with damaged parts being disposed of and replaced. Equipment and resources should be stored tidily and in a way that allows easy access to them. Staff should be made aware of safe manual handling techniques for large or bulky items of equipment that are required to be moved. The environment should be set in a way that allows children to make choices about what they play and enable them to freely access resources.  
• Food and allergies - Is food/drink being stored correctly? Are details of any allergies and intolerances being stored and shared appropriately?

Providers must ensure that outdoor and indoor spaces, furniture, equipment, and toys are safe and fit for purpose. Providers can play an important role in helping children understand how to keep themselves safe in a way suitable for their age and understanding.

There needs to be an element of common sense applied to risk assessments and safety. Children learn to assess and manage their own risk; providers should help them to develop these skills. Providers must strike a balance between assessing risk and the benefits of offering children more challenging play opportunities.

Providers must be aware of the whereabouts of other people in the building and other users in the premises. There should be a system in place to verify the identity of any visitors. Under no circumstances should any visitor have unsupervised access to children. In a shared building, providers must ensure the safe arrival and departure of children in their care.

Providers must have knowledge of the other users of a shared building to ensure children's safety. Policies such as visitors, safeguarding and the use of mobile phones must be adhered to by visitors. There are often print outs of these policies in the vicinity of where visitors are collected, to ensure they are aware of what is expected of them when they enter the setting.

Health and safety points to consider:

• Fire safety
• Medication
• First Aid
• Accidents
• Incidents
• Food and drink e.g., allergies

Policies

Some settings have a policy designated specifically for their wraparound provision. This may be something to develop if you do not have one already. This may include an array of information such as bookings, fees, code of conduct etc.

First Aid

If a provider cares for children aged 8 years and under the EYFS states 3.29 'At least one person who has a current paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate must always be on the premises and available when children are present and must accompany children on outings. The certificate must be for a full course consistent with the criteria set out in EYFS Annex A. PFA training must be renewed every three years and be relevant for people caring for young children and babies. It may also be helpful to read HSE's guidance about choosing a first aid training provider.

Alternatively, for a provider registered on the CCR only who are registered to take children from year 1 and above, the requirement is for 'At least one person caring for the children has an appropriate first aid qualification'. While this does not state it must be a paediatric first aid qualification, it would be expected that the provider has the appropriate knowledge to respond to emergencies and first aid for the ages of children being cared for.

Norfolk Adult Learning offers First Aid training and wraparound settings may be eligible for funding towards the course costs. Please see our training pages for full information.