At Buttercups Nursery School we have suitable staffing arrangements to meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety. The nursery manager is responsible for all staff, students and relief/agency staff receiving information on health and safety policies and procedures in the nursery in order to ensure they are adequately supervising the children, including whilst they are eating.
Supervision
We ensure that children are supervised adequately at all times, whether children are in or out of the building, including eating through:
- Appropriately deploying staff members meeting the ratio and qualification requirements to ensure children’ needs are met and continuing to monitor this across the setting regularly. This includes informing parents and/or carers about staff deployment, and, when relevant and practical involving them in these decisions
- Making sure that every child is always within the sight and/or hearing of a suitably vetted member of staff
- Completing registers as soon as soon children enter and leave the premises and carrying out head counts throughout the day
- Risk assessing activities/experiences and equipment to ensure children are not exposed to unnecessary risks, including removal of any choking hazards and fully supervising any activities that may pose this risk
- Ensuring children are fully supervised at all times when using water play/paddling pools as we are aware that children can drown in only a few centimetres of water
- Taking special care when children are using large apparatus e.g. a climbing frame, and when walking up or down steps/stairs
- Support children to identify, minimise and manage risks in their play
- Making sure staff recognise and are aware of any dangers relating to bushes, shrubs and plants when on visits/outdoors
- Supervising children at all times when eating; monitoring toddlers and babies closely and never leaving babies alone with a bottle. Babies are always bottle fed by a member of staff Supervising sleeping babies/children and never leaving them unattended
- Never leaving babies/children unattended during nappy changing times
- Supervising children carefully when using scissors or tools, including using knives in cooking activities where this is required
- Increasing staff: child ratios during outings to ensure supervision and safety (please refer to Outings policy)
- Strictly following any safety guidelines given by other organisations or companies relating to the hire of equipment or services e.g. hire of a bouncy castle and a member of staff MUST supervise the children at all times.
