The Health and Safety key person is: Li Li, Manager and First aider
The person/s designated to act in the manager’s absence: Tracy Holme, Deputy Manager
Aims
To create, and provide, a safe environment without a risk to the health and safety of children, staff and visitors.
To ensure Health and Safety is taken seriously by all members of staff and other persons who are affected by the club’s activities.
Duties and responsibilities
Designated person/s will:
- Assess the risks to Health and Safety in and around the setting.
- Introduce and review suitable procedures to eliminate or control any such risk identified.
- Ensure staff comply with safety instructions and practice and that staff also understand and accept their responsibility in relation to Health and Safety procedures.
- Ensure all accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences are adequately recorded and reported.
- Ensure all staff, students, volunteers and any other adult who comes into contact with children at the club have appropriate and up to date Criminal Record Bureau checks.
- Ensure at all times the Health and Safety and welfare of children, staff and others involved in the club’s activities.
All members of staff will:
- Familiarise themselves with the Health and Safety policy and its place within their work.
- Take reasonable care for their own Health and Safety as well as of others who may be affected by their acts or negligence at work.
- Report and record any accidents, incidents of violent or verbal abuse, any hazard or dangerous occurrences to the designated person and appropriate format.
- Make sure the equipment and premises that are used by children, and the activities that are carried out at the club, are safe.
Procedures
Pick-up Policy and Procedures
During term time Acorn After School Club (Acorn) will endeavour to provide an efficient and smooth running pick-up service from the following three local schools: Stillness Infants and Juniors, Dalmain and St. William of York.
Aims and objectives
The aim is to ensure that all children are picked up on time and escorted back to the club in a safe and orderly fashion and to provide a back-up plan in cases of emergency/problems during pick-up from schools.
These guidelines form part of the Acorn After-School Club policy and procedures, and must be adhered to at all times by all staff.
- Staff must always arrive at the school before the children are let out of class.
- Before leaving the club, staff must check the diary and noticeboard for details of any changes to pick-up arrangements made by parents/carers on each day.
- Individual school pick-up registers must be updated to clearly show these changes, and to that all the children are accounted for before leaving the school.
- School pick-up registers must contain each child’s full name, class and teacher’s name.
- Telephone numbers of the Ackroyd centre manager and the Baby Unit should be listed in case of emergencies / problems.
- One staff member should always take the Acorn mobile phone with them to relay messages to and from the centre if necessary.
In accordance with health and safety procedures, the following ratio of staff to children must be complied with;
Infants: 1 staff member to 8 children
Juniors: 1 staff member to 10 children
Due to the busy main road from Stillness school it is necessary to have a minimum of 2 adults for the infants and 2 adults for the juniors.
Please note that it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children behave and cooperate fully with Acorn staff during pick-up from school.
Pick-up Points
Stillness juniors:
Assemble at the picnic tables situated on the junior’s playground next to the football pitch. Children must make their own way to the meeting point.
Stillness infants:
One member of staff will collect the reception children and take them to the main Infants Hall. A second member of staff will collect the year 1 and year 2 children from the classrooms outside then take them to the main hall. Once inside they will collect the other year 1 and 2 children from the classrooms located in the main hall.
Dalmain:
One member of staff will collect the juniors from the teachers in the playground at the front of the school and any infants in the one infant classroom on that side of the school. They will then take them to the meeting point – the bench next to the climbing wall in the front playground. The second member of staff will collect the reception, year 1 and year 2 children from the classrooms at the rear of the school and assemble them at the meeting point.
St. William of York:
Children will be collected from the classrooms (infants) or outside the main doors at the rear of the building and taken to the gates at the front of Dalmain School.
Notes
- If a child who is registered to be collected from school is not at the collection point, staff must check with the child’s class teacher before leaving the school and the register noted accordingly. It is important that all children are picked up on time. It is unacceptable for a child to be left behind at school.
- Parents must phone or let a member of staff know in advance if their child is not to be collected from school on any particular day.
- When all the children are gathered staff must check that they have bags and coats etc.
- Staff must then check again to make sure all children are present by doing a register and a head count.
- Any message from teachers to parents must be relayed in writing.
- All children are expected to go to the toilet before being picked up by Acorn.
- Children should be lined up in two’s and walked back to the centre in an orderly fashion.
- Children are not allowed to go to any cake sales, shops, or back to their classrooms once picked-up
- There is to be no eating or drinking on the way back to the centre, and no stopping to talk to friends.
- Any children that walk slowly should walk at the front of the line to determine the pace of the group. It is important to keep the line together.
- All incidents/problems must be reported to the manager on arrival back at the centre, so that strategies can be put in place to avoid future problems.
- Once back at the centre, all children will be rechecked against the main register at the centre (there is one register for Dalmain and William of York, one for Stillness Infants and one for Stillness Juniors). No child shall be marked in the register unless he/she is present. The time of arrival should be recorded on the bottom of the register.
- Once completed the main register should be checked against the pick-up register to ensure all children who were picked up have arrived.
- If children are dropped at the centre by a third party, for example if they attend an after school activity at school, they will be signed in by the responsible adult dropping them at the centre in the extra pick-up register. Once again the time of arrival should be recorded.
Departure:
- Children are to be collected from the club premises by parents/carer.
- Children are not permitted to leave the club with someone other than their parent/carer unless previously arranged by the parent/carer with the club.
- Parents/carers must sign out their children before they leave the club on the signing out sheet.
Usages of premises
Main Hall:
- Staff to make sure the hall is clean and that all the equipment, including toys, are in good condition before the children arrive from school.
- Toys and different activities are to be spread all around the hall with a few tables and chairs.
- Children have free access to the toilets located in the main hall.
- Children are not allowed to leave the main hall unless with a member of staff and only for the purpose of going to the lounge, playground or kitchen.
Lounge:
- When using the lounge a member of staff should always be there with a small group of children.
- Before taking children in the lounge the staff should make sure that the lounge is not in use by somebody else and that there are not any health and safety hazards around including making sure the external door is properly locked.
Kitchen:
- Children are not to be left unsupervised in the kitchen; a play worker should always be present together with the chef.
- Children will line up right after arriving from school and register having been taken. They will have their tea in groups of 20 to 24.
- Children are not allowed to stand behind the kitchen counter or outside the kitchen door due to the proximity to the cooker and oven and the main entrance door.
- Children’s dietary requirements and medical conditions are available for the chef and any of the play workers on kitchen duty.
Toilets:
- Toilets are to be checked regularly to make sure these are clean and children’s access to these is not obstructed.
- Toilet paper, hand soap and hand towels are to be replenished regularly.
- Leaks, blocks and poor hygiene are to be reported to the Acroyd Centre manager.
Outside area:
- Weather permitting children will be taken out to play by 2 members of staff. The ratio is 5 children per adult with a maximum of 10 children being allowed out at any time. Children must be escorted back into the building by a member of staff due to the close proximity of the fire exit.
- The area is to be checked before the children go out, to prevent accidents/incidents and it is to be checked again after the children have gone inside.
Main entrance
- The main entrance has an entry system with a camera, for admittance people call the number they require, the main hall where the club is set is number 4.
- Parents/carers must state their business and a member of the staff will let them in.
- Children are not allowed to open the main entrance or to be near it without a member of the staff.
Outings
- Parents/carers must give their consent, in advance, for all trips and outings
- Locations are visited in advance and risk assessed.
- The manager, or a designated person when the manager is absent, takes emergency contact details for all children on every trip
- The ratio for the outings is a maximum of 6 children per staff, less or 1:1 with S.E.N children depending on the child’s needs.
- Every member of staff must have a first aid travelling kit and must understand that he/she is to be responsible for the children in his/her group at all times during the outing. Children will remain under close supervision at all times.
- Two members of staff will keep mobile phones with them at all times and their numbers will be circulated to the parents/carer in advance of the visit/outings. These numbers will also be left at the club in case of an emergency, also a list with all members of staff and children participating in the visits/outing.
Accidents and Incidents
Current First Aiders: Li Li.
- Incidents and accidents should be recorded in the appropriate form provided by the club.
- The form should be co-signed by the parent/carer.
- One copy of the form should be given to parent/carer and the original (also co-signed) should be filed in alphabetical order in either the children’s accident file (kept upstairs in the main cupboard) or the incidents folder (kept in the cabinet downstairs in the office).
- A first aider should be on hand in case first aid needed.
If an ambulance is required
- The ambulance should be called first, then the parent should be informed straight after, as the main priority is the welfare of the child in question.
- The first aider should not leave the child unattended, and another member of staff should be on hand to provide assistance and make the necessary phone calls.
- A member of staff should accompany the child in the ambulance if the child’s parents/carer has not arrived by the time the ambulance arrives.
First aid kits location
- The first aid kits can be found in the main cupboard in the main hall (where the phone is) in the top two white drawers. Travelling kits can be found in the top drawer of the filing cabinet next to the door entry system (main hall). A first aid kit is also available in the kitchen.
Medical conditions
- Parents/carers have the duty and responsibility of informing the club about any medical conditions their children have. The coordinator and all members of staff will oversee the inclusion of any child with a specific medical condition.
- All staff are to be made aware of the medical condition, symptoms etc.
Allergies
- Parents/carers are responsible for notifying the club of any allergies their children have.
- Staff are to be informed and, when necessary, trained to deal with these allergies, first aiders know how to use epi-pens.
- All actions necessary are to be taken to minimise and reduce risk.
Administering medication
- Only the designated persons listed above are allowed to administer the medication to the child. Parents should arrange this by completing the administering medication form. A list of children with medical needs is kept by the first-aid drawer, in the kitchen, and in the office.
- All inhalers and epi-pens are kept with the first-aid kit and only designated persons are allowed to administer.
Visitors
- Visitors are asked to sign the visitor’s book upon arrival and a member of staff will guide them and offer advice if needed.
- Visitors to the club are not to be left unsupervised with children at any time.
- Staff have a duty to approach any visitor on the premises who has not signed in. Visitors must give a reason for visiting the club, if the reason is not suitable to be in the club’s premises, then the visitor will be asked to leave immediately and escorted out from the premises. If the visitor refuses to leave, the police will be called immediately.
- A record of such incidents will be made in the incident record form and the manager should be immediately informed.