Young children like making dens, climbing into boxes or up planks, and they need adventures. However, early years, school and out-of-school practitioners now work in a social atmosphere that has become very anxious about what could go wrong - and who will be blamed. Everyone who is part of raising the next generation will know that the overriding objective for childhood is that children emerge as confident and competent adults.
Children cannot learn skills and apply them safely if their important adults are forever saying, 'No, you'll hurt yourself'. Children cannot begin to assess risk by themselves if the most minor excitements are removed 'just in case'.
A good health and safety policy means that adults create an interesting indoor and outdoor environment that is safe enough. Equipment and the surrounds need to be maintained in good condition, and you can safely share some responsibility with children. Three- and four-year-olds can be keen to point out that a wheel is a bit wobbly or that a rough spot needs to be smoothed on something wooden. Your general knowledge is greater than a child's, so you need to anticipate some risks, but without turning into a joyless nagger. You can create a safe environment without removing a long list of equipment. Rather than ban a lively pretend game, it's better to problem-solve with children about where and how they play.
Partnership with parents starts when a family joins your service and you explain what you do and how. Some parents may be anxious, but all will be pleased to hear about your emphasis on real play. You can explain how much children learn from the climbing area with its tyres, little slopes and pallets. If necessary, let them know that an adult is always close, so children are safe when they build indoor dens or enjoy their 'secret outdoor trail' behind the shrubs. Displays supported by photos (ideally some taken by children) can highlight how 'we learn to be safe at our woodwork bench'.
Observant practitioners know that children need their 'secret' places for rich play and communication, and adults are tall enough to see what is happening. The best piece of safety equipment ever invented is an attentive adult. You need to use your eyes and ears to notice what is going on and to make fine-tuned decisions about whether and how to intervene. Use your voice to say patiently that the ground rule is 'one person at a time on the slide' or 'let me show you again how we hold our little cricket bat'.
Responsible practitioners understand genuine risk assessment and are able to share that process with parents and local advisors or Ofsted inspectors.
Proper risk assessment does not mean imagining the worst that could happen, for example when cooking with children or digging in the garden, and then doubling or trebling that imagined risk and concluding, 'we can't possibly let them...' Genuine risk assessment leads to clearly identified dangers and clear decisions. You should be able to state either, 'yes we can', 'no we can't', or, 'that will be fine so long as we...'
Your steps are:
* What is the hazard under consideration? What precisely is it that you are worried about? Be clear about your own feelings. Give time to a colleague or parent who wishes to discuss a 'what if?'scenario.
* What is the genuine level of risk for the worry that has been raised? First, what is the real likelihood that any child will come to harm? Second, if your fears should come to pass, what is the severity of that harm? How serious is it for the children?
* Don't lose sight of the real benefits of every activity, resource, outing or routine. What will be lost to children if their experiences are removed? If their little hill is flattened 'in case they fall over'? Adults can get so worried about cooking, for example, that this learning-rich activity is reduced to a long wait just to stir a mixture and nothing else.
* Bearing all these considerations in mind, what simple measures can reduce the risk and retain the activity? Young children can drown in a minimal depth of water, but you remove this risk by being right beside them while they enjoy the paddling pool.
Useful resources
* Karen Faux, 'At full stretch' Nursery World 17 February 2005
* Jennie Lindon Too safe for their own good? Helping children learn about risk and lifeskills National Children's Bureau
* Judy Miller Never too young: how young children can take responsibility and make decisions Save the Children/ National Children's Bureau
* Play Safety Forum Managing risk in play provision: a position statement, downloadable from www.ncb.org.uk/cpc
