At Portland House preschool we have implemented a children’s council this month and the first meeting was held on Thursday 9th November. We started our meeting discussing what safe means and what the role as Health & Safety councilors might involve. We spoke about how we can check if the nursery is a safe environment without hazards which are objects in our way. The councilors commented that “it’s not safe if it’s broken” and “You might fall over if it’s messy on the floor”.
We put on a high visibility jacket, a hard hat and all had a clipboard to make notes. One of the children drew a sign on his clipboard. “This means not to fall”. We spoke about other signs that we have around nursery to keep us safe and warn us of any hazards, such as wet floor signs.
The councilor’s went for a walk around the indoor nursery environment. “The clock is missing!”. We agreed this was important so that we can keep track of the time and help our nursery routines run smoothly. One of the councilors agreed that it was important for the adults in nursery to write names on the whiteboard so that we know how many children are in each day and where each group is.
Next on the agenda was to check the outdoor environment. Comments were made such as “We hold the banister on the stairs” (to keep safe). “No jumping or messing around” also keeps us safe on the stairs.
Outside, we spotted that there were a few toys on the path that needed to be tidied up when children have finished playing with them. We spoke about the autumnal weather and the falling leaves. “We don’t want to fall on them!”.
