This help centre article was written for childminders preparing for registration with the Koru Kids' Home Nursery service
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Risk assessment
Effective risk assessment of your home and activities is vital.
You should regularly review your setting and both the inside and outside activities you do with children to ensure that any risks are mitigated. In particular, your attention should be drawn to:
Ensuring that toys and resources are age appropriate - being sure to remove any choking hazards for babies and toddlers, and ensuring that battery compartments on electronic toys are securely closed.
You are required under Section 3.56 of the EYFS Statutory Framework to have a smoke detector and either a fire blanket or fire extinguisher in your setting. This should be checked weekly and recorded.
It is a good idea to do a fire drill with the children in your setting so that you and the children are aware of what to do in the event of an emergency.
Alcohol must not be consumed during childcare hours and smoking/vaping must not be undertaken on the premises.
All people aged over 16 years living in your home must be DBS checked.
Effectively managing young children’s behaviour near busy roads is vitally important. It is acceptable to restrain a young child if they are at risk of running into traffic.
Any pets in your home must be safe for children, and parents must be made aware.
We will provide you with more information about the safe set-up of your home in our 'Creating a Safe Home Nursery' training.
First aid
Kids will be kids! You may be required to deliver first aid at any time.
You must ensure that your paediatric first aid certificate is renewed every three years. Koru Kids will pay for your initial training and we will remind you when it is due for renewal, but ultimately it is your responsibility to ensure your qualification is kept up to date.
You must keep your first aid box fully stocked. When going outside of the home, you should risk assess whether you need to take a small pack of first aid essentials with you.
Administering medicines
Parental permission is required to administer all medicines, including non-prescribed (such as Calpol, or teething gels).
Medication can only be administered to children where their parents have consented.
Giving a child any medication requires the parent’s explicit consent - they will need to complete a medication form each day they drop their child requiring medication (unless it is a long term medication, in which case you get written consent for ongoing administration).
You should also seek written consent (via SMS) to give the child medication (such as Calpol) prior to administration if the need arises during the day.
After administering any medication to a child, you should complete a medication form and ask the parent to sign it when they collect their child.
Find a copy of your medication policy here.
Emergencies
Be prepared for an emergency.
You should make sure that your emergency backup’s contact details are kept up to date.
You should also make sure you have the Koru Kids phone number and parents’ phone numbers stored in your mobile phone in case you need to make phone calls whilst away from home.
You should familiarise yourself with whether parents have given consent for urgent doctor-recommended medical treatment to be given in the event that they can’t be contacted. You can find this out on the family’s settling in form.
Food safety
Food safety is important as you will be serving food every day.
Make sure you are aware of any food allergies that children you care for may have, and stay alert to any allergic reactions that may occur at mealtimes.
Make sure you keep an up to date record of food sensitivities and ensure you share this information with any assistants.
Contagious illness
If children have an infectious illness, they should stay away.
If a child has symptoms of a serious infectious illness, they should stay away from your setting for a period of time in accordance with the guidelines from Public Health England here.
Links
Introduction to food hygiene **
Advanced food safety **