Adequate supervision is critical in ensuring child safety within Early Childhood Services. Recent media coverage has highlighted the importance of maintaining effective supervision at all times, reinforcing the need for educators to remain vigilant, responsive and proactive in preventing incidents and ensuring children’s safety and wellbeing.
Supervision is a key component of the National Quality Framework, supported by the National Law, National Regulations and the National Quality Standard. The National Law and Regulations require children to be adequately supervised at all times, including during indoor and outdoor activities, excursions and transitions.
Active Supervision Techniques
Active supervision is essential for ensuring child safety. The following examples promote active supervision and help educators remain alert and responsive to children’s needs while minimising risks.
- Position themselves strategically to maintain a safe environment
- Use redirection to guide children’s behaviour
- Provide close supervision during high-risk activities
- Plan transitions carefully to ensure safety
- Implement clear supervision plans
- Engage in regular self-reflection
Management can support educators to provide adequate supervision by implementing a combination of strategies to focus on training, clear expectations, monitoring and ongoing support. Examples include:
Clear Policies and Procedures: Our Supervision Policy and Supervision Guidelines and Procedure outline expectations, responsibilities and best practices for active supervision.
Develop Plans and Risk Assessments: Establish a Supervision Plan and conduct regular risk assessments that outline appropriate supervision strategies and identify potential hazards for unique situations and environments.
Ongoing Training and Professional Development: Regular training sessions including positioning, maintaining awareness and identifying risks should be ongoing and include refresher courses periodically.
Regular Observation and Feedback: A Supervision Audit can provide constructive feedback, while identifying any gaps or areas of improvement.
Team Meetings and Communication: Discussing supervision strategies and challenges helps to reinforce expectations and provide support.
Review: Following an incident involving supervision it is critical to conduct a review of current practices and address any areas of concern and improvement.
Find out how our membership can support your supervision practices and management: Click here: https://www.childcarecentredesktop.com.au