Establishing and Maintaining Safe and Healthy Environment for Children - Desklib

Case study
It is 4.45pm. Cala and Amy are on late shift. There are still 8 children at the service. Cala has
noticed the number of preschool children staying later has increased over the last few weeks. It
has been a very hot, windy day and the children have had to spend much of the time indoors.
It is now much cooler and Cala and Amy decide the children need some time outdoors.
Cala carries Lim (6 months) and takes the hands free phone and intercom for the front door with
her. Amy brings the basket of washing to fold while she’s supervising. Lim has been unsettled all
day and has needed almost constant attention. When Cala sits him in on a rug he becomes very
distressed so Cala asks Amy to quickly go inside and get him some water in a sipper cup. Amy
goes inside taking three children with her.
Cala sits on the grass with Lim on her lap. Sarah (3.4 years) and Jessie (3 years) are hosing the
garden. They have dragged the hose across the bike path. Two toddlers are riding their bikes
on the bike path. Mitch runs over the hose on the bike track and tips his bike over. He
screams and when he sits up Cala can see there is blood around his mouth and on the front of
his T-shirt.
Cala places Lim on the rug, runs over to grab some gloves from the container in the shelf, but
the container is empty. She calls for Amy and moves towards Mitch. As she moves she calls
again for Amy, and notices that Sarah is now hosing Jessie who has started crying. Carla calls
out to them but they do not respond.
Both Mitch and Lim are now crying loudly. Amy wanders out with Lim’s sipper and the three
children – she is unaware of what has happened. Cala tells Amy to go and turn off the hose
while she wipes the blood from Mitch’s mouth using his T-shirt.
When everyone is gathered together they all go inside. Mitch is not seriously injured. Lim is
over the indignity of being left on the rug and everyone is calm.
15 minutes later there are only two children remaining so Cala goes to get the accident book
so that she can record Mitch’s injury. The accident book is not in its usual location and is
nowhere to be found. Cala quickly writes a report on a sheet of paper and leaves it in the
Director’s in-tray.
When the last child leaves Cala takes the opportunity to talk to Amy about the incident and asks
Amy why she took so long in the kitchen. Amy replies she thought she’d help out and unpack the

dishwasher with the children. Before the conversation can continue they are interrupted by
Amy’s boyfriend blowing the car horn. Amy grabs her bag and rushes out leaving Cala to lock up.
Ten minutes later Cala leaves for home feeling very stressed
and annoyed. It is the responsibility of the middle shift to restock the outdoor supplies and empty
the dishwasher.
The next morning Cala is ready to talk to the Director Trish – she is concerned about supervision
of the children and tasks not being completed.
Question(Based on case study above)
In the time between the accident happening and before Amy returned list the decisions that Cala
had to quickly make in relation to the children?
Here, Cala made decision to take gloves to follow the guideline for the proper sanitisation and to
prevent any infection to the Lim. Cala also need to take care of Jessie and Sarah during the situation.
Cala also decided to place Lim on the rug.
Question no. 2 (4 points Answer enough for this Question)
a. List the safety considerations that would need to be taken into account
when supervising the children (consider children’s age and skills, space,
equipment and restricting the number of children who might access the
area at any one time).
-List of consideration are as follows: -
Placing equipment at their right place.
There should sufficient number of supervisor according to number of children.
Communication should be always clear for every work.
All safety measures should be followed.
b. Identify the level of supervision
required:
• High = close and constant;
• Medium = stay nearby;
• Low = minimal – regularly check
Identified level of supervision required is Medium= Stay nearby.

TODDLERS: 18MTHS – 3YEARS
Experience Setup/Supervision Requirements Supervision level
ii. Building with large
foam blocks
What things should be kept in mind when an educator
supervise and setup the large foam blocks building
activity for toddlers ?
There is need to ensure about the safety and
connectivity to each child. There is also need to meet
the child requirements. There should always safe reach
to each child and place.
Tick one suitable form of supervision level ?
There is need for high level of supervision to take care
of each child. So the suitable form of supervision level
is high.
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW
Question 3
When designing the childcare environment educators need to ensure that safety has been
addressed and that the play areas are arranged to ensure the children can use the play spaces
easily and comfortably to engage in meaningful experiences.
Considering the above, your task is to design an indoor play environment for a group of twenty 3
- 4 year old children in a long day care service.
Your design must include the following areas: