50 years caring for children

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Garden Policy

The purpose of this policy is to set out how we use our outdoor space safely and for the benefit of the children.

Time outdoors helps children regulate their bodies and emotions due to the natural light, lower levels of noise and softer stimulation, therefore it is a key part of our provision that we support children to have as much time outdoors as possible.

SAFETY

  1. Where there is not free flow, in order to safeguard children during the transition from the building to the garden:-
  • There are always 2 or more staff to supervise the children.
  • The children are counted in and out and the number recorded.
  • Any external gates on to the pavements and roads are checked before leaving the building.
  • A child wishing to go to the toilet is escorted.
  1. The garden is checked daily before the children go out in accordance with a garden checklist (Appendix 1).
  1. We ensure that the apparatus in the garden is safe for use. Staff check apparatus every day. We cannot guarantee that accidents will not happen, but we take the same care over safety in the garden as we do inside Nursery.
  1. Children are encouraged to enjoy physical play, challenge themselves and take age-appropriate risks. Staff will help children learn how to use apparatus safely. Please see our Challenging Play Policy.
  1. Children are protected from too much sun by:
  • Encouraging them to wear hats and talking to them about why this is important, including staff role modelling appropriate sun care by wearing hats themselves.
  • Learning about sun safety by having conversations about how we keep ourselves safe in the sun and why.
  • Staff being aware of how much sun the children are exposed to. Children are encouraged to play in shaded areas or do not go outside during the hours when the sun is at its strongest (between 11am and 3pm) on very hot, sunny days.
  • Applying sun cream. Parents give permission for this on the Health and Permissions form. Parents are asked to apply day-long (8 hour) sun cream before nursery as necessary. An emergency bottle of sun cream is provided in each nursery reception should parents forget. Staff will remind parents to apply sun cream via iConnect, email and on reception screens as required.
  • Sun cream will be reapplied in nursery as required, eg after faces are washed or for those children to whom it was applied very early or who have fair skin and need extra protection.
  1. Drinking water is always available.

PLAY AND LEARNING

  1. Gardens are used as outdoor classrooms and considered an important part of each child’s development and learning experience. We also consider physical free play outside to be an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
  1. We believe it is important for children to play outside at every opportunity. Therefore, we use the gardens all year round and endeavour to enable children to learn and play outside at least once every day. We encourage parents to bring suitable clothing for their child so that they can enjoy being outside in all weathers. We have a supply of all-in-one waterproof suits in two sizes for children to use.
  1. Children are asked to have welly boots kept at Nursery and these will be worn on wet days.
  1. We encourage staff to have suitable shoes and clothing at Nursery so that they are equipped to be comfortable in the garden in all weathers. We have waterproof trousers for staff to support them being in the gardens in all weathers.
  1. Children will play freely in the garden and so may get wet or muddy. We will not discourage them from exploring the natural surroundings and enjoying their play. Very wet or dirty clothes will be changed when children go inside. Parents are asked to provide a spare set of clothing for this purpose.

Appendix 1

Garden Checklist

 

Click to download printable document – garden checklist