BABY AND TODDLER GROUPS
Prepping policies and procedures
The Alliance’s Alison Heseltine gives us a handy overview of putting together policies and procedures for your baby and toddler group
Alison works as an early years development manager at the Alliance, supporting families and educators.
Rules. Expectations. Guidelines. Policies. Whatever you call them, a set of shared and agreedupon codes for people to go by is usually handy for a regular group to have in place. In fact, they can be crucial to the success of the group as well as to both the safety and enthusiasm of all participants.
This is no different for baby and toddler groups – you could even argue that it’s more important in such groups than in others, given the varying age (and therefore considerations) of attendees and the range of backgrounds, experiences and personalities to cater to. Without a shared understanding of agreements and actions, things can quickly descend into chaos, and that’s not what you want!
Why bother?
To support families, staff and visitors at baby and toddler groups, it is good practice to have guidelines about how the group operates, such as the session routines, the expectations of children and adults attending the group, and step-bystep safety information. These are often unwritten, making it difficult for people to be aware of and follow them.
These guidelines form your ‘policies and procedures’. They can help to ensure that everyone knows what’s acceptable and appropriate without being long or complicated – often a simple statement will do – but they can be invaluable in helping to clear up any uncertainty so that groups are a safe and fun space for everyone.
It can also be beneficial to get the families attending your group involved in developing your policies and procedures via a circle time activity with the adults.
Perhaps they’ll see something that you don’t or have ideas and opinions that you hadn’t considered? By getting everyone’s contributions, you help families take ownership while also raising awareness of how your policies and procedures ensure the group provides a welcoming, safe environment.
Key areas to cover
There are several key areas to consider, such as safety, safeguarding and expectations of behaviour (for both children and adults). We are delighted to announce that baby and toddler members now have exclusive access to policy and procedure templates that can be adapted by groups to suit their individual circumstances and requirements.
There are 10 templates:
Keeping safe – including points such as risk assessments, toy safety and personal responsibilities of families attending the group.
Promoting positive behaviour – recognising that everyone can struggle sometimes and how the group will respond in a supportive and nonjudgemental way.
First aid and accidents – outlining how to deal with these appropriately and clarifying information such as who to go to for help and where the first aid box and accident book are.
Inclusion – highlighting the group’s ethos that all are welcome to attend and how this will be achieved.
Fire safety and emergency evacuation – providing clear instructions that families must be familiar with in the event of a fire or other emergency situation.
Health and wellbeing – explaining what to do if a child is poorly and the steps taken to ensure good hygiene practices.
Finance – giving reassurance to families that any money received is recorded and used appropriately.
Safeguarding – emphasising that this is everyone’s responsibility and explaining that as a group any safeguarding concerns will be acted on.
Data protection – explaining why data is collected and needed, how it will be kept safe and what will happen when it is no longer needed.
Volunteers – valuing the contribution that volunteers make to running the group and explaining expectations for both the volunteers and families.
To access this resource, you will need to be a current Alliance member and have registered for EYA Central. You can download the policies and procedures at bit.ly/U5babytoddlerPnP.
Under 5 magazine
The magazine of the Early Years Alliance