RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
June 7, 1999
FIRST NATIONAL SAFETY GUIDE FOR CHILDMINDERS
The first guide to encourage childminders to help children in their care learn about safety has been published by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
The Society has launched its free booklet on the eve of National Childminder’s Week (June 14-18), in an effort to raise awareness of the positive contribution childminders can make to children’s safety education.
A million children are taken to hospital every year after accidents in the home. It is hoped the guide will play an important role in reducing this figure by helping children learn safety lessons.
‘Opportunities for Safety Education, a Guide to Principles and Practices for Childminders’ has been sponsored by Domestos, and 129,000 copies will be distributed to registered childminders in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, through the local authorities where they work.
Jan Barratt, from RoSPA’s Safety Education Department, is the author of the guide. She said: "Childminders are in the unique position for professionals of looking after children of different ages, at different times of the day, in a home setting.
"This enables them to provide safety education in real settings and real situations, an option not usually available to those looking after children in group care."
The guide has been designed to be used by individual childminders or as a training resource for social services teams involved in the registration and initial training of childminders, or by tutors working with childminders on courses.
It contains practical suggestions which highlight opportunities for children’s learning through everyday experiences and aims to encourage childminders to see themselves as a powerful influence and resource in the child’s life.
For example, taking the children out and about is a good time to teach them areas of road safety, trips to the supermarket can be used to teach them the importance of staying close, and messy play at home can highlight the dangers of slips and falls.
