A Safety Checklist for Parents Choosing a Preschool

Choosing a preschool for your child may constitute one of the most significant decisions a parent can take and advocating for a safe preschool environment is essential to laying a strong foundation for education. As guidelines and best practice change, and parents increasingly recognize the necessity for more preschools to comply with safety requirements, all parents want access to knowledge and information to make conscious decisions. This preschool safety checklist includes preschool safety tips and steps for parents to take during the admission process in service of the safety and happiness of every child.  

Safety Checklist Related to the Physical Safety of the Environment

CCTV Monitoring: The preschool shall include live monitoring through CCTV in all classrooms and play areas; it must have at least one shared with parents on a view only basis.  

Child Safe and Age Appropriate: All furnishings and equipment, including all toys and play structures, are to be child safe, age appropriate, and regularly checked for dangerous materials and sharp edges with all electrical outlets, cords, or other potential physical dangers out of reach of children. 

Access Control: Points of entry and exit must be secure and limit access to unauthorized individuals.required.

Safety Certificates: Check that the preschool has valid building and fire safety certificates by law.

Cleanliness and Hygiene: The school should ensure a high standard of hygiene is observed, offer fresh drinking water and any meals are safe to consume (no junk food).

All first aid kits should be accessible to staff and staff trained in first aid and CPR. Fire extinguishers are required to be installed and maintained, emergency numbers posted, and drills practiced.

Health and Emotional Safety Protocols

Trained Staff: Teachers and caregivers should be certified and trained in early childhood education and health and safety procedures. 

Adult-Child Ratio: Preschool must keep to established adult-child ratios for monitoring and individualized care.

Emotional Safety: Staff should provide a climate of kindness, respect, and inclusion with zero-tolerance policies against discrimination or bullying

Personal Safety Protocols: Policies for reporting and dealing with abuse should be established. Grievance officers should be designated. 

Safe Preschool Environment

Childproofing: Look for childproofing features: non-slippery flooring, corners covered for sharp edge safety, lists of restricted objects and chemicals to limit access.

Cyber Safety: Personal data management for children and staff must be limited to safe secure levels with no reasonable risks of reuse.

Safe Playground Areas: Indoor or sandbox and outdoor should have guidelines and organized inspection routines. Playground safety should be adhered to.

Preschool Safety Action List: Daily Procedures

Classroom Procedures Safety Rules: Ask about classroom safety rules that the classroom environment posts (walking instead of running; no hands on each other; supplies used safely).

Hand Washing: Preschools must try to properly enforce the strategy that children wash hands before meals or after bathroom use (“healthy habits”). 

Safe Pick Up: School own site check in / out student policies/practices.

Preschool Parent Inquiry Question Guide

Before enrollment we would ask a parent use the following preschool parent checklist:

• Is the preschool a registered child care facility, and meets or exceeds current local safety standards?

• Are parents able to tour the facility and watch registered and non-registered interaction (childproofing, cleanliness, etc.)? 

• What certifications and training will teachers and caregivers share with parents if asked? (focusing mainly on safety procedures and emergencies)

• What procedures does the preschool have for safety issues, accidents and illnesses as they relate to school monitoring and reporting?

• What procedures does the preschool follow for emergency evacuating, fire regulations, or medical emergencies, in the every-every-extreme emergency. 

• This preschool has CCTV and parents could access it if they wanted to view RSVP?

• What are the procedures the preschool follows and scheduling for vetting staff and monitoring access to children?

• What is the adult-child ratio and activities, play and classroom situations?

• How does bullying or discrimination exist among youngsters?

• Using Healthy Food Monitoring, what does the preschool provide in the way of meals?

Preschool suggestions to parents

• Always, always, share If you think/feel that anything is unsafe. If parents have questions, parents should feel free to ask. If parents are curious about a policy procedure or want verification, parents encourage parents to seek clarification.

• Review the affairs of the school policies: If parents are curious or have any commentary, parents must ask by and read documentation related to safety, safety health issues, and emergency safeties. 

• Attend meetings, meetings and parent orientations so those parents can more fully understand the rules, bylaws, policy, regulations, and reporting (parental).

• Be Attend means for reasonable to good opportunities. Stay Friendly. Unannounced means as long as a parent conducts themselves in friendly behavior, parents should have policies and protocols to regularly check in to observe school operations and relations.

A safe preschool setting is not just a physically safe preschool

It is an emotional safe preschool with community wellness to maintain socially and require engaged practice as appropriate for safety standards. A safe preschool will/should:

1. Maintain adhering to physical safety standards, cognitive safety standards, and emotional safety standards,

2. Communicate openly to parents – parents should be notified who (responsible communicators preschool’ safety developmental typed, rules, safeties protocols, or reminders, etc.

3. Staff should be the safety professionals that/not only have a duty to be caring supervisors to provide/professional standards care,

4. Staff should consider operating procedures, standards and development for new teachers and caregivers for staff, when important directly and indirectly happens as development evolves to upload or maintain safety throughout the day.

5. Staff should have discussions for the school for meetings, impromptu meeting times, or quarterly meetings, meeting protocols, or even staff meetings to check and renew safety practices regularly and at once. 

Conclusion 

Selecting a preschool should be informed by an awareness of recent safety standards, firsthand knowledge obtained through observation, and dialogue between parents and preschool staff. You can use this preschool safety checklist as a thoughtful resource to provide families with the information they need to select the safest and happiest learning environment for their child.

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