Excursions
Excursions are a great opportunity for children to experience something new, or not so new, with their friends from child care. Even the local park takes on a whole new sparkle with a different or bigger group of friends to play with. They also present a whole new experience for the staff who plan and manage them.
Planning
Once you’ve decided where to go for an excursion, it is essential that a full plan be made. This will help ensure the smooth running of the excursion and the safety of everyone involved. There’s quite a lot to consider!
If at all possible, staff should visit the excursion venue or location well in advance. This enables staff to identify more of the possible risks and include them in their risk minimisation planning.
The legal adult to child ratios must be followed during your excursion. The adult to child ratio is much higher on an excursion than when staff and children are at the centre. (Parents or guardians may also be available to help during the excursion).
Additional safety measures that may need to be devised and implemented could include a method to ensure all children are accounted for.
All parents need to be fully informed of the details of the excursion and provide written consent for their child to participate.
Other questions you will need to answer include:
- what is the weather likely to be?
- what time of day would best suit the majority of the children?
- what do we need to take with us? (essentials include water, first aid kit, change of clothes, mobile phone, sunscreen).
Depending on their age, the children can also be part of the planning. This can add to their enjoyment of the excursion as well as helping them be aware of things like the rules and limits they will need to abide by and the things they will need to be especially careful about.
Check your state or territory's Child Care Regulations and find out what the adult-child ratios are for each age group in your state.
Why do you think the adult to child ratio is much higher on an excursion than when staff and children are at the centre?
Write your answers in your notebook.
During the excursion
Throughout the excursion, you will need to maintain direct contact with the children you are supervising. It can be more difficult to supervise children out in the real world, compared to in the relatively controlled environment of the child care centre. Interacting with them by joining in their activities and conversations is a great way to enjoy the excursion yourself, while staying close by. Most of the safety procedures that you follow at the child care centre should still be followed on an excursion, including reporting of any accidents or incidents that do occur.
Incursions are an alternative way of providing an exciting experience for the children in a child care centre. Some different things need to be considered when planning an incursion.
Choose one of the following options:
- a visiting balloon artist
- a visiting petting zoo
- a visiting puppet show.
Make a list in your notebook of the things you would need to consider when planning your incursion.
