A key aim of the Early Years Foundation Stage review is to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on practitioners. It identifies risk assessments as one of the main areas where time spent on paperwork could be saved.
Dame Clare Tickell, who led the review, says, 'I firmly believe that there should be common sense in dealing with risk assessments, enabling practitioners to show that they have considered potential risks, without spending hours filling in forms.
'For this to happen requires a simple, transparent process. I recommend that clear guidance is included in the EYFS about the amount of paperwork that should be kept in relation to risk assessments. I also recommend that practitioners should not have to undertake written risk assessments in relation to outings, but be able to demonstrate, if asked - for example, by parents or during inspection - the way they are managing outings to minimise any risk.'
ADHERING TO POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Currently, written risk assessments for outings vary depending upon each setting's outings policy and procedure. But typically, a risk assessment would be written down by the nursery manager or the outing co-ordinator, or a senior member of staff acting as outing co-ordinator for a particular trip.
The proposal to scrap that has met with a mixed response from practitioners. Andy Dobson, head of the Cass Child and Family Centre in the City of London, says, 'I would say unreservedly that this is a good move. It is a really sound and sensible proposal. It seems the whole thrust of this is to have less things written down and instead, require people to demonstrate an awareness and knowledge.'
However, Debbie Main, manager of the Little Foot Nursery in Halifax, says, 'We like to produce written risk assessments for our own peace of mind as well as for the children and parents. When parents are looking after their own children it is slightly different: the children belong to them. In effect, we are "borrowing" their children. I think for that reason we will continue to do risk assessments. They give reassurance to the team.'
In practical terms it is not clear how much red tape would actually be cut by the proposal, as risk assessments are only a part of the process involved in organising outings. There is also the fact that people can have different views on what is common sense.
Laura Henry, managing director of the Childcare Consultancy, points out that providers will still need to have an outings policy and procedure and will have to prepare documentation, such as permission forms for trips and consent forms for emergency treatment, and maintain up-to-date contact details for parents/carers.
Practitioners also need to show they are meeting the welfare requirements for keeping children safe and comply with the requirements of their insurance policies.
In the EYFS review report, Dame Clare says, 'When talking about paperwork, risk assessments were repeatedly cited as a cause of additional burdens on practitioners, with stark differences in approaches across local authorities and between providers.'
Ms Henry draws a clear distinction between regular outings being made within the local community to the park or postbox, and trips further afield that may involve travelling on public transport.
In the case of regular, local outings, she says that settings do not now have to carry out a complete risk assessment every time, but should undertake an initial risk assessment which would be updated if circumstances changed, such as road works affecting the junction where the children and staff would normally cross the road.
This is the practice at Little Foot Nursery, where Mrs Main says, 'When we first decide to go somewhere new we do the risk assessment. I do it with the team leaders. I don't go on the trips with them, so they need to be involved. They are the ones who give feedback to the parents if anything happens to their child when they are out.
'If the outing is to a place we visit regularly - the park or the special school across the road where we use their ball pool or sensory room - we keep the risk assessment under review. It is a working document. When someone is going on a regular outing they will check the risk assessment and update it if it needs changing - maybe there is some new equipment in the park. If somebody new joins we like them to be a fresh pair of eyes and will say "here is the risk assessment for this outing, please go through it".'
Ms Henry is keen that children go out around their local community and on trips further afield so they can gain from different learning experiences. She is sceptical whether stopping the requirement to complete a written risk assessment will make a significant difference to the number of outings nurseries undertake.
From her experience as an inspector, she says, 'Completing a risk assessment was not the barrier to going on outings. Instead, practitioners reported that difficulties maintaining staff-child ratios prevented them from taking the children out.'
DEMONSTRATING AWARENESS
Undoubtedly there needs to be clarification on how practitioners will demonstrate they are managing outings to minimise risk. Mr Dobson says, 'I think what will happen is that during an inspection, the inspector will just stop a member of staff and say "Please tell me, if you are going on an outing with the children, what are the risk factors you need to take into account? What do you need to do if you are all crossing the road?"
'That will be instead of what happens now, when a full risk assessment has to be written down. If you visit the same place three times a year, you have to write the risk assessment three times over, which is ludicrous.
'The thrust is that it will be the actual practitioner explaining to the inspector what risks they need to be aware of and assess, and not something written down on paper. It means everybody will need to know what they are doing and why, rather than having somebody writing reams.'
However, Mrs Main says that written risk assessments protect not just the children but the staff too. 'There is tremendous pressure on practitioners. The fact that we can get into trouble with Ofsted, the local council and the parents has a massive impact on everything we do.
'We need to be able to demonstrate that when we have taken the children out, we have thought it through and we have looked at the risks and thought about how to make it safe for the children.'
The EYFS recommendations do not undermine the importance of scrutinising risk, but take away the emphasis on writing everything down. If these recommendations are upheld, it does not preclude settings continuing to commit their risk assessments to paper if they wish.
