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Outings Risk Assessments

It is important to carefully plan outings and to involve the children and their families in the planning and risk assessment process. Written risk assessments are not a requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) but you should consider how you can provide evidence to Ofsted, children’s parents and possibly your insurance company and RIDDOR (should there be a serious accident) that you have risk assessed without them.

Policy: you do not need an outings policy to comply with the EYFS or to meet Ofsted expectations.

Risk assessment: you will need to risk assess to ensure you can keep children safe and healthy on the outing. Many large venues such as farms and zoos have risk assessments on their website which you can download, print and personalise to include information you want to share with parents such as accessibility of toilets and places for picnics. Some outing risk assessment considerations include –

• Ratios – you must ensure you are within ratios when you take children on outings.
• First aid – there must be a practitioner from the setting who has a current paediatric first aid certificate to accompany children on outings.

Note that lack of first aid is a common reason for childminders being downgraded at inspection and it is avoidable if courses are booked well in advance before certificates expire.

• Clothing – ensure children are wearing appropriate clothing for the outing and take spares with you in case of emergency.
• Emergency contacts – photocopy emergency contact forms and take them in your outings bag. If the worst happens and something happens to you on the outing, emergency services will need to know which children are with you and how to contact their parents.
• Weather considerations – see the information in this series about sun safety and ice and snow.
• Vehicle safety – you must ensure the car is safe and insured. Car seats must be suitable fort the children.
• Public transport - If you are travelling on public transport, you should risk assess how you will keep the children safe during the journey to and from the venue.
• Medication - if children take medication, you need to transport it in a suitable bag / box and think about how you will ensure it is labelled so that if you are in an accident, it will be linked to the child. Childminders often store children’s medication individually and label it for the child, ensuring it is kept cold (with ice blocks) if necessary. 
• Identification – you will also need a way of identifying each child in case, for example, they are lost, or you have an accident and are unable to speak for them. You might take a photo of each child before the outing to show what they are wearing on the day of the outing and how they can be identified.
• Lost child procedures - you should link your outing risk assessments to your ‘lost child procedures’, stating what you will do if a child goes missing during the outing. See the ‘losing a child’ guide in this series for more information.
• Hand washing - you must consider hand washing, especially if you are taking the children on an outing where there are animals. You might want to take hand wipes and alcohol-free cleansing liquid but you should also check that the venue has child-friendly sinks with soap and running water.
• Toileting – ensure there is access to suitable toilets. If you are going somewhere new with the children, you might find it useful to do a pre-visit check so you can reassure parents.

Informing parents: you do not need permission from parents to take children on outings. However, you will want to inform them about, for example –

• Arrangements – let parents know about the date and time of the outing. Are you going to be later back than usual – if so, where can they collect their child?
• Late arrival – if parents are late bringing their child to the setting, let them know they will either miss the day or have to find you, because you will not wait beyond the agreed time before setting off.
• Supervision – talk to parents about who is supervising the children – for example, if you are going with an assistant or colleague.
• Suitable clothing for their child to wear – for example, do they need a raincoat or boots?
• Lunch arrangements – for example, do parents need to pack picnic food (in which case you will want to give them information about suitable contents of the lunch bag) or will you eat in a café or similar when you are on the outing?
• Allergies – you should update yourself, because if a child has an allergy or intolerance that you do not usually support, you will want to check with the place you are eating in advance to ensure they can accommodate the child’s dietary needs.
• Entrance fees – request entry fees in full or a contribution, following the information parents have read previously in your fees policy.

Conclusion: outings can be very beneficial for children. During outings, they learn about the local community and wider world and activities can be planned to support their ongoing interests on your return. Children must be kept safe on outings, and it is your responsibility, as their childcare provider, to ensure they have a safe and happy time.

Risk assessments should be robust and consider all aspects of the outing: they can be updated on your return to include information that has arisen during the day, so it is in place for next time you visit.