Supervision

Practice Note 12 | May2010

Updated September2012

Supervision in children’sservices

Effective supervision is one of the most basicandimportant priorities in children’s services. It issoimportant that the requirement foradequatesupervision is in the Children’s Services Act 1996(the Act) in section27.

Adutytotakereasonablecareofachildexistsatalltimes the child is in the care of the service. One partofthisreasonablelevelofcareisthattheproprietorand each staff member are responsible forensuringthat children are adequately supervised at all timesthe children are in the service’s care. Thisincludeswhen the children are indoors or outdoors onthepremises, as well as when they are on an excursionor routine outing away from the premises.

What is adequatesupervision?

Supervision is an integral part of the whole careandeducation experience. At its most basiclevel,supervision helps to protect children from hazardsorharm that may arise in their daily experiences inplay, interactions with others, and dailyroutines.Adequate supervision means that an adultcanrespond immediately including when a childis distressed or is in a hazardous situation.

Supervision is constantly observing and relatingtoindividual children and groups of children tocontribute to their safety andwellbeing.

Supervision involves more than preventingorresponding to potential or actual hazards or harm.Itrequires the staff member to be actively involvedwithchildren and have knowledgeof what each childis doing at any given time of the day.Throughsupervision staff member get to know each childanddevelop essential understandings about them inthesocial setting of the children’sservice.

Thoughtful supervision of childrencreatesopportunities to assess each child’s strengthsandinterests and ways of relating to other childrenandadults. These assessments are valuablecontributions to planning the program.Sharingassessments with families, with others responsiblefor the child and with the children themselves is

important(for example, in school holiday careservices with school staff). This helps tobuildspartnerships and increase understanding ofchildren.

Supervision can contribute to buildingpositiverelationships between staff member andchildren.When children are being supervisedadequately,there will be evidence of strong, mutuallyrespectfulrelationships between staff member andchildren.

What does adequate supervision looklike?

Although the provision of adequatesupervisiondepends somewhat on the children’s agesandabilities, every child at the service should alwaysbemonitored actively and diligently. It meansknowingwhere children are at alltimes.

Children of different ages and abilities willneeddifferentlevelsofsupervision.Youngerchildrenwillalways need to be in sight of an adult whereasolderchildren may not. In general, the youngerchildrenare, the more they may need an adulttobephysically present and close by to support andhelpthem.

Adequate supervision is therefore likelyto bedifferent in some ways for different services.Forexample, in a centre-based service for youngchildren, adequate supervision will mean thatthechildren remain in close proximity to the adult whoissupervising them. In contrast, in a schoolholidaycare service, in which children are older,knowingwhere each child is and ensuring that staffmembersare in a position to respond may beconsideredadequatesupervision.

Whenever children are being cared for, staff willneed to make decisions throughout the dayaboutwhere they are best placed to adequatelysuperviseeachchild.

In a group of children of the same age there willbesome children who need more supervisionthanothers. Staff members learn about this as they gettoknowchildren.

Child/staff ratios and adequatesupervision

For centre-based services and school holidaycareservices, the child/staff ratios (regulations 53, 54,55and 56) describe the minimum number ofstaffmembers required to care for or educatechildren.However, meeting these ratios may not alwaysbesufficient to provide adequate supervision inallchildren’sservices.

For all service types, the adequacy of supervisionis determined by a range of factors, includingthefollowing:

  • number ofchildren
  • ages ofchildren
  • abilities ofchildren
  • number and positioning ofadults
  • each child’s current activity, for example,physicalactivities, art activities and playing withothers
  • areaswherethechildrenareengagingintheactivities, in particular the visibility andaccessibilityof theseareas
  • adults’ knowledge of each child and each groupofchildren
  • experience, knowledge and skill of eachstaffmember
  • need for staff members to move betweenareas

Planning forsupervision

For centre-based services and school agecareservices, several factors affect decisions abouthowmany staff members are needed for supervisionandwhere they should be placed. The number ofstaffmembers and/or other adults needed in each areaofthe service for adequate supervision will need tobecarefully considered. It will depend on the numberofchildren and the different areas in which thechildrenare located at any one time duringtheday. A flexible approach to staff placement throughouttheday will be required to ensure adequate supervision.

Adequate supervision requires teamwork andconstant communication among all staffmembers.

All areas available to children in all service typesmust be supervised. All staff members must be alertto and aware of what is going on around them.Staffmembers must be alert to the potential foraccidents,injuries and other harmful incidents throughoutthe whole service, not just within their own immediate area.

Excursions and routineoutings

Undertaking a risk assessment is part of planninga routine outing or an excursion. The riskassessmentwill need to take into account the levelsofsupervision and number of adults needed fortheentire time the children are out of theservice.

At certain times it may be necessary to undertakeanadditional assessment of how many adultsareneeded to supervise the children. This assessmentof where and how the children are supervisedmustbe carefully planned and communicated withotherstaff and/or any other adults who may be caring foror educating thechildren.

Adequate supervision relies on adults alwaysknowingthewhereaboutsofeachchildbeingcaredfor or educated by the service, respondingquicklyand sensitively to all children’s needs andintervening in positive ways with childrenwhenappropriate ornecessary.

SleepingChildren

Whenconsideringthesupervisionrequirementsofsleeping children, an assessment of eachchild’scircumstance and needs should be undertakentodetermine any risk factors.Thiswillensureadequate supervision practices are put in placetominimise any potentialrisks.

This includes assessing how to respond quicklyandsensitively to children’s needs whenever childrenaresleeping, either in a children’s room or in aseparatesleepingarea.

For example, a higher risk may be associatedwithsmall babies or children with colds or chroniclungdisorders, therefore the child may requiresomeoneto stay beside them when they are sleepingtominimise any potential risk to the child. Roomsthatare dark and have music playing may notprovideadequate supervision of sleepingchildren.

Staff members must be able to demonstrate thattheyhave an understanding of safe sleep practicesandhave identified and considered any risk factorsandacted accordingly to address thesefactors..

NappyChange

Preparing for a nappy change is fundamentaltomaintaining an adequate level of supervisionofchildren. This may involve ensuring that all of therequired equipment is available and within reachprior to undertaking a nappy change. Inpreparingfor a nappy change, staff members mayconsider:

  • Is there a sufficient supply of nappies withinreach?
  • Are there cleaning products withinreach?
  • Is the bin for the disposal of nappies closeby?
  • Is the change bench next to running water tocleanthe child or are there sufficient baby wipes closebyfor thispurpose?

Staff members may develop a procedure toensurethatthenappychangeareaiscleanedandrestockedduring the day to ensure that equipment requiredfornappy changing is available at alltimes.

Preparation and constant contact with the childarekeyin ensuring that children areadequatelysupervised during a nappy change. Making surethatall of the necessary equipment is easilyaccessibleprior to undertaking a nappy change will ensurethatthe child has the staff member’s full attentionduringthe nappychange.

While undertaking a nappy change the childshouldnever be left alone on the change table andphysical contact should always be maintainedwiththechild.Insomecasesthismayrequirethestaffmember to position themselves so that they cansafely change a child’s nappy whilemaintainingadequate supervision of the otherchildren.

Staff members may need to consideralternativearrangements for changing nappies in orderto maintain this awareness; this would be part oftheassessment of risk the staff member hasundertakenfor that group of children. This may involveensuringthat another staff member is availabletosupervisethe otherchildren.

Responsibility of proprietors and staffmembers

The proprietor and all staff members must ensurethat every child at the service isadequatelysupervised (section 27). Adequate supervisionrelieson always being in a positionto:

  • respond to each child’s individual needs in atimelymanner that adequately meets thatneed
  • interveneifnecessary.

This will support your service to achieve and deliver a high quality program that engages with childrenand their families to get the best possible outcomesforchildren.

Related practicenote

Excursions and routineoutings