NSU University School Faculty, Staff and Employee Handbook

111 PLAYGROUND USAGE GUIDELINES SUPERVISION MEANS……. STAY ALERT AND ATTENTIVE  Move through the playground area, stationary persons only help children nearest to them. Avoid staying on outskirts of playground area.  Stay involved with the children on the playground; do not use playground time as a time for socializing with other adults or for doing paperwork.  Observe all children and the "secret" places where they could hide.  Realize a child can wander into a hazardous situation in less than a minute.  Use direct eye contact with children to help prevent inappropriate behavior.  Ensure you have an adequate number of adults supervising for the number of children. EVALUATING HAZARDS  Evaluate the playground for potential hazards that could cause serious injuries to children.  Watch for hazards like loose or protruding nuts or bolts, broken parts, and shallow protective surfacing that occur through the children's regular use of equipment.  If you spot problems that you can remedy yourself, like picking up trash, correct the problem. If you observe other safety problems like broken equipment, or inadequate amount of surfacing material, contact an administrator and request that it be fixed, or taken out of service.  Children's clothes should be inspected for safety. Remove any loose clothing, hoods or strings that might catch on playground equipment. Appropriate shoes should be worn for playground usage.  Children’s shoelaces should be tied securely at all time. OBSERVING  Keep an eye out for any unsafe behavior such as climbing up a slide or sliding down a slide backwards.  Children should only be hanging by their hands from any of the equipment. Hanging from the feet, knees, etc. is strictly prohibited.  Make sure children keep moving on equipment and keep their hands and feet on supports at all times. KNOWING AND ENFORCING SAFE PLAYGROUND RULES AT ALL TIMES  Teach children the safety rules of the playground.  Agree on rules before children are allowed on equipment to prevent confrontations on the playground.  Realize school age children can remember up to five rules, while preschoolers should have only three or less.  Remind children that they are never to leave the playground area without permission from a supervising adult.