To ensure safety and quality are upheld in our recreational and playground activities.
The WWFY takes safety in our recreational and playground activities very seriously. To ensure safety and quality are upheld in our recreational and playground activities, the WWFY will monitor these programs to ensure all policies and procedures are being followed. The monitoring will include:
Supervision Guidelines:
- Minimum employee/volunteer to member ratios, which should mirror other activity ratios and consider:
- Age and number of participants present;
- Special or unique participant needs;
- Type of structures and equipment and the number of distinct activities occurring simultaneously
- Size and configuration of playground/recreation area, (i.e. barriers to supervision, whether physical boundaries like fences exist, geography and location, whether other outside groups will also be present.) Definition of specific authorized areas and boundaries, including:
- If and how outside groups can be cleared from activity areas during programming;
- If outside groups or mixed ages are using facilities at the same time, delineate specific instructions on how to monitor barriers to supervision (such as storage, sheds, playhouses, tunnels, and shrubs):
- Identify in advance any blind spots or equipment that obstruct line of sight.
- Station employees and volunteers near playground equipment such as tunnels and slides to reduce the appearance of privacy.
- Employees and volunteers are to be assigned to specific areas to supervise, i.e. zone monitoring:
- Ensures recreation supervisors are adequately spaced around the whole area.
- Position staff around the perimeter of the recreation area to ensure ample supervision and that consumers remain in approved spaces.
When actively supervising activities:
- Employees and volunteers should position themselves to be able to see and hear all members to whom they are assigned.
- Anticipate what participants will do and redirect when necessary.
- Listen and notice changes in sound or absence of sound;
- Remain engaged with members rather than socializing with other employees or volunteers.
- Reviewing boundaries and rules with participants prior to the activity, including that they are to always remain in line of sight of employees and volunteers and how to report inappropriate behaviors.
- Specific bathroom procedures to be defined, ensuring there are enough recreation supervisors to maintain ratios at all times.
- Employees and volunteers periodically scan and conduct name to face roll calls for each age group and whenever moving from one activity or space to another.
- Prohibiting employees and volunteers using cell phones for personal business.
- Means of communicating with other recreation supervisors, including inside employees if possible, so they can get assistance when needed without exceeding ratios.
- An emergency plan for responding to incidents.
- Supervisors conduct periodic check-ins and assessments of the activity period and of the entire activity area.
Supervisors will conduct routine monitoring of the recreational and playground activities. They will use the predefined checklist to document any incidents out of compliance with this policy.
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Monitoring Playground and Recreational Activities Checklist
Observe employee interactions with youth:
- Do employees use the proper voice tone with youth?
- Do employees give praise to youth?
- Do employees sound enthusiastic?
- Do employees interact with all the youth?
- Are employees paying attention to the children?
- Are employees listening to the children when they make a complaint?
- Do employees exhibit inappropriate power dynamics with certain youth?
Observe employee interactions with each other:
- Are employees interacting with each other distracting them from supervising children?
- Are employees spread out and monitoring the entire area?
- Do employees know who is supervising which youth?
- Do employees communicate with each other when one must leave the area?
- Do employees share responsibilities around the program?
Comments: ________________________________________________________
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Supervisor Name: ________________________________
Supervisor Signature: _____________________________
Program Observed: _______________________________
Date of Observation: ______________________________