Managing risks and hazards

Health and safety strategies are a large aspect to the functionality of any modern-day classroom.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has many resources and information pages which can provide teachers and kura with informative explanations on how to handle almost any situation.

Some of their resources for health and safety in schools include guidance for setting up a healthy and safe environment for students who may have been diagnosed with a health condition, severe allergies, cancer, or even a brain injury. Ensuring that good enrolment procedures and records are taken during initial meetings with new students is crucial to protect the school for any health or wellbeing risks.

Establishing clear communication between staff in regards to locations of emergency kits, as well as relevant training required, will mean correct procedure during an emergency will be followed.

The MOE says a clear conversation between staff and whānau is needed for administering medications, sharing details and communicating with staff and other parents about health conditions (if needed) is important.

For some learners a detailed health plan is needed between whānau and the school. “Every learner’s response to and experience of a health condition is different.

“The impact on a learner’s hauora and learning will depend on many factors and will change over time,” says the MOE.

The MOE suggests some learners may make leaps and others may experience set-backs due to potential health conditions.

Give your best self to work and your best self to your family.

Checking in often with students and gently supporting growth is positive. Outlining realistic expectations is one way to demonstrate successful health and safety strategies.

Promoting healthy lifestyles is another aspect to health and safety according to MOE. Healthy Active Learning is a voluntary initiative established by the MOE. The programme is free of cost and contributes to one of the Government’s key priorities

- improving the wellbeing of children and young people. Managing risks and hazards in the school environment is a significant part of health and safety.

“To ensure a healthy and safe environment for ākonga, staff and whānau, there needs to be good systems and processes in places for managing risks and hazards,” the MOE says.

To find out more about health and safety in schools, make sure to visit: education.govt.nz.