Health, food safety and emergencies

How to use this short course

Allow about 25 minutes for reading, the scenario, reflection and knowledge check. This is internal new-starter awareness training for an after-school setting. It does not replace specialist qualifications, the longer DASC courses, required employment checks or local practical induction. Local policy and the arrangements confirmed by your manager determine how you carry out your role. Examples are illustrative; no example name is an operational contact.

Read the sections in order, discuss anything unclear and complete the six-question assessment. You need at least 80% and your own declaration for a dated module completion. The whole pathway is not complete until all six modules and a separate manager practical sign-off are recorded.

Start with the site and your responsibilities

Before your first shift, the manager must show you emergency exits, the assembly point, alarm arrangements, first-aid equipment, the trained first-aid contact and the incident-reporting process. Know what to do if your usual route is blocked and how children with additional evacuation needs are supported. Report trip hazards, damaged equipment or unsafe spaces rather than assuming someone else has noticed.

Read the risk assessment relevant to your activity. Check equipment before use and keep exits accessible. Do not undertake maintenance, hazardous cleaning or a task involving equipment you have not been trained to use. If a situation is unsafe, protect children, seek assistance and follow the local escalation process.

Fire and emergency response

Know how the alarm is raised and what it means. Follow the evacuation plan and your allocated role. Bring essential register or emergency information only where the plan directs and it is safe; do not delay evacuation to collect possessions. At the assembly point, help account for children and adults and report discrepancies immediately. Do not re-enter until authorised.

Do not attempt to fight a fire beyond your training or if doing so could compromise escape. Know the local arrangements for contacting emergency services and parents, sheltering or lockdown where relevant, and handing children over after an incident. Ask the manager to practise the actions with you; reading this module is not evidence of a completed fire drill.

Illness, injury and first-aid escalation

If a child appears seriously unwell or injured, seek trained help and emergency services as needed. Do not wait for a parent to arrive before obtaining urgent assistance. Follow the child's individual emergency plan and the emergency operator's instructions within your training and authorisation. Maintain supervision of the other children by calling for support.

This induction is awareness training, not a practical first-aid qualification and not permission to perform a procedure you have not been trained to do. Never guess a diagnosis, medicine or dose. Record observations, the time, actions taken, people contacted and required follow-up. Notify the responsible lead and follow the approved parent communication and reporting arrangements. Report near misses as well as injuries.

Allergies, medication and safe food

Before providing food or supporting a child, check their current individual arrangements through approved records. Know which trained person is responsible for medication and where emergency medication is safely and promptly accessible under the agreed plan. Storage must protect children from unauthorised access without preventing timely emergency response.

Never give an uncertain food to “test” for a reaction. Check verified ingredients and allergen information, including substitutions and cross-contact risks; if you cannot confirm safety, do not serve it and ask the responsible person. Do not share food casually between children. Follow safe preparation, handwashing, cleaning, storage and temperature procedures for your role. This course does not replace the setting's role-specific food safety training.

Medication requires the proper authorisation, identification, storage, administration checks and records under local policy. Do not accept an unlabelled medicine informally, use another child's prescription or leave medication among snacks. Refer uncertainties to the responsible trained person. Report a suspected reaction urgently and follow the child's emergency plan.

Infection prevention and records

Use effective handwashing at the required times, including before food and after toileting or handling contamination. Follow the correct procedure for bodily fluids, cleaning products, protective equipment and waste. Keep hazardous substances secured and never mix cleaning chemicals. Report symptoms or an outbreak concern through the manager; use current setting and public-health guidance rather than guessing exclusion periods.

An accurate incident record describes facts rather than blame. Identify when and where the event happened, what you observed, who acted and what was communicated. Correct errors transparently. The manager decides any required external reporting through the proper process; do not promise a family that an incident will remain unreported.

Practise a realistic situation

A child with a recorded allergy asks for a replacement snack whose ingredients are unclear. Another child then becomes distressed and has difficulty breathing. Explain how you avoid the uncertain food exposure, call for trained and emergency help, use the relevant individual plan and secure supervision for the rest of the group. Your response must not depend on improvising a medicine or waiting for a parent.

Local practical follow-up

Walk the fire route and locate the assembly point and first-aid arrangements. With your manager, check how relevant allergy/medical plans are accessed, how medication responsibilities are allocated and how an accident is recorded.

Use the actual current arrangements for your setting, not a remembered contact or a fictional scenario. Tell the manager if you need more practice, an accessible format or support with language or reading. Any unresolved issue should be supported and recorded rather than hidden by ticking a box.

Continue your learning

• Full course: fire safety
• Full course: paediatric first aid
• Full course: food safety hygiene
• Full course: infection prevention control
• Full course: health and safety

Completing this short module records only this module. It does not mark any linked full course as completed. Full training and refresher requirements remain separate.

Guidance and local policy

This awareness module is informed by the Department for Education's Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers, updated 9 February 2026. It is guidance, not a claim that every statutory provision applies identically to every setting. The manager must confirm the framework relevant to the provision, children's ages and your duties, including any applicable EYFS requirements. Use the setting's current safeguarding, conduct, supervision, health and information-handling procedures alongside this module.