Let’s keep children safe by raising awareness of how, and why, they could leave a childcare setting without a responsible adult.

As we begin the new term, it’s a good time to remind all early learning and childcare services to be aware of how and why children could potentially leave a setting without staff or a parent/carer.

That’s why we want to introduce Simoa, the elephant, to all ELC settings. Let’s raise awareness and act responsibly to safeguard, protect and support children’s wellbeing.

Simoa always remembers:Keeping children safe poster artwork SIMOA

Safe: Be alert to all potential risks in your setting.

Inspect: Look around and inspect the environment to make sure a child can’t leave an area without staff or their parent/carer.

Monitor: Regularly check that all children are accounted for particularly when they are outside, on outings or using transport.

Observe: Observe children and think about their feelings and emotional security – use these observations to support children to feel loved and secure. 

Act: Assess and take action to keep children safe.

All services should notify the Care Inspectorate of any incidents, so that we can all share the learning and keep children safe. We want to engage with services to reduce and prevent occurrences of children being in unsafe situations.

If you would like to share this message with staff and parents in your setting you can download our posters, graphisc and practice notes from The Hub here.