Out of School Hours Care Educators
Provide education and care for school age children before/after school and during school holidays.
Pick-up time at the school hall
You are an out of school hours care educator, supervising about twenty children in the hall between three and six o'clock. It is 4:30pm. Parents are starting to arrive for pick-up. You are alone at the sign-out desk while the other educator is outside with the older children.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Hi, I'm here to pick up Mia. I'm her uncle, her mum asked me to grab her today. I'm in a bit of a rush, I've got a meeting. Can you just send her over? She knows me, honestly.
Let Mia go with him, since she recognises him and he seems friendly and genuine
He may well be her uncle, but you have no way of knowing. If he is not, a child has left with a stranger. Looking friendly is not on the authorised list.
Check Mia's authorised list, ring her mother to confirm, and ask him to wait
Mia's mum picks up and confirms he is her brother, and says she forgot to update the list. Everyone is relieved. The call took two minutes and protected a child.
Tell him politely that only people on the list can collect, and ask him to leave
He leaves, annoyed. Mia's mum then rings upset that nobody called her. The rule held, but a quick call would have solved it and kept the family on side.
He cheated! He moved his piece when I wasn't looking. I'm never playing with him again. He always does this. Tell him he can't play with us tomorrow. It's not fair, you have to do something!
Tell Leo to stop being a tattletale and go play something else for a while
Leo goes off sulking, and Tanvir says nothing. The next day the same argument repeats. Dismissing the upset skipped the problem and taught him that telling an adult is pointless.
Listen to both, then ask them what a fair rule for the game would be
They grumble, then agree on a new rule about who checks the board. They play again before pick-up. Working it out themselves taught more than a ruling would have.
Decide who is right after hearing both sides, and tell the other boy to apologise
Tanvir apologises with a scowl and Leo looks smug. You fixed the argument for today, though the boys learned who wins with adults and not how to settle it.
It's ten to six and Aiden's dad still hasn't come. His phone is going to voicemail. Aiden keeps looking at the door. We are meant to close at six. What do you want to do? I'm worried about him.
Keep calm for Aiden, try the dad and emergency contacts, and tell your coordinator what is happening
You find Aiden's grandmother on the emergency list. She arrives at ten past six. Aiden had a game and a snack with you meanwhile. The record shows exactly what happened.
Drive Aiden home yourself, since you know where he lives and it is only five minutes
No one is home. You have taken a child out of care without authority and in your own car, and you are stuck with him on a doorstep. Good intentions do not replace the procedure.
Tell Aiden his dad will be here soon, and wait until seven in case he turns up
Aiden is comforted at first, then more worried as time passes. You stayed, which is kind, but you did not follow the late pick-up steps or tell anyone.
How it went
By seven the hall was empty, Mia and Aiden were home safely, and the record showed what you had done and why. Care after school is part fun and part careful rules, and every child is counting on you to hold both. Does that balance sound like you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The rainy holiday program
A fictional case set in a school hall and playground, used for after-school care and holiday programs.
The situation
Wei was an educator running a school holiday program for about thirty children aged five to twelve. On the second day it rained heavily and kept raining, and the planned outdoor games were impossible. The hall had few resources, a leaky corner, and two tired educators. By ten o'clock a group of older children were bored, a few younger ones were upset, and one group had started a loud argument over a board game.
What they did
Wei gathered the children and asked what they wanted to do. The older ones suggested making an obstacle course out of chairs and mats, and the younger ones wanted a story corner. He let the older children plan and run the course, with safety rules they wrote themselves, and set a quiet space for those who needed a break. The board game argument was settled by letting the two groups make up house rules together.
How it turned out
The day was loud and a little chaotic, and most of the children said it was the best day of the week. One child still cried at pick-up because she missed her mum. Wei wrote in the program notes what had worked and what to prepare for the next wet day.
What would you do?
- Why did giving children the planning job change the mood?
- How would you decide when to step in and when to let children sort it out?
- What would you want ready in a box for the next rainy day?