A Homeschool Co-op Safety Policy: Supervision, Bathrooms, Tools and Safeguarding

A homeschool co-op safety policy covers the everyday part of keeping children safe, the part you'll use every single week. Most co-op handbooks agree on the same few rules. Children are supervised at all times, and two adults stay with any group. No adult is alone with a child who isn't their own. Young children are walked to the bathroom, outdoor time has a boundary and a headcount, and tools are taught before they're used. One named adult takes any worry about a child's safety. HSLDA and national safeguarding bodies say much the same. There's a template below to copy.

This page is about the ordinary morning. For fire, injuries and a missing child, see the co-op emergency plan. For when to keep a child home, see the co-op sick policy.

What safety rules should a homeschool co-op have?

HSLDA says that when a few families meet informally with each parent watching their own children, a child protection policy may not seem necessary. But it adds that as a group grows, especially when children are somewhere their parent isn't in the same room, it becomes vital to think about how to keep them safe. In a Waldorf-inspired co-op that moment comes sooner than you'd think. One parent takes the older children for handwork while another tells the younger ones a story in the next room.

HSLDA lists the areas a child protection policy can cover. They include physical touch, photography, medications, adult-to-child ratios and transportation. Most small co-ops don't need all of that written out. The rules below are the ones the public handbooks we read keep coming back to.

Supervision and two adults with a group

One co-op's handbook says it plainly: "Children must be supervised at all times; no exceptions." The same handbook asks adults never to be alone with a child they're not the parent or guardian of, and to keep classroom doors propped open.

A two-adult rule is common well beyond co-ops. Scouting America requires two adult leaders at all its activities and doesn't allow one-on-one contact between adult leaders and young people, in person or online. The UK Department for Education's guidance for parents lists warning signs to watch for in any children's club. Two of them are too few adults to supervise all the children, and adults having unsupervised one-to-one time with children without their parents' consent.

In a parent-led co-op this costs almost nothing, because the parents are already there. Pair the adults on your job schedule: the parent telling the story and a parent helping at the back, the parent leading handwork and a second pair of hands. Numbers of children per adult vary a great deal between groups and ages, so agree yours together.

It also protects the adults. A parent who is never alone with another family's child is never in a position where anyone could wonder.

If your co-op lets some parents leave while others stay, the drop-off article goes into what changes.

Bathrooms

Bathroom rules feel awkward to write and are easy to live with once they're agreed. Two of the handbooks we read set them out:

• One co-op walks all children under 5 to the bathroom and doesn't leave them there alone. The bathroom door is propped open as much as possible while preschoolers are inside.
• Another treats every bathroom as single occupancy. Only one person goes in at a time, except a parent accompanying their own child.

A third asks children not to linger in the restroom unsupervised. Scouting America requires separate restroom facilities for adults and young people.

For a small group meeting in a home, a simple version works. Young children go with their own parent. Older children go one at a time and tell an adult. An adult never goes into a bathroom alone with someone else's child.

Outdoor time

Many Waldorf-inspired co-ops spend a good part of the morning outside, and that's where children are easiest to lose sight of. The handbooks we read are firm here. One says children aren't to go outside unattended. Another asks adults to tell the leaders before taking children outside for any reason. A third lets only children from 6th grade up go outside without a parent.

A few habits help:

• Tell a leader before a group goes out, and who's with them.
• Agree the boundary before the children run off: the fence, the big oak, the edge of the meadow.
• Count heads going out and coming back in.
• Water gets its own rule. A pond, a creek or a paddling pool needs an adult watching it and nothing else.

Tools in handwork and woodwork

A Waldorf-inspired morning has more sharp things in it than most: knitting needles, darning needles, scissors, and for older children a carving knife. Teach the rule before the tool, and say it the same way every time.

Handwork. Needles and scissors live in one basket and go back in it at the end. Counting them out and back in makes a lost needle in the rug easy to spot. Scissors are passed handle first.

Woodwork and whittling. Scouting America teaches children a short set of knife rules. Make sure no one else is within arm's reach, which is the safety circle: the child stretches out an arm and turns round. Always cut away from your fingers and body. A sharp, clean knife is a safe knife. Knives are kept closed or in a sheath when they're not in use. Scouting America also suggests extra adult supervision for its knife sessions. The woodwork and whittling article covers ages, knives and a first project.

Put the adult who knows the tool best with that group, and keep the carving group small.

Safeguarding basics

Safeguarding means preventing harm to children and knowing what to do if you're worried. It's the least comfortable part of any policy to write, and it matters most.

Name one person. HSLDA suggests at least one person who makes sure people know the policy and follow it, with enough authority to do so. The DfE guidance for parents asks whether a club has a named lead for safeguarding, and treats having none as a warning sign.

Write it down and share it. HSLDA says a child protection policy "isn't a secret document" and should be available to the whole group. The DfE guidance suggests parents ask to see one, including how the provider will make parents aware of any concerns.

Decide on checks. HSLDA says some co-ops check only leaders and teachers, while others check every parent. The second kind are often groups where parents take turns looking after everyone's children. HSLDA also notes that some states have their own laws about checks, and that some people in your group may be mandatory reporters under state law. For your group, check with your state homeschool association, an insurer or a lawyer.

Know the numbers. If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 in the US or 999 in the UK. In the US, the Childhelp hotline is 1-800-422-4453. In the UK, the NSPCC helpline is 0808 800 5000. One co-op's handbook adds a rule worth copying: adults should not promise children to keep secrets.

A co-op safety policy to copy

Change it to suit your group. Brackets are for your own details.

Our safety policy

1. Supervision. Every child is supervised at all times. Each group has a named adult, and we count heads at the start and the end.
2. Two adults. Two adults stay with any group of children. No adult is alone with a child who isn't their own, and doors stay open.
3. Bathrooms. Children under [5] go with their own parent. Older children go one at a time and tell an adult. No adult goes into a bathroom alone with another family's child.
4. Outdoors. Tell [the coordinator] before a group goes out. Our boundary is [where]. We count heads going out and coming in. Water always has an adult watching it.
5. Handwork tools. Needles and scissors live in [the basket] and are counted back in at the end.
6. Carving. Knife rules are said before every session. Carving is always supervised, in a small group.
7. Photos. No photos of other people's children shared online without their parents' permission.
8. Our safety lead is [name]. Take any worry about a child's safety to them, privately. We don't promise children to keep secrets.
9. Checks. [Leaders / every adult] [have / don't have] background checks. We've checked our state's rules.
10. We read this policy aloud at the start of each year and hand it to every new family.

Put it in your co-op handbook, next to your co-op rules. If you're choosing a group rather than starting one, the Waldorf Map lists Waldorf schools and Waldorf-inspired groups by area. It's fair to ask any of them to see their safety policy. The DfE guidance says a well-run provider will welcome questions.

This page describes what homeschool organizations, safeguarding bodies and co-ops have published. It isn't legal advice. For your own group, check with your state homeschool association, an insurer or a lawyer.