How To Create A Clear Line Of Sight For Active Supervision.

Check Your Sightlines.

Educators should be able to move through the room and still maintain a strong line of sight across every area of the centre. 

Walk through the room and look around from different positions. Can you clearly see each area, or is furniture creating blind spots? Tall furniture, corners and certain room layouts can all create areas that are more difficult to see.

Check Your Storage Placement. 

Storage cabinets and lockers should be easy to access without blocking your view across the room. 

Where possible, keep taller storage around the edges of the room. Use lower, open shelving through the centre to divide the room into different learning zones without creating unnecessary blind spots.

Our open Fluted shelving and Flexispace storage furniture can help define learning areas while keeping resources easy to reach and sight lines more open. 

Keep Pathways Open.

Educators need to be able to move easily through the room and between activities. 

Take a look at how your furniture is arranged. Are there clear pathways through the space, or do tables, chairs and storage make some areas harder to move through or see? Make sure there are intuitive pathways that make movement and traffic flow seamless.

Make Adjoining Spaces Easier To See.

It’s also important to think about the rooms and spaces connected to your main learning area, including: 

• bathrooms and hygiene facilities  

• Kitchens and dining areas 

• nappy change areas  

• bottle and food preparation areas  

• storage rooms  

• administration and laundry spaces  

Windows, glazed panels and open dividers can help educators keep an eye on adjoining spaces without completely closing them off. 

Bathrooms are a little different. Children still need privacy, so the aim is to make it easy for educators to know when a child is in the space to keep an eye on them. Options like half-height bathroom doors makes it easier to supervise bathrooms. 

Sleep Areas & Rest Rooms. 

Sleep rooms, cots and beds should be easy to see into from the adjoining learning space. 

Check whether walls, furniture, doors or cot placement are blocking your view. The guidance also recommends incorporating supervision windows that give educators a clear view into the room. 

Check Your Outdoor Spaces.

Clear sightlines matter outdoors too. 

Walk through your outdoor area and look behind cubbies, play equipment, storage and dense planting. Are there places where a child could easily move out of view? 

Moving equipment or changing the layout may be enough to open up those areas and make supervision easier.