Health and Safety CMAS Resources

CMAS Webinar: Supporting Newcomer Children through Active Play–Teaming up with Active for Life!

Incorporating physical literacy into your daily programming can be easy and inexpensive – and it can bring such a range of benefits for children, ECEs, and families!

When young children engage in physical literacy and active play, they can better cope with stress, build resilience, and start on their path toward a healthy and active life. 

Watch this webinar where Dawne Clark, PhD, Early Years Physical Literacy discusses:

  • What physical literacy (PL) and active play look like in the early years
  • The benefits of PL and active play for children, educators, and families
  • “Infusing” PL into everyday activities 
  • How to get children moving again and active for life after the pandemic
  • The Active for Life website, tools and resources

New CMAS Online Course: Understanding Child Abuse and Your Duty to Report

Canada takes the protection of children very seriously. Each year thousands of children are subjected to abuse while in the care of their families. All of us who work with families need to understand our duty to report and role in protecting children. This includes knowing how to identify different types and indicators of abuse, cultural considerations, and steps to report and document suspected abuse–as well as strategies to support staff, parents, and children after a report has been made. All CNC program staff and administrators are encouraged to take our new interactive ecourse Understanding Child Abuse and Your Duty to Report.

New Online Tutorial- Managing Risk: Supervision of Children

Most serious occurrences and injuries are predictable and preventable, but when supervision strategies break down, children can be at risk. We know that children must be supervised at all times, but what does that actually mean? Managing Risk: Supervision of Children provides a list of common mistakes and risks to consider when developing or reviewing your policies and procedures, checklists, tools and strategies for keeping the children in your care safe. At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a facilitator guide and added group discussion questions so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.

Does your team know the 5 steps to follow if a child has a severe allergic reaction?

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be life-threatening. Training, awareness and planning are essential to managing risks and keeping children safe. Train staff quickly and easily with this quick-tip-tutorial!

New Quick-Tip Tutorial: Importance of Fire Drills

Planning, practice and training is the best way to keep children safe. Staff must know how to respond to a fire emergency - even if they are there on an infrequent basis. Learn about basic fire drill standards and practices for your CNC program in this quick-tip tutorial.

Providing Quality Newcomer Infant Care

The early years are a period of growth and opportunity for children, but they are also a time when children are most vulnerable to harm! This tip sheet examines how to make health and safety your top priorities, support families with sensitivity and understanding, provide culturally-sensitive care, and value diverse parenting practices.

Helping You Meet the Requirements: Serious Occurrences

According to the new CNC requirements, in addition to reporting a serious occurrence to IRCC, you now must also inform CMAS. Find out how you can meet the requirement. Read More

Keeping Kids Safe: Part 1 – Key Messages – Pearl Rimer

People from all over the world want to do their best to ensure the safety of the children in their care. “Streetproofing” and “stranger danger” were terms used in the past to describe information about keeping kids safe. These are now being replaced with terms like “personal safety” because the reality is that most children are harmed by someone known or trusted. As a result, safety messages for children and teens have changed so that they apply to any situation. Part 1 of the resource sheet “Keeping Our Kids Safe Is The Most Important Thing!”, written by Pearl Rimer, Manager of Research & Training at Boost Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention, offers up-to-date information for staff to share with clients as we work together to keep kids safe. This resource is available in English and French.

Keeping Kids Safe: Part 2 – Developmental Factors – Pearl Rimer

People from all over the world want to do their best to ensure the safety of the children in their care. “Streetproofing” and “stranger danger” were terms used in the past to describe information about keeping kids safe. These are now being replaced with terms like “personal safety” because the reality is that most children are harmed by someone known or trusted. As a result, safety messages for children and teens have changed so that they apply to any situation. Part 2 of the resource sheet “Keeping Our Kids Safe Is The Most Important Thing!”, written by Pearl Rimer, Manager of Research & Training at Boost Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention, offers up-to-date information for staff to share with clients as we work together to keep kids safe. This resource is available in English and French.

Overcoming Barriers to Reporting Suspicions of Child Abuse & Children Exposed to Family Violence: Part 1 – Pearl Rimer

One phone call can save a child from serious harm, perhaps even death, and yet, suspicions of child abuse are not reported nearly enough. If the system is to succeed in protecting children and supporting families, a community where members follow through on their legal and moral duty to report suspicions of abuse is essential. Pearl Rimer, Manager of Research & Training at Boost Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention, discusses how to overcome barriers to reporting abuse. This resource is available in English and French.