Early childhood safety education: An overview of safety curriculum in outer metropolitan, regional and rural NSW

Abstract

This article reports on preliminary findings from a 2008 survey and telephone interviews with 27 directors of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services located in regional and rural districts of the Australian state of New South Wales. Data from the study suggests that some areas of safety education—most notably road/traffic safety and fire safety—are well-represented in early childhood curricula. However, areas such as water and farm safety are under-represented, despite statistics showing these to be significant areas of risk to young children. Findings suggest a need for a broader range of easily accessible and cost-effective child-centred safety education resources for use in ECEC settings.