Storage space

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Children's lockers

Allow plenty of space for children's belongings. Consider how you can provide children with access to their belongings that allows them to take some responsibility for their things, including choosing what to wear throughout the day. It is important to remove anything that may be harmful to children, for example medicines.
Think about places for storage of infants’ things. Infants' lockers are often placed near the nappy changing area so that spare clothes are close by. Nappies and other items are often put in individual baskets or shelves right next to the nappy change area. This makes it easier when changing nappies, but also means that anything inappropriate for young children is removed from the bag (for example, nappy cream).

Think about placement of storage facilities in areas that will be easy to access and minimise congestion.
Plenty of storage space will be needed for all sorts of equipment and resources – such as paper, paint, spare puzzles, books, science equipment and so on. It's a good idea to include a large storage/resource room in your plans.
It is also important that resources can be easily accessed to support children's learning. Consider building cupboards or storage boxes in the main play areas for this purpose. If high shelving is used, you will need to ensure that any stored equipment can't fall in an earthquake. Having a thin piece of wood, Perspex or some netting placed in front of equipment in open shelves can help prevent it from falling.
Remember to provide sufficient storage for moveable outdoor equipment. Storage will work best if shelving, hooks and boxes, and so on, are planned for particular equipment – as you might find in a well-planned domestic tool shed. In a large storage shed, finding things can be made much easier with a Clearlite roof – especially if electricity is not available.

Lockable cupboards in kitchen and laundry areas are good places to keep hazardous materials.
A locked cleaner's cupboard that has a sink as well as chemicals means less likelihood of contamination.
All centres must have first aid supplies that comply with Appendix 1 of the licensing criteria. Supplies must be stored in a way that is easily recognisable and accessible for adults, but inaccessible to the children.
Appendix 1: First aid kit requirements for criterion PF28

There must be places for storing cleaning products and equipment, so they don’t contaminate food or surfaces used to prepare or store food.
Cleaning products must be appropriately labelled if decanted into different containers, so they are not used in food.