Summer changes what a normal day looks like in a childminding setting, and that means it changes what your policies need to cover. Most of us have a health and safety policy, a solid one, written for the usual risks. Fewer of us have actually checked it against what we are doing this week: paddling pools out, sun cream going on three times a day, day trips further from home, and a lot more photos being taken.
Sun cream and consent
Consent is the one that catches people out most. Get written parental permission for sun cream in line with your own policy, and if a sunscreen has been prescribed for a child's condition, follow your medication procedure for that product specifically, since it is only prescribed products that count as medication in most regulators' eyes, not sunscreen generally.
Using a child's own sun cream rather than a shared setting bottle is sensible practice, particularly where allergies are a factor, but that is a policy choice you set, not a regulatory requirement, so be clear in your own policy about which you do. Worth checking that consent is dated for this summer, not carried over from three years ago because nobody thought to ask again.
Water play and supervision
Water play is similar. A paddling pool a few centimetres deep is still a drowning risk for a young child, and it needs supervision that is proportionate to the children's age, ability and numbers, not just an adult somewhere in the garden. For very young or less able children, that often means being within arm's reach. If your risk assessment for outdoor play was written before you started doing water play, it is worth a look, because it may not actually cover what you are doing now.
Photos and consent forms
Photos are the third one. Term time photo consent forms are usually about the odd picture for a learning journal. Summer brings more of that, plus days out where other people's children might end up in the background of a shot, plus, for some of us, more temptation to post about the setting on social media because the garden looks lovely in the sun. Check what your consent form actually allows, and check it against what you are actually doing, not what you assumed it said.
None of this needs a rewrite. It usually needs an evening with your existing policies and this summer's routine side by side, checking one against the other. That is the same principle behind the Policy Self Audit, applied to the season we are actually in.