Policy Handbook
Upon enrolling your child, you will receive a Policy Handbook with information regarding important policies and procedures relating to our centre’s operations. A copy of this manual is also available in our foyer to view at any time. We also encourage families to review our policies if they wish.
Health & Hygiene
We take the health of children in our care seriously; infections in young children are common as they are still building up their immunity. We have a strict cleaning, infection controls, and exclusion procedures in place to combat this issue. If your child is ill upon arriving at the centre, you will be asked to take them home. If they become ill during the day, parents or guardians will be notified to come in and collect their child, as the best place for them is to be at home where they can recover.
Medication
If your child requires medication, parents or authorised nominees must complete a medication form and submit this to staff. Do not leave medication in your child’s bag. All medication must be clearly labelled. Showing that medication is prescribed to your child and the dosage required. A letter must accompany non-prescription medicine from your doctor or pharmacist.
Emergency Evacuations
Emergency evacuations are practiced at our centre every quarter (3 months). These include fire evacuations, gas leaks and intruder lockdowns. Every child in attendance for that quarter must participate in the drills. Please remember to sign your child in and our each day as these attendance sheets enable us to account for all children on the premises.
Accidents, Incidents & First Aid
Our centre take the safety of children in our care seriously, and while accidents are bound to occur in the early developmental years, we have created learning environments that are safe and well supervised. Each day our staff conduct safety walks, hazard identifications and risk assessments on the centre, combined with other strategies to ensure that your child is safe.
We have educators trained in first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis management on site at all times. Should an accident occur, our staff will document the details and notify families.
Priority of Access
The Australian Government has determined guidelines for allocation places to those families with the greatest need for child care support. They set out the following three levels of priority, which child care services must abide by when filling vacant centre places:
Priority 1 – a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect
Priority 2 – a child of a parent/s who attends work, training or study
Priority 3 – any other child
Within each category, priority is also given to children in families with low incomes, single parents, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander families, parents or children with disabilities, families from non-English speaking backgrounds or socially isolated families.
A child who is a “Priority 3” may be asked to leave, change or reduce the number of days if a place is needed for a higher priority child. Parents will be given at least two weeks’ notice if this occurs.
Immunisation
Every family must provide their child’s Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) documentation to the Centre Director upon enrolment. In the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease, children who have not been immunised will be excluded according to the recommended exclusion periods.
Nutrition
Meals provided at our service will provide at least 50% of your child’s recommended daily dietary requirements. We will promote and support families to develop healthy eating habits to children in conjunction with programs such as Munch & Move and Get Up & Grow.
Child Protection
All staff working with children are Mandatory Reporters. This means that by law, if they have observations that may indicate that a child is at “risk of harm” they must report it to the proper authorities.
Visiting the Centre
Families and authorised nominees are welcome at our centre at any time during the day. Family participation and input is always welcomed and encouraged.
Family Communication
Communication between families and our centre is an important part of daily life. Good educator-to-Parent communication contributes significantly to the success of your child’s development and our educational program. We will communicate in a variety of ways with families including phone calls, email, newsletters, posters and social media – as well as formal and informal meetings.
