Well-Being, Health & Safety
Our Centre has a commitment to caring for everyone in our community – children, families, Educators and visitors. We place the highest priority on all aspects of well-being, health and safety.
The well-being of each child and family is important to us. Without well-being, children will have difficulty being settled, happy and able to learn. Each child is an individual and our Educators strive to ensure that they become settled, and have feelings of belonging in the Centre community.
We offer Orientation sessions to help children and families through starting Kindergarten. We ask families to share information about their children, so that we can facilitate this process.
To protect the children, our double fenced entry gates are security coded. We have a monitored building alarm which includes smoke and fire monitoring. All visitors must be admitted by staff. We have a digital sign in and out system for children attending, so we know which children are in the Centre at any time.
All staff and visitors are asked to be alert to, and report any safety hazards. The yards are safety checked daily before children play outside. Safety issues are promptly fixed by our handyman.
There are extensive shade sails, trees and covered verandah areas in the yard, to control exposure to the sun. Children are required to wear hats, sunscreen, and a sleeved garment for outdoor play when the UV level is high.
Educators are required to be diligently supervising the children all day.
All of our Educators and staff are required to undergo Police Checks before being employed. All Educators and staff must have Child Safe Environments (Mandatory Reporting) training before commencing work, and retrain every three years.
We follow the Regulated staffing ratios at all times. We usually have a higher ratio of trained Educators than required each day.
All Educators must have a current First Aid certificate, which is updated every three years. All Educators also have annual training in Asthma and Anaphylaxis management, and Fire Safety training. We practise fire drills regularly with the children.
We conduct Safety Audits and Risk Assessments when planning special events and excursions.
Educators take a mobile phone, emergency contact numbers, a first aid kit, water and sunscreen when going on excursion.
For children with additional health needs, allergies, or at risk of anaphylaxis, the Director will ask parents to bring in a Medical Plan from their doctor. We post photos of these children so that all Educators know each child’s requirements. We carefully supervise when children are eating, and are vigilant observing children with food allergies.
The Centre is nut free. We ask families and Educators not to bring in foods containing nuts. Also, we ask families not to give children foods such as Nutella or nut bars before attending the centre.
To lessen the risk of spreading infectious diseases, the Centre provides an annual immunisation program, which is free for all staff. This includes vaccinations for Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Hepatitis A and B and Influenza. Regulations require us to check the immunisation status of all children attending, and we have a parent reminder system to ensure these are up to date.
We have a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness in the centre which is maintained by all staff with cleaning throughout the day. Children are taught correct hygiene routines, and toileting and handwashing are supervised.
For further information, please check our Policies and Procedures which relate to these issues.
