Guiding Children’s Behaviour
The right for children to receive positive guidance in a supportive and respectful environment is protected in the National Regulations. At Styles Street Children’s Community Long Day Care Centre (SSCCLDCC) we aim to provide a caring and stimulating environment that supports and encourages positive relationships with children, families, staff, and the community to ensure opportunities for quality learning.
We believe that children need support and guidance for relating to themselves, their environment, and those that they meet at SSCCLDCC and the wider world. Safe and secure relationships and environments are key to guiding and supporting children’s behaviours. Expectations on behaviour are important for the safety and protection of individual children, others, and the environment. Learning the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and learning about emotions assists children in regulating their own emotions and behaviours in different social and emotional environments when interacting with peers and adults.
Determining Responsible Person
An Approved Provider operates the service with an appointed Nominated Supervisor. The Nominated Supervisor does not have to be in attendance at the service at all times, but in their absence, a Responsible Person is to be placed in day-to-day charge.
Our Education and Care Service will ensure a Responsible Person or Nominated Supervisor is physically present at the service at all times children are being educated and cared for.
Details of the Responsible Person or Nominated Supervisor on duty will be communicated and displayed for all users of the service.
Food Safety Practices and Procedures
The centre prides itself on adhering to safe food handling and storage practices to prevent the contamination of food. It implements good personal hygiene, correct food handling and storage and effective cleaning and pest control practices.
The NSW Food Authority encourages businesses to implement the practices outlined in the Children’s Services Voluntary Food Safety Program (FSP) to ensure that safe food is prepared and served. The FSP template conforms to national Standard 3.3.1 of the Food Standards Code.
This policy is based on the procedures set out in the Children’s Services Voluntary Food Safety Program (FSP).
Child Safe
Styles Street is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for our children where they are protected from harm and abuse. The purpose of this policy is to identify and document how our service upholds the rights of the child and prevents behaviour that may be harmful to children. The Child Safe Standards guide and inform our practice, policies, procedures and codes of conduct. We use the Child Safe Standards to underpin how we keep children safe and guide appropriate behaviour and encourage all staff, both paid and volunteer, to create, maintain and improve a child safe environment. This policy applies to all staff, children, families, volunteers, students and visitors of the service and concerns all activities that relate to children. Our leadership team promotes reporting any breach of our policies, procedures and codes of conduct, and will act to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children are upheld.
Transportation of Children
Our education and care service is committed to providing transportation that is well considered and planned to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children at all times.
When transportation forms a part of our service, our service will remain responsible for children during that period of transportation. This will apply when we are transporting children, or have arranged for the transportation of children, between our service premises and another location. This policy facilitates the provision and arrangement of transportation of children as part of our education and care service.
Recognition Action Plan
Exploring reconciliation is about rights. About the right of Australia’s First Peoples to be valued and the right of all Australians to know the true histories and cultures of the land we call home – the land on which we live, work play, learn and enjoy each day.
As early childhood educators, we understand the importance of developing curriculum that fosters a high level of knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ histories, cultures, and contemporary lives.
Cultural responsiveness means we have a genuine commitment to take action against discrimination in any form, respectfully embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ perspectives and voices in all aspects of the service environment, curriculum and decision making and working collaboratively with c children and families.
We are committed to building reciprocal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities in order to promote a greater understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being. We work to ensure children develop the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people preparing them to live well with diversity and challenge bias.
Anti-Racism Policy
This policy reflects our collective commitment to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination in our Centre. It applies to all employees, families, children and volunteers and has implications for our early learning community.
Styles Street rejects all forms of racism. We are committed to the elimination of racial discrimination in our Centre – including direct and indirect racism, racial vilification and harassment – in all aspects of our learning and working environment. No child, employee, parent, caregiver or community member should experience racism within the learning or working environment of our Centre.
Eradicating expressions of racism in learning and working environments, and challenging the attitudes that allow them to emerge, is the shared responsibility of all members of the Styles Street community.
All staff and community members can assist in countering racism by demonstrating respect for the cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds of others, and behaving in ways that promote acceptance and harmony in the school environment.
Waitlist Policy
This policy has been developed to ensure fair and equitable access to education and care. The
Centre aims to respond to the needs of the local community and to be inclusive of all children and
families. As there will usually be more families requesting access than there are places available,
there will be clear guidelines for the management of the waiting list and for the allocation of places.
Our Centre will:
• Develop transparent guidelines to manage the waiting list;
• Comply with the Priority of Access Guidelines set by Family Assistance Law and defined by
NSW State Government Funding Agreements; and
• Ensure care is provided to families using these priorities.
Parent Code of Conduct
As a professional provider of quality early childhood education, Styles Street Children’s Community Long Day Care supports the rights of children and is committed to providing a standard of service which ensures their safety and wellbeing.
This document sets out the code of conduct to support parents/caregivers and visitors to respond in a way that supports the safety, welfare and wellbeing of staff, children, and families at all times. As a parent/caregiver of a child attending this service, you must agree to the following code of conduct.
Water Safety
The safety and supervision of children in and around water is of the highest priority. Whilst water hazards at our service are kept to a minimum, we acknowledge that nappy buckets, water troughs, sinks and toilets can all be hazardous for children and diligent supervision is required.
Transition to School
Starting school is a significant milestone in the life of any child and family. Our service supports continuity of learning and transitions for each child by sharing relevant information, clarifying responsibilities and by developing strategies that support a positive transition to formal schooling. (Standard 6.3)
Our service will liaise with local schools to develop a smooth and comprehensive transition to school program. We will work in collaboration with families to support the individual strengths and needs of each child and provide a high quality program to help children experiencing the transition to formal school.
Sunsmart Policy
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Research has indicated that young children have sensitive skin that places them at risk of sunburn and skin damage. Exposure during the first 15 years of life can greatly increase the risk of developing skin cancer in later life. Styles Street Community Long Day Care Centre plays a major role in minimising each child’s UV exposure as young children attend the service during the time of day when UV radiation levels are highest. Promoting each child’s health through sun protection is an essential element of the centre’s commitment to the National Quality Framework. Educators who are often outside with the children must also be protected from sun exposure.
Sun Protection Policy 11 May 2023
Code of Professional Conduct
The Styles Street Code of Professional Conduct incorporates our core values, our policies and procedures, professional standards of behaviour and sound human resources practice.
Our Code of Professional Conduct encompasses the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics, the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child, the National Quality Standards for Early Childhood and the National Employment Standards. Implicit in our Code is the recognition of human rights, the principles of natural justice and a fair and just environment for children, families and our staff.
Our Code of Professional Conduct confirms our commitment to our values, to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct and affirms our belief in a responsible, fair and ethical work culture. The Code applies to all staff and clarifies the behaviour, practice and standards that we expect from all of our employees.
Safety Policy
An emergency or critical incident is an abnormal or dangerous situation that occurs infrequently, requires immediate attention, and may be unpredictable in terms of the timing, nature and the extent of the situation. Examples of situations that may lead to an emergency situation and therefore require a calm, prepared, effective response, include (but are not limited to):
Fire;
A severe storm or flood (where the building’s structure is at risk);
Where the children, educators and staff are at risk from an inside attack, i.e., a non-custodial parent wishing to harm others;
Where the children, educators and staff are at risk from outside attack, i.e., a stranger not known to the Centre wishing to pose a potential threat.;
A hazardous spill/gas leak;
A bomb threat;
A hold up;
An earthquake;
A terrorist attack;
A serious vehicle accident at the front of the Centre.
Safe Sleep and Rest Time
All children have individual sleep and rest requirements. Children need a comfortable relaxing environment to enable their bodies to rest. This environment must be safe and well supervised to ensure children are safe, healthy and secure in their environment.
Providing a Child Safe Environment
Our service has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that the rights and best interests of the child are paramount and that we will provide training, resources, information and guidance to support this in order to:
ensure that the health, safety and wellbeing of children at the service is protected at all times;
ensure that people educating and caring for children at the service act in the best interests of the child;
advocate and protect the rights of all children to feel safe, and be safe, at all times;
maintain a culture in which children’s rights are respected;
encourage active participation from families at the service, support a partnership approach and shared responsibility for children’s health, safety, wellbeing and development.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Our education and care service recognises and respects the importance of privacy and confidentiality as an individual right and a basis for building partnerships. Our service requires personal information from families to provide appropriate and responsive care. This policy has been developed to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) (2014) and pursues the highest standard in the protection and preservation of privacy and confidentiality.
Participation of Volunteers and Students
Our service is committed to providing a safe environment for all children where their health, safety and wellbeing is of paramount importance. In order to ensure this is preserved during the engagement of student and volunteers, and in order to remain compliant with regulations and legislation, the service will abide by the strategies and practices outlined in this policy.
Nutrition, Food, Beverages and Dietary Requirements
This policy concerns the provision of healthy food and drink while children are in care and the promotion of normal growth and development.
The service is committed to implementing the healthy eating key messages outlined in Munch & Move and to supporting the National Healthy Eating Guidelines for Early Childhood Settings as outlined in the Get Up & Grow resources.
Further, we recognise the importance of supporting families in providing healthy food and drink to their children. It is acknowledged that the early childhood setting has an important role in supporting families in healthy eating.
Nutrition, Food, Beverages and Dietary Requirements 7 May 2019
Interactions with Children
Educators at our service will:
be responsive to children’s strengths, interests, abilities;
provide opportunities to become self-reliant and develop self-esteem;
uphold children’s dignity, rights, and agency;
provide positive guidance and support towards acceptable behaviour;
promote a safe, secure and nurturing environment;
be authentic and responsive;
be based in fairness, acceptance and empathy with respect for cultural and linguistic rights.