Leadership and Service Management

Quality Area 7

Leadership and Service Management

Table of Contents

Regulations

Family Participation & Communication

Priority Of Access

Acceptance and Refusal of Authorisation

Attendance Policy

Fees Policy

Fee Payment – Issuing of Invoices and Overdue Fees Process

Withdrawal from Service and Term 4 Vacancies

Privacy and Confidentiality Statement

Privacy Online

Risk Management Procedures

Governance and Management of the Service Policy

Compliance Measures

Risk Management

Centre Management Policy

Membership and Management Committee Policy

Budgeting Policy

Insurance Policy

Taxation Policy

Superannuation Policy

Responsibilities of the Authorised Supervisor Policy

Responsibilities of the Licensee Policy

Administrative Tasks of the Licensee Policy

Code of Conduct

Complaints and Feedback

Complaints

Grievance Procedure Policy

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Regulations

Lilly Pilly Community preschool is licensed by The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority(ACECQA) and agrees to comply with the specified Code of Conduct and regulations.

As with all licensed services, this centre is covered by public liability insurance through

GUILD INSURANCE LIMITED.

Staff at this centre are protected by ______workers compensation.

This centre also abides by the relevant awards and conditions under which the staff are paid (the Miscellaneous Workers Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Award and Teachers award).

Hours of Operation

Lilly Pilly Community Preschool is open for a maximum of 41 weeks per year. The licensed hours are 9am to 3pm. This centre is closed for approximately 12 weeks throughout the year. We are also closed on Christmas day, New years day and also for public holidays such as, Australia day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac day and the Queen's birthday.

Fees arenot payable on the public holidays. Fees arepayable on parent holidays and sick days. Fees do not apply over the Christmas and New Year period.

Licensed number of Places

The licensed number of places at Lilly Pilly Community Preschool is:29

The hours of operation are: 9.00 till 3.00

The licence number is: CSSC1001730

Service Approval number: SE-00008145

Name of Approved Provider:Lilly Pilly Community Pre-School Inc

Provider Approval Number: PR-00005056

The Nominated Superviser is: Frances Dyett

The Certified Supervisers are Heather Charles, Kerryn Harris and Halie Halloran

Our public liability insurance is with: Guild Insurance

Our workers compensation insurance is with:

Our certified first aid persons are: All Staff

Family Participation & Communication

INTRODUCTION

“Partnerships with families contribute to building a strong, inclusive community within the service. Continuous, honest and open two-way communication with educators assists families to feel connected with their children’s experience in education and care and helps them develop trust and confidence in the service. Shared decision making with families supports consistency between children’s experiences at home and at the service, helping children to feel safe, secure and supported.” Guide to the National Quality Standard (3) ACECQA (2011), p.148

Family participation in the education and care service is an important part of making the service a true a true part of the community and creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive and supports a sense of belonging for children, families and educators.

GOALS:

• The education and care service welcomes and facilitates family participation and open communication in the service by encouraging families to engage with their children’s education and care. Families are invited to attend Parent Committee meetings, assist with projects and attend social gatherings. The education and care service has an open door policy for families.
• The education and care service values the input of families, educators and the wider community to help create service that meets the needs of the children who attend the service.
• The education and care service encourages open communication through the enrolment and orientation process, policy review, feedback forms, the Parent Committee, the daily program, documentation, formal and informal meetings, emails and conversations.

STRATEGIES:

Approved Provider will:

• Ensure that parents may enter the education and care services at any time unless such entry would pose a risk to the safety of children/educators or breach court orders regarding access to children.
• Ensure that educators provide information to families regarding the content and operation of the educational program, in relation to their child and that a copy of the educational program is available for inspection at the education and care service.
• Ensure that families have access to documents regarding the assessment of the child’s developmental needs, interests, experiences and participation in the educational program and assessments of the child’s progress against the outcomes of the educational program.
• Ensure that parents are notified of any incident, injury, trauma or illness that occurs for their child while at the education and care service.
• Ensure that administrative spaces are adequate for the purpose of consulting with parents and for conducting private conversations.
• Ensure that parents are notified of changes to policies or fees and given adequate notice as per the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011.
• Ensure that a copy of the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 is available for parents to access.
• Ensure that the enrolment and orientation process provides families with information about the philosophy, policies and practices of the education and care services prior to children’s first attendance at the service.
• Establish a Parent Committee to encourage family involvement in the education and care service. The Parent Committee will elect representatives to oversee and chair meetings. Each Parent Committee meeting will have an agenda and all families will be invited to participate in the meeting. Parent Committee attendees will have input into the continuing improvements within the Centre. A Parent Committee representative will assist with staff recruitment , family activities, encourage community partnerships and service events. A staff representative will attend each meeting.

The Nominated Supervisor will:

• Develop systems for families to provide feedback regarding the enrolment and orientation process and when reviewing policies and procedures to improve processes and practice.
• Ensure that parents may enter the education and care services at any time unless such entry would pose a risk to the safety of children/educators or breach court orders regarding access to children.
• Inform families about the processes for providing feedback and making complaints.
• Develop an enrolment and orientation procedures that ensures families are provided with information about the philosophy, policies and practices of the education and care services prior to children’s first attendance at the service.

Educators will:

• Inform families about the processes for providing feedback and making complaints.
• Be available for families at pick up and drop off times to pass on important messages and information about their child’s participation in the education and care program.
• Encourage families to be involved in the education and care service and the program through feedback, visiting the service, bringing in items from the home environment and giving feedback on children’s emerging interests and needs.
• Promote continuous open and honest two way communication with families to assist them to feel connected with their children’s experiences in the education and care setting and to develop families’ trust and confidence in the education and care service.
• Value parents as the first and most important educator in their child’s life, seeking to share the parent’s understandings, knowledge and preferences for their child and seeking to balance individual needs with practice in the education and care service.
• Recognize that because families, and parents in particular, are often busy with many competing priorities, they will need to consider a range of strategies to build and maintain relationships with each family.
• Make documentation available to families and prepare documentation in a way that is readily understandable to the parents of the child and to other educators.

Families will:

• Provide accurate information on enrolment and medical information forms during the enrolment process and notify educators when any information changes.
• Be invited to contribute to the quality improvement process within the education and care service.
• Be encouraged to attend children’s excursions to help meet required ratios and to support their children’s knowledge of and engagement in their community.
• Be invited to assist with working bees in the education and care service. These will be arranged from time to time to help maintain equipment and the education and care environment and will be a family event where children can also participate.
• Be invited to family events to be held periodically to help families network and develop friendships in the local community. Educators will be encouraged to attend these events.

EVALUATION

Families feel valued and welcomed as the first and most important educator in their child’s life. Continuous improvement in the education and care setting is occurring because collaboration, clear communication, reflection, constructive feedback and positive relationships are fostered between all participants.

Priority Of Access

INTRODUCTION:

This policy has been developed to ensure the education and care service complies with the Priority of Access Guidelines set by Family Assistance Law and defined by NSW State Government Funding Agreements. Failure to meet these Guidelines is a breach of the conditions of continued approval for receiving Child Care Benefit and State Government funding.

GOALS:

The education and care service will follow the Priority of Access Guidelines at all times when enrolling children. The waiting list application will reflect these guidelines to ensure that care is provided to families using these priorities.

STRATEGIES:

The education and care service will use the Priority of Access Guidelines to prioritise the waiting list and to allocate available education and care places to families.The Priority of Access Guidelines followed by state funded preschools are defined by NSW State

Government funding Agreements. In no particular order,

these are:

• Children who are at risk of harm
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• Children from low income families
• Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Children with disabilities
• Children in their year before school (with highest priority given to children closest to school entry)

The education and care service endeavours to meet the needs of the children and families in our community while complying with the above guidelines.

EVALUATION:

All enrolments will strictly adhere to the Priority of Access Guidelines to ensure equity and consistency for the community.

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POLICY & PROCEDURE MANUAL VER 1 - REVIEW DATE Jan 2016

Acceptance and Refusal of Authorisation

INTRODUCTION

Our education and care service requires authorisation for

actions such as administration of medications, collection of children, excursions and providing access to personal records. This policy outlines what constitutes a correct authorisation and what does not, and may therefore result in a refusal.

GOALS:

We will ensure that we only act in accordance with correct authorisation as described in the Education and Care Services National Regulations, 2011.

STRATEGIES:

The Nominated Supervisor will:

1. Ensure documentation relating to authorisations contains:
2. the name of the child enrolled in the service;
3. date;
4. signature of the child’s parent/guardian, or nominated contact person who is on the enrolment form;
5. the original form/letter/register provided by the service.
6. Apply these authorisations to the collection of children, administration of medication, excursion and access to records.
7. Keep these authorisation in the enrolment record.
8. Exercise the right of refusal if written or verbal authorisations do not comply.
9. Waive compliance where a child requires emergency medical treatment for conditions such as anaphylaxis or asthma. The service can administer medication without authorisation in these cases, provided they contact the parent/guardian as soon as practicable after the medication has been administered.

EVALUATION:

Correct authorisation is obtained, referred to and applied appropriately ensuring reduction in possible risk.

Attendance Policy

AIM:

To ensure a safe and practical environment where children can feel confident in attendance and participation and to ensure all existing regulations are met

EXPLANATION:

It is essential that clear guidelines exist so that children and their families understand the best practices that ensure a safe and comfortable attendance at preschool

PROCEDURE:

Parents or guardians will ensure the safe and prompt arrival and departure of their child at Lilly Pilly Community Preschool according to our collection of children and the arrival and departure policy. Parents or guardians will provide a healthy lunch for their child at preschool. Sweet cakes and flavoured biscuits, fizzy drinks, chips, lollies and sweet chocolate-coated muesli bars are not to be included in children's lunches. Parents or guardians must also provide their child with a hat for sun protection whilst participating in outdoor activities. If a hat is not provided, the child will not be allowed to take part in outdoor activities.

Children are not allowed to bring their own toys from home to preschool. There is always the risk of these toys being lost or damaged and they may cause problems in regard to sharing. A child's special toy required for rest time is allowed to come to preschool.

Staff are not permitted to supervise children that are not enrolled at preschool. Children not enrolled at preschool remain the responsibility of the parent or guardian whilst on the preschool premises. Enrolled children are the responsibility of the staff once they have been signed in and until the child is signed out. Prior to signing in and after signing out, an enrolled child on preschool premises remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian. Children of staff may attend in emergency only and remain the responsibility of that parent staff member.

Children with communicable diseases may not attend preschool. Parents or guardians are encouraged to keep unwell children at home until they are well (please refer to our health policy). Children must be toilet trained prior to coming to Lilly Pilly Community Preschool. In cases of repeated accidents, a child's parents or guardians may be asked to keep their child at home for further toilet training until they are competent. Children with diarrhoea should not attend the preschool. The grounds of the preschool are a smoke free area. Please smoke outside the school grounds. The office area is generally out of bounds except to authorised staff member.

Fees Policy

Lilly Pilly Community Preschool is a not-for-profit organisation. State Government Funding shares the cost of providing our child care and education service with fees paid by our families. To enable our service to provide high quality early education and care for children we need to ensure we are financially viable at all times. It is essential to ensure the prompt payment of fees as this allows us to plan with certainty. We have a commitment to ensuring our fees are as affordable as possible and that all families have access to any subsidies that are available to reduce these fees. Our Service will advocate with governments for all children’s right to access early education and care regardless of their family’s financial situation.

AIM:

Our Service’s financial health and access to our Service will be maximised by:

• Ensuring families are aware of all fees and fee payment requirements upon enrolment;
• Keeping fee increases to a minimum;
• Ensuring the cost of administering fee collection is minimised;
• Following the appropriate priority of access requirements;
• Following all government funding legal requirements;
• Managing fee collection to avoid bad debts;
• Ensuring families are notified as far ahead as possible and no less than 14 days of any changes to fees or the way fees will be collected; and
• Ensuring we issue statements of fees on a regular basis.

Priority of Access

For NSW state funded community based preschools the Priority of Access Guidelines are defined by NSW State Government funding agreements. In no particular order, these are:

• Children who are at risk of harm;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children;
• Children from low income families;
• Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds;
• Children with disabilities; and
• Children in their year before school (with highest priority given to children closest to school entry).

The Approved Provider will: