NQS2 – Safety, Health and Wellbeing Policy

If you’re interested in learning more, you may read the following detailed information.

All children have the right to experience high quality education and care, in a learning environment that provides for their protection through appropriate supervision, safe experiences and environments, and emergency preparedness. Happy Hive is committed to ensuring that each child’s health and safety needs are met. This includes meeting individual health and comfort requirements, implementing effective hygiene practices and effectively managing injuries and illnesses.

Key Happy Hive policies in this area cover the following topics:

Administering medication to children

To ensure the safety of your child when medication needs to be administered, we ask that you are familiar with our medication administration requirements. This document covers the storage, authorisation, dispensing and disposal of both prescription and non-prescription (i.e., over the counter) medication.

Medical conditions management (including allergies, Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes and Epilepsy)

To ensure the safe and effective management of the enrolment, and education and care of children who may suffer from any of these conditions, Happy Hive’s extensive requirements cover training, risk minimisation and collaborative actions and planning between educators and families. Thorough individual medical management plans are developed, implemented and regularly reviewed between families, Happy Hive staff and medical practitioners to best support the health and safety of children.

Medical Conditions Management Plan Diabetes
Medical Conditions Management Plan

Safeguarding children

At Happy Hive we take any action necessary to ensure that all children can feel safe and be safe, and are safeguarded from child abuse, neglect, and harm. This means we are committed to keeping children safe and protected, ensuring they gain a strong sense of wellbeing, optimism, and confidence so they have the learning and development and wellbeing outcomes they need for school and life. This is more than compliance. Underpinned by our ‘look, do, tell’ framework, we amplify and promote the voice and rights of children, through the prevention, identification and response to child abuse, neglect, and harm.

Child-safe environment

Ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of children and young people, their families, Happy Hive educators and visitors to our centres and sites is Happy Hive’s first and most important obligation. Happy Hive maintains physical, psychological, and online environments that promote cultural safety and keep children safe and well. It is essential that centre teams, educators and co-ordinators attend to children’s wellbeing by providing cultural, emotional and physical safety through enacting the voice of children, playful intentional teaching connected to children’s learning goals, effective and active supervision, warm trusting relationships with children and families, and predictable, inclusive, safe and enabling learning environments.

Excursions

There is a detailed planning procedure for any excursions undertaken from a Happy Hive centre to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children. We also provide our families with this information to help them decide whether or not to allow their child to participate in the event.

Food and nutrition

Happy Hive centres have a responsibility to provide information to families to encourage understanding and awareness of good dental/oral hygiene, nutrition and allergy management. All areas where Happy Hive food is prepared and provided must comply with Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, the Education and Care Services legislation and the Kitchen Design Standards. Consideration is given to nutritional, dietary, allergy and cultural requirements when developing menus.

Incident management

Our early learning employees follow recommended health and safety guidelines and procedures in the event of a child-related accident or injury, and all our centres have qualified first aid officers on duty. Any incidents that may occur are recorded in an illness/injury report and provided to all families, and we investigate each issue to make changes to practice or the physical environment where necessary. If your child requires medical treatment other than first aid, and we are unable to contact you, we will take any steps necessary to ensure that your child is appropriately cared for. This could include contacting the identified emergency contact for the child, or calling emergency services. It is important that information about your emergency contact and authorised nominee list is up-to-date at all times. We comply with regulatory requirements that all incidents are communicated to families as soon as practicable, and all notifiable incidents are reported according to legislative requirements.

Infectious disease control and unwell children

To minimise the risk of transmission of infectious disease, our procedures focus on the quick and effective response to a suspected or identified infectious disease. In the case of a suspected or confirmed infectious disease, Happy Hive works with families, public health units and medical practitioners to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children, families and staff in the centre. Children diagnosed with infectious disease may need to be excluded from the centre in accordance with the guidelines in ‘Staying Healthy’ or until medical clearance has been provided. To prevent the spread of infectious disease, we encourage families to fully immunise their children in accordance with the Department of Health and Ageing’s National Immunisation Program Schedule. Non-immunised children may be excluded.

There are additional requirements for residents of New South Wales, outlined in No Jab No Play, No Jab No Pay | NCIRS. Upon enrolment of their child, all parents/guardians in NSW must provide:

An Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) Immunisation History Statement which shows that their child is up-to-date with their scheduled immunisations, or
An ACIR Immunisation Exemption Conscientious Objection Form (IMMU12) certified by an immunisation provider and a parent/guardian, or
An ACIR Immunisation Exemption – Medical Contraindication Form (IMMU11) certified by an immunisation provider, or
An ACIR Immunisation History form on which the immunisation provider has certified that the child is on a recognised catch-up schedule.

Parents/guardians who fail to provide the required documentation will not be permitted to enrol their child. More information about the changes is available by contacting your local Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055.

ACIR (Australian Child Immunisation Record) – for more information visit www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/patients/acir/