Please note that our policies are constantly under review to ensure that they cater for the needs of the school and our community, and that they remain consistent with our philosophy and current legislative requirements. As such we encourage you to check this page often to ensure that you have the latest copy.
Safety & emergency
Safety and emergency
Supervision
Currambena seeks to provide an environment in which the child may safely explore and extend, through play and work, their physical, social and intellectual abilities. All children have the freedom of the school. This means they are not under direct supervision at all times, although there is always a member of staff available or on duty. All parents and children are encouraged to be safety conscious (e.g. ensuring that the front gate is closed) and responsible.
Accident Procedure
If an accident, injury or illness occurs, staff will assess the situation promptly, and make the child as comfortable as possible. If necessary, first aid will be administered and ambulance will be contacted. Parents will be notified immediately. Details of the incident will be recorded in the incident book, and the book is confidentially stored until the child is 25 years of age.
Emergency procedures
Risk assessments are conducted to identify potential emergency procedures that are relevant to the school. Emergency routes and emergency drill dates are discussed on Coordination Day. A fire drill and evacuation drill will be conducted each term at various times and dates throughout the year to ensure emergency evacuations are rehearsed every 3 months. There will also be two lock down drills per year to keep the children and staff aware of the procedure. Details of the school's emergency procedures are found in the Emergency Evacuation Procedures Policy.
In the event of an emergency evacuation, teachers and Coordinator will take all relevant information so that all parents can be contacted. It is, therefore, important to keep the school informed and up-to-date with any changes to your phone numbers, both at home and work.
Department of Family and Community Services contact:
Teachers have a duty of care towards the children and are obliged by law to report any suspicions of child abuse to the Department of Family and Community Services.
If you wish to contact the Department of Family and Community Services for any reason, the local number is: (02)9377 6000
Child Protection Helpline: 132 111 (24 hrs/7 days)
Health
Health
Department of Health guidelines will be followed if a vaccine-preventable disease occurs at the school.
Medication
Families are required to alert staff of medical conditions at the enrolment interview or as soon after the diagnosis as possible. A medical management plan from a doctor must be provided before the child starts at school. Where medication must be taken during school hours, families will fill in a request for support at school with details of the medication, dosage and frequency requirement. At enrolment, parents can give permission for teachers to administer Panadol to their child if the teacher feels this is necessary.
Immunisation
From 2018, the Government requires all children to have up-to-date immunisations to enrol in any early childhood service. A copy of the Guidelines for the Control of Infectious Diseases in Child Care is available in our Preschool if you need more information. Parents must provide a copy of the child's Immunisation History statement from ACIR (Australian Childhood Immunisation Register) to the Preschool Director before the child can commence in preschool. Primary enrolments need a copy of the child's Immunisation History statement from ACIR or a conscientious objection form signed by a doctor. Children with no immunisation certificate at the school will be deemed unvaccinated and will be excluded from school, if an outbreak of a notifiable disease occurs.
Absent & sick children
If your child becomes sick whilst at school, a teacher will contact you and request that arrangements be made for your child to be collected early. In the meantime your child can lie down on the bed in the staff room.
Food and clothing
Food and clothing
Nutrition
Children are encouraged to eat when they are hungry. There are also specified break times during the day for the primary children. Preschool children can eat when and where they choose, though this is monitored to ensure that they remember to eat and drink. We encourage families to send healthy lunches.
Food Allergies and Restricted Foods
Currambena keeps all families regularly updated on any food that can cause an anaphylactic reaction in any of our children. Staff and parents need to be aware that it is not possible to achieve a completely allergen- free environment in any preschool/school that is open to the general community. Staff and parents should not have a false sense of security that an allergen has been eliminated from the environment. Instead, it is important to recognise the need to adopt a range of procedures and risk minimisation strategies to reduce the risk of a child having an anaphylactic reaction, including strategies to minimise the presence of the allergen in the children’s service.
We request all parents to be mindful of these specific food items and to limit these in their children’s lunchboxes. This particularly applies to the class of the child with the life-threatening allergy.
Please refer to our policies and read the Food Allergy and Medical Conditions Policy which includes the following references.
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/schoolsweb/studentsupport/studenthealth/ (conditions/anaphylaxis/foodinfo.pdf (sourced 6.30pm 6.2.2016)
http://www.allergy.org.au/images/pcc/ASCIA_PCC_Anaphylaxis_2015.pdf (sourced 15.11.2015)
http://www.allergyfacts.org.au/images/pdf/appman.pdf (sourced 5.45pm 6.2.2016)
Agreements with Children and Choice of Clothing
We encourage and educate:
- Positive attitudes towards body image
- Awareness of varying clothing needs and cultural differences
- Personal responsibility for and decision making about our bodies
- Awareness of the need to reduce skin exposure to the sun
Agreements:
- There is no school uniform
- Children are encouraged to come to school in comfortable workable clothing
- Children are asked to keep clothing on at all times regardless of the activity
- Children are encouraged to wear appropriate clothing for sun protection, cultural sensitivity and the activity they are engaged in, which includes various sports, water play and craft room safety
- In the situation where a child needs assistance with changing of clothes, one staff member will assist and the other staff member will witness
- No language around body shaming is to be used
- Children are expected to be responsible for all pieces of their clothing
- Children are expected to return all safety items, such as goggles, masks, earmuffs, etc, back to their place of storage in the craft room
- All staff must be fully conversant with these agreements
