(1) This Guideline will provide clear directions to ensure the safe delivery and collection of children attending Yarm Gwanga. (2) For the purposes of clause 168 (2) (f) of the Education and Care Services National Regulations this Guideline is considered to be the policy and procedure. (3) These Guidelines satisfy the following National Quality Standards: (4) This Guideline applies to all (5) All management and Educators will take reasonable care to protect children from forseeable risk of harm ensuring that children are only released to authorised persons. To achieve this Yarm Gwanga will ensure that: (6) All management and Educators will provide appropriate support to children and families during the transition periods. Educators will exchange information about the child during these periods, and families are encouraged to contact the service during the day for further updates/advice if required. (7) Families will ensure they: (8) Yarm Gwanga recognises there may be isolated occasions when parents/guardians may be delayed through no fault of their own and when this occurs, will ensure the child is adequately supervised at all times. (9) Yarm Gwanga will ensure that two staff members (one of whom must be a qualified educator) remain in attendance at the service until the child/ren is/are collected. (10) When a child/ren has/have not been collected within 15 minutes after the services closure time and the service has not been contacted by the parent/guardian, Yarm Gwanga will: (11) When a child/ren has/have not been collected within 60 minutes after the Service's closing time, and the Service has not been contacted by the parent/guardian, Yarm Gwanga will: (12) In accordance with the Child Care Fees Rule and its associated Schedule 1, an overtime charge will be charged for every 15 minutes or part thereof after the service's closure time (currently 5:45pm). (13) The health and safety of children is paramount. Early childhood professionals have a duty of care not to endanger children at the service by knowingly placing them in a situation that could reasonably be expected to be dangerous, including releasing a child into the care of an Inappropriate Person. (14) The service will refuse to release a child under the following circumstances: (15) If a staff member/Educator refuses to release a child, they will undertake the following actions: (16) Any parent obtaining a Court Order or injunction against the access of their spouse, ex-spouse or other adult to their child, must inform Yarm Gwanga immediately and provide a copy of that Court Order to the service. If the Service has not been provided with a copy of the Court Order, then we cannot deny the non-custodial parent/guardian access to their child. (17) Staff will not deliver a child to a parent/guardian who has legally been denied access to the child. If a parent/guardian who has legally been denied access to the child attempts to remove the child from the service the Police will be called immediately. (18) The Police will be responsible for the offending adult while staff reassure the child and contact the custodial parent. (19) Where a child has been removed from Yarm Gwanga without authorisation, or has left the Service unattended by an adult, the Service (the Nominated Supervisor or Responsible Person) will notify the parents of the child, UNE Safety, Security and Information, the Police and ACECQA of the contravention of the National Regulations. Notification is via the completion of Form S101 - Notification of Serious Incident (Click here for form). (20) The Guideline Administrator, Director UNE Life, makes these Guidelines. (21) (22) These Guidelines operate as and from the (23) Previous Policies/Procedures/Guidelines relating to the delivery and collection of children at the Yarm Gwanga Services are replaced and have no further operation from the (24) ACECQA (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority) - is the body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) and works with the NSW regulatory authority (NSW Early Childhood and Education Directorate, Department of Education) to administer the NQF. (25) Attendance Record - is kept by the service to record details of each child attending the service including name, time of arrival and departure, signature of person delivering and collecting the child or of the Nominated Supervisor or educator (Regulation 158(1)). (26) Authorised Nominee - (in relation to this Guideline) is a person who has been given written authority by the parents/guardians of a child to collect that child from the education and care service. These details will be on the child's enrolment form. The National Law and National Regulations do not specify a minimum age limit for an authorised nominee, but this service had determined that persons must be over the age of 18 years to be able to be an Authorised Nominee. (27) Duty of Care - is a common law concept that refers to the responsibilities of organisations to provide people with an adequate level of protection against harm and all reasonable foreseeable risk of injury. (28) Family Member - in relation to a child, means: a) a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or cousin of the child, whether of the whole blood or half-blood, and whether that relationship arises by marriage (including a de facto relationship), by adoption or otherwise, or b) a relative of the child according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander tradition, or c) a person with whom the child resides in a family-like relationship, or d) a person who is recognised in the child's community as having a familial role in respect of the child (29) Inappropriate person - is a person who may pose a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of any child attending the education and care service, or whose behaviour or state of mind make it inappropriate for him/her to be on the premises e.g. a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol (Act 171(3)). (30) Late collection - is when a parent /guardian or authorised nominee collects their child/ren from the program after the designated time for the program to end. (31) Transition Period - is the period of time taken for children to settle into the service, and the periods of time taken for children to move to different rooms or groups within the service throughout the day. (32) Unauthorised person (in relation to this Guideline) - is a person who is not a parent/guardian, family member, authorised nominee, emergency services or medical personnel. (33) Visitor - includes, but is not limited to, students on practical placements, volunteers, community members and persons conducting inspections/audits. (34) Yarm Gwanga refers to both the Yarm Gwanga Preschool & Early Education centre as well as Yarm Gwanga Vacation Care.Yarm Gwanga Delivery and Collection of Children Guideline
Section 1 - Overview
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Section 2 - Scope
Section 3 - Guideline
Late Collection of a Child
Refusal to Release a Child
Court Orders
Unauthorised Removals
Authority and Compliance
Section 4 - Definitions
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For the purposes of this Guideline the following definitions apply: