POLICY REVIEW POLICY

Document Control

Policy number:	27
Policy area:	CHNS
Policy owner:	Children's Services
Responsible / contact officer:	Cathy Cahill
Effective date:	21 February 2022
Review date:	As required

Under the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations, Enhance Family Day Care must ensure that policies and procedures are in place under regulation 168 and 169. While it is important to have policies and procedures in an early childhood education and care service, it is equally important that the policies are regularly reviewed, and amendments made to cater for changes in legislation and researched best practice, and changes to service procedures that aim to support ongoing quality improvement.

NATIONAL QUALITY STANDARD (NQS)

Quality Area 6: Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities: 6.1.1
Quality Area 7: Governance and Leadership: 7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.2, 7.2.1

EDUCATION AND CARE SERVICES NATIONAL REGULATIONS

30 Conditions on service approval – family day care educator insurance
55-56 Quality Improvement Plan
168 Education and care services must have policies and procedures
169 Additional policies and procedures- family day care service
170 Policies and procedures to be followed
171 Policies and procedures to be kept available
172 Notification of change to policies or procedures

Purpose

To ensure high quality outcomes for children in our care, Enhance Family Day Care will review our policies and procedures on an annual basis, or more frequently if required due to changes having occurred within enhance FDC, or if considered best practice in respect to current research.

We aim to work in collaboration with our Educators and families, gathering feedback when updating our policies and procedures to ensure that the needs of children being educated and cared for are always being met.

Scope

This policy applies to the Approved Provider, Children Services team and Educators

Implementation

Policies and procedures are an integral part of the documentation required to meet legislative requirements for all early childhood education and care services. Policies and procedures clearly outline the processes all Enhance Educators will follow and assist all Educators and staff to understand their roles and responsibilities. They ensure a consistent approach and embedded practice across all services and help to inform families how Enhance FDC operates.

Enhance FDC will ensure:

• Our policies and procedures are underpinned by the Early Years Learning Framework and ECA Code of Ethics and address the Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations, National Quality Standard and other state/territory laws as applicable
• All policies and procedures will be made available for families and Educators at all times
• All policies developed will be reviewed in consultation with management, staff and families of children attending Enhance FDC services
• That all policies and procedures are reviewed as per the document review routine, or more often if required (e.g. due to changes in regulations, legislation, and/or Service practices). This gives both families and Educators opportunities to suggest aspects or areas that may need to be modified or improved.
• Each document has a recommended review date stated in the ‘Review’ section of the policy document and changes are clearly made through version control
• Educators, Practice Mentors, and family members are invited to have input into the policies and procedures at any time of the year, not only at the scheduled review time for a particular policy
• All policies will be signed, sourced/referenced, and dated at each review and Educators and other staff will continuously seek out relevant new information and research to be included in policies in order to provide the best possible environment and practices
• Policies will be informed by relevant authorities to ensure best practice- e.g.: KidSafe, Cancer Council, Red Nose
• All stakeholders at the Service must be informed of any changes to policies. This will occur in writing and be provided to families, Educators, other staff, management, and any other applicable individuals
• Families will have the opportunity to revise and help plan policies via specific letters to families discussing the policy or a draft of the proposed policy and given the opportunity to respond.
• All revised policies will lead to updates in associated documents such as Family Handbook, Staff Handbook and Educator Policy Handbook.
• Policies are accessible to all families and provide a translation service for policies for families who do not have English as their first language.

Legislative requirements

Enhance FDC must have policies and procedures in place relating to the categories listed in Regulation 168 and Regulation 169 of the National Regulations. Enhance FDC have additional policies and procedures in place above and beyond requirements to ensure support for Educators in providing high quality care.

In accordance with Regulation 172, Enhance FDC will ensure that parents of children enrolled at services are notified at least 14 days before making any change to a policy or procedure that may have a significant impact on:

• Enhance FDC’s provision of education and care to any child enrolled at the service or
• The family's ability to utilise the service

In addition to this, Enhance FDC must ensure that parents of children enrolled at the service are notified at least 14 days before making any change that will affect fees charged or the way in which fees are collected.

In exceptional circumstances, Enhance FDC may consider that the 14-day notice period may pose a risk to the safety, health or wellbeing of any child enrolled at the service. In these cases, Enhance FDC will ensure that parents of children enrolled at the service are notified as soon as practicable after making a change.

Policies will be available for all families at all times at their Family Day Care residence.

Variations

FDCAQ reserves the right to vary, replace or terminate this policy.

Links to associated documents	Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority. (2012). How to Develop and Update Policies Successfully (without the stress). Education and Care Services National Regulations. (2011). Guide to the National Quality Framework. (2017). (Amended 2020). Kearns, K. (2017). The Business of Childcare (4th Ed.). Revised National Quality Standard. (2018).
Acknowledgements and references	Links/Nil