Health & safety

Health guidelines

The Ministry of Education has a range of Health and Safety guidelines relating to the operation of Early Childhood Centres. These guidelines have been developed into specific policies that the centre is run by. The policies relating to Health and Safety are available in the parent information area to review at any time. Some key aspects of the Ministry of Education guidelines are outlined below.

Illness

In the interest of all children and adults, please do not bring your child if they are unwell i.e. fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, green nose/cough etc., and ensure they remain at home until they are better. The supervisor has the right to refuse entry to any child on the grounds of health.

Should a child become ill during his/her time at kindergarten, they will be made comfortable and you (or your emergency contact) will be contacted to enable your child to be collected as quickly as possible. Normal fees apply when children are absent due to sickness.

Sun Safety

We aim to be a sunsmart kindergarten. Please provide your child with a sunhat (named) for the 1st and 4th term. The Cancer Society recommends hats that provide good shade to the face, back of neck and ears. We encourage parents to apply sunscreen before bringing their child to kindergarten, we will reapply this to those children who attend all day.

Allergies

Please make sure the teachers are aware of any allergies your child may have.

Medication

All medication must be handed to staff on arrival, not left in your child’s bag. Staff may only give a child medication if you have signed the medicine book with the exact time and dosage required. All medicines need to be in the original container with the child’s name and dosage on the outside and within the expiry date.

Hearing/Vision Testing

Waitemata Health provides routine hearing and vision testing of 4 year old children as part of the B4 school checks. Children can only be tested with parental consent; forms will be given to you on enrolment. We encourage you to use this valuable free service.

Immunisation Register

It is mandatory for early childhood centres to keep an up to date Immunisation Register in case of an outbreak of serious illness. A copy of your Certificate of Immunisation is required upon enrolment along with any further immunisations that occur while the child is at the centre. If a child is not immunised we require this to be noted and signed on the centre enrolment form.