March 2021
We hope you are all looking forward to enjoying the Autumn weather – warm days, cooler nights and great opportunities to explore the outdoors.
Save the Date
Please save the date for our first Zoom meeting for 2021. This will be held online on 20/04/2021 at 18h30. An invitation will follow closer to the date.
Update on Swimming Pool Regs
The meeting that was meant to be held with ECRU on the 11th February to discuss the draft legislation and answer all the questions that have been put to them, was cancelled due to the COVID lockdown and it has been reschedule on the 22nd March. We will send detail of this meeting in a separate email. The state election will also impact on the time frame for legislation to go before parliament so as usual – the wheels of bureaucracy are turning very slowly.
Educator Assistants
An Educator Assistant is a person registered by a FDC Service to assist an Educator. They need to be at least 18 years old, and hold approved first aid qualifications and clearances. According to section 164A(1) and (2) of the Law, the only time another person may educate and care for a child as part of the FDC Service is if the assistant has been approved by Nature Alliance and the Educator has obtained written consent from a parent / guardian of each child enrolled.
The Regulations clearly state that an assistant may help the Educator to transport a child or in the absence of the Educator due to emergency situations. An assistant is also able to care for the children if an Educator is required to attend a NON-REGULAR appointment. In unforeseen or exceptional circumstances, the assistant may only replace the Educator if the absence is less than 4 hours, and that this absence has been approved by Nature Alliance and parents / guardians have been given notice of the absence.
Unfortunately, the use of a Relief Educator is no longer viable because they count in the service 1:25 ratio (regardless of the fact that they are replacing the Educator). Remember, you are the Educator, the assistant is there to help transport children and replace you in the event of an emergency or out of the ordinary circumstances. If you have any situations that you would like to clarify please don’t hesitate to call the office.
ECRU Spot Checks
ECRU are currently conducting spot checks and recently called to the office and then visited two Educators in the South West.
They checked notice board documents, checking that details of the Approved Provider, name and contact details of who can be contacted to lodge a complaint and the name of the service Educational Leader were displayed. They also checked programs to see that they were up to date, environment check records, evacuation drill records and that the menu was on display and accurately reflected the food that was served. Please remember to include the details of the actual food served on your menu (“seasonal fruit” is not adequate). Evacuation drills documentation must be fully completed. Please ensure that your evacuation drill is conducted every three months, if you go a day over, you will be in breach.
Police Clearances
Through discussion with compliance and what is considered best practice, we going to ask for Police Clearances to be updated every three years. Some Educators already do this, and it usually coincides with their WWCC renewal. These can be run through the FDCA website and only cost $37.50 for members.
We will introduce this as from the 1st July 2021 so as your WWCC becomes due for renewal, and if your Police Clearance is more than two years old at that time, we will ask for your Police Clearance to be renewed. This will be a very gradual implementation and will take us three years to get this process fully into place. This will include Police Clearances for Ed Assistants and usual occupants who are over the age of 18 years at your home.
Goodbyes and Welcomes
We have sadly said goodbye to Kinta Whaley who has not been able to continue with us due to the family’s own growing business. It was lovely to have Kinta for the short time. We have gone through the recruitment process and have appointed a very experienced Coordinator – Lea Major. Lea has working in Family Day Care for over 25 years and is just in the process of working out her notice period with the organisation she is currently with and will be joining us on Tuesday 30th March 2021.
Ellie Iversen has also decided to leave Nature Alliance for family reasons. We have enjoyed working with Ellie and wish her all the best for the future.
We would also like to welcome one of our newest Educators, Katrina Liddawi in Karrinyup.
Request for Care via FDCA
As a part of our membership with FDCA we are listed on their Looking for Care Webpage. Through this page we receive requests for care from prospective families. These are emailed through to the relevant Educators from the office requesting that they contact the parent direct if they can assist. If you receive one of these requests for care can you please ensure that you action it. If you do not have the places or can’t provide the care, please let the staff in the office know as there may be another Educator that has vacancies that we can refer the family to.
Parent Surveys
As a part of our commitment to developing communication with families and to gain insights into what is working successfully, we do send electronic surveys to families on a regular basis. A welcome survey is sent within a few weeks of the child commencing with an Educator working with Nature Alliance. We don’t receive a lot of these back but any that we do will be shared with the relevant Educator.
After a recent staff meeting, we have also decided to recommence the initial phone surveys that we have previously done. These will involve a staff person ringing a parent and running through a series of questions relevant to their enrolment.
Office Hours
Our office hours are 8.30am to 4.30pm. If you have a query outside of these hours, please phone and leave a message. If you need to speak with someone in an emergency, please ring Beryl or Sue and if your call is not answered immediately leave a message and they will call you back.
Phone Numbers:
Kylie: 0431 449 567 (Mon–Thurs); Nadia: 0431 449 567 (Wed-Fri); Joy: 0429 030 362 (Mon – Wed, Fri); Jo: 0477 029 132 (Mon–Thurs); Lea: 0477 029 228 (Tue-Fri); Sue: 0477 029 254 or Beryl: 0477 029 253.
To ensure that we respond to your emails promptly please send your queries to: info@naturealliancefdc.com.au
“It is the marriage of the soul with Nature that makes the intellect fruitful and gives birth to imagination.” – Henry David Thoreau