General Information

Asthma Friendly Child Care

Asthma is most prevalent amongst young children. To support these children and especially those that attend child care, family day care and kindergartens or out of school hours care, National Pharmacies, Health Protect International and the Asthma Foundation of South Australia have joined forces to create the Asthma Friendly Children's Services Program.

To become an Asthma Friendly centre educators are required to attend a one hour session learning what asthma is, what happens in the airways and how children may present when having difficulty breathing. Educators then spend time with equipment such as spacers, masks and reliever puffers learning how to assemble an Asthma First Aid Kit and administer Asthma First Aid.

We strongly encourage parents to ensure their child has an Asthma Action Plan and ensure a copy is provided to child care staff.

Sun Safe Child Care

Sun exposure in the first 10 years of life has a significant impact on the lifetime risk of developing skin cancer. Ensuring children are well protected from the sun in early childhood care and an education setting is a major priority for the SunSmart Program.

The Cancer Council offers child care centres the opportunity to be recognised as SunSmart sites. To become a SunSmart site, early childhood centres must adhere to comprehensive policies and procedures. The following is an excerpt from our Sun Protection Policy:

• Slip - We encourage children to wear lightweight, loose fitting clothing that will help keep them cool in summer.
• Slop - We apply sunscreen to children 30 minutes before going outside and provide sensitive, 30+ sunscreen for all children.
• Slap - We encourage all children to wear a legionnaire or broad brim style hat each day. Centre hats are available for purchase from the office.
• Shade - Children are encouraged to play in the shade as much as possible when outside and equipment is set up in shaded areas to assist us in this endeavour.

Listening to Children - Caring by Connection

You can transform your relationship with children from those that rely on coping and control to ones that are founded on connection through listening. The listening to children approach supports parents and other carers of children to use the following strategies:

• Special Time - The adult focuses attention to a child for a given amount of time during which the child leads the interaction (within the bounds of safety and reason). This strategy is deeply encouraging to children, building confidence and connection.
• Playlistening - A strategy that adults can use to address children's behaviour when it goes off track. Fun and role reversal all build children's confidence. Laughter defuses the tension that drives 'off track' behaviour.
• Setting limits - At the same time as taking responsibility to stop unreasonable behaviour, the adult sets limits in a way that does not blame, isolate or otherwise hurt the child - this helps the child back on track, as well as rebuilding a frayed connection.
• Staylistening - An adult 'stays listening' to a child who is expressing strong feelings that have clouded the child's judgement. This is a way of staying with a limit, or responding to an upset, without using punishment or harshness and instead, building or rebuilding connection.