QA2: Being Sunsmart
NQS Best Practices: Childcare 2020
The Cancer Council of Australia has established guidelines to follow for children being sun smart in Australia. The guidelines generally revolve around being dressed appropriately for outside play (for example using wide-brimmed hats, wearing a shirt as opposed to singlet, etc.), regularly applying sunscreen (an appropriate composition for young skin from approved brands) and regularly seeking shade during extended outside play.
“Services exceeding the NQS charge an average of 7% higher fees.” It pays to implement best practices in your service.
National survey for The Early Years Insights – Sept 2019
If you follow these sun smart guidelines, here are some tips to help you prove you’re exceeding this particular subsection of the NQS:
1. Highlight compliance
Take regular observations of outdoor play and actually point out in the observation that the kids are dressed in line with the sun smart guidelines from the Cancer Council and have adequate shade available.
Having an app timestamp the activity ensures that ACECQA can easily tell that the guidelines are being met (as opposed to writing down the time that a sleep check was performed in the past). Assuming your supervision is excellent, this ensures you get the recognition for it.
When you’re applying your EYLF (or MTOP or other curricula) outcomes, also tag an outcome from the NQS – QA 2 framework (both 2.1 and 2.2 are acceptable). This proves that you’re tying your day to day activities and child-led learning back to the NQS which is always a good habit.
2. Track sunscreen application
Regularly apply and reapply sunscreen and track it. Again, a cloud-based app with a sunscreen tracker is the best way to do this. Ensure that it logs an audit trail with the educator applying the sunscreen as well as the time stamp.
3. Utilise timers
Make use of an app that also has a countdown timer to help remind you to reapply. It’s not necessarily about the fact that you might forget to reapply sunscreen on a child, rather than you are taking extra steps to ensure the children are being SunSmart. Make sure you document in your QIP that you go beyond meeting the requirements by having this backup system.
An app with these three features will only amplify your business practices. Sharing all this info with parents is also important. Parents love to know that their child is protected from the harsh Australian sun.
TO LEARN MORE about implementing best practices as well as automating the recording of data needed to give you the best chance of Exceeding QA2, reach out to Xplor.
