Inclusion of children with additional needs are battling years of exclusion. Beliefs on how children should be included still vary so we have provided an explanation to assist services to understand the role of the extra staff member. The days of one on one care for the child with additional needs are gone as all staff need to be familiar with the child and the child needs to form attachments with all staff. The staff member employed as the extra pair of hands should not shadow or only work with the child with special needs, but be there to assist the staff to include all children into the daily programme. Below is an overview of the role of the extra staff member. I would encourage staff from all services that have employed an extra staff member for a child with additional needs to read this.
PROGRAMMES
Several programmes exist to access funding for an extra staff member to support the inclusion of a child with additional needs. These programmes include the Inclusion Support Subsidy (ISS) and limited short term funding with Flexible Support Subsidy (FSF) from Communicare South Metro Inclusion Support Team (SMIST).
ROLE OF THE EXTRA STAFF MEMBER
The primary role of ANY extra staff member in your service is to increase the staff: child ratio to help include a child with additional needs while also meeting the needs of all children within the group.
Inclusion means giving all children opportunities for acceptance, belonging and participation in a child care programme. Inclusion is not one-to-one support. If such support is necessary at specific times such as mealtimes, it should only be for short periods during the day. The extra help provided should be within the group setting and not in a discrete or separate area. The extra worker must never be in a separate area or left alone with any child – including the child with additional needs. If you have any questions about inclusive practice, please speak to Communicare SMIST.
GUIDELINES FOR THE EXTRA STAFF MEMBER
• The extra staff member is in the room to increase the staff:child ratio to help to include the child with additional needs, as well as making sure that all of the other children’s needs are being met. Remember, this extra staff member is over and above normal regulations at all times. The extra staff member cannot be used to meet the staffing levels required to maintain local licensing requirements. The extra staff member is in addition to the necessary staff: child ratio in the room.
• No one caregiver is expected to take on the full responsibility for any child. The aim is to share the skills and workload involved in supporting the child with additional needs. The extra staff member is not expected to provide 1:1 support for the child and must not assist only the child with additional needs to the exclusion of other children.
• The extra staff member is not a specialist for the child. The focus is on all staff being competent when assisting the child. Caregivers may choose to assist the child as necessary, or to take turns in helping the child, e.g. on a roster system.
• The extra staff member should not provide specialist assistance, e.g., medical assistance or physiotherapy, to the child with additional needs.
• As much as possible, the child with additional needs should remain with the group, with all staff encouraging the child’s participation in the programme. This can work well using a roster system.
• One caregiver (usually a trained staff member) may take responsibility for liaising with Inclusion Support Facilitator regarding the child’s specific needs and implementation of any Service Support Plan. However, this information should be shared with everyone, so that all caregivers can take over as needed.
• The extra staff member can relieve a child care worker to give them time to plan the programme. This planning may need to be undertaken in the room as the extra staff member is in addition to the legislated staff: child ratio.
• The extra staff member may also take over caregivers duties while the caregiver attends training or has contact with an Inclusion Support Facilitator for programme planning, training etc as per inclusion support plan. However, if the caregiver leaves the room, the Service must replace the caregiver as the extra staff member is over and above normal staff ratios at all times.
• The extra staff member is expected to be working in the same room as the child with additional needs for whom the funding has been given.
• The extra staff member cannot be used to do tasks that are over and above the daily routine and programme, particularly when the task is not related to the child’s additional needs
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXTRA STAFF MEMBER?
It is the responsibility of the service to employ the extra staff member, so service managers must feel confident in the skills of the person employed. The service is also responsible for the way in which the extra staff member is used throughout the day. Some examples are attached to help services understand how the extra staff member should operate in the service. You can see from the examples that the extra staff member is there to increase the staff:child ratios. There is always an extra member of staff on the floor for the allocated extra staff hours.
WHO CAN HELP
As well as assisting you to apply for funding, Inclusion Support Facilitators (ISF) are available for ongoing support. They can assist with practical advice and management strategies to actively promote inclusive practices. Inclusion Teams do their best to respond to the individual needs of each child and each service. Please talk with your ISF if you feel these needs are not being effectively met.
ADDITIONAL FUNDING EXAMPLES
Example 1: 1 caregiver to 10 children (3-5) and 1 funded extra staff member
1 caregiver to 13 children (6-12) and 1 funded extra staff member
If the main caregiver goes for any break or leaves the room then they must be replaced. The extra staff member cannot be counted as part of the normal staffing numbers. As a result there would always be 2 caregivers in the room, to care for all the children as per child care regulations.
Example 2: 2 caregivers to 20 children (3-5) and 1 funded extra worker
2 caregivers to 26 children (6-12) and 1 funded extra worker
Indoor/Outdoor play. 1 caregiver outside, 1 caregiver inside and one caregiver floating to the area the child with additional needs is playing. As a result, wherever the child with additional needs is there will be 2 caregivers, but neither need be the staff member employed with the extra funding.
Example 3 – 2 caregivers to 10 toddlers and 1 funded extra staff member
Outside play. The child to whom funding is attached requires nappy change. The caregiver on the nappy change roster, takes child in and changes the nappy. If necessary, 2 caregivers can do this if the child needs more support (e.g. if a two person lift is required). Therefore one caregiver will change the child, the other may support the child, and the third caregiver supervises the rest of the group as per child care regulations.
Scenario - 2 caregivers to 20 children (3-5) and 1 funded extra staff member
Situation: 1 caregiver at lunch, 1 caregiver cleaning up after lunch, and 1 caregiver supervising rest time. If the majority of children are sleeping, this allows 1 caregiver to do cleaning or other duties while the other caregiver remains with the group. If the majority of children are awake, the priority is the care of the children. The other duties can be done when the children settle or another caregiver comes to help.
