Daycare Visitor Access Protocol
The Langara day care centre is a part of Langara College and the larger child care community. Aside from our primary function, providing child care to our day care population, the centre serves many other functions both within and outside of the college. The centre is used to provide a variety of learning experiences, practicum placements, and research opportunities to many of the college’s programs as well as programs from other colleges and universities. Visitors from other Early Childhood Education settings and the community come to observe our program and practices. Therapists and professionals from a variety of community resource services come to the centre to provide support to individual children, families, and staff. To ensure the children’s safety, all visitors must be authorized by the child care staff prior to entering the centre. Any individual accessing the Langara day care centre must behave in a way that supports a safe and secure environment. Actions that in any way jeopardize the physical and/or emotional wellbeing of children or adults in the centre will result in the immediate removal of the person responsible and the generation of a security report. The single entrance to the day care centre is always kept locked. Day care staff, parents, ECE practicum students, and other authorized persons are able to enter the centre by punching in a security code. All other visitors who seek entrance must ring the doorbell and be allowed in by a day care member who establishes their identity. In compliance with Child Care Facilities Licensing requirements, all day care staff, substitutes, ECE practicum students, and volunteers must complete a Criminal Records Search to work in the day care centre.
There are various types of situations in which visitor access to the day care centre may occur. There are three visitor categories:
- Family visitors
- Langara College visitors
- External visitors
Family Visitors
Family visitors include:
- Families seeking information about the day care centre for the purpose of enrolling their children;
- Persons authorized to spend time at the day care centre during gradual entry or other occasions;
- Persons authorized to drop off and pick up children.
Anyone picking up a child from the day care centre who is not a parent or guardian of the child must be authorized by the parent to do so. Parents will provide authorization in writing on the child’s registration form. Alternately, in an emergency, parents or guardians can advise day care staff in person or on the telephone if someone other than the parent or guardian will pick up the child, identifying the predetermined password that must be provided by the individual collecting the child (see Appendix 1). Photo i.d. must also be provided. If anyone comes to pick up a child who has not been authorized, day care staff will not release the child.
Family members or friends may not visit the child at the day care centre unless they are accompanied by the parent or have been authorized by the parent to visit the child.
Langara College Visitors
Langara College visitors include:
- Langara ECE students who do their practicum placements in the day care centre;
- Langara students and faculty from various departments who interact with the children and staff in a variety of ways appropriate to their areas of study, e.g. observations of children, interviews with staff or parents, activities with groups of children, research projects;
- Volunteers who work the pre-requisite hours to qualify for entry into the Langara Early Childhood Education Program;
- Service personnel who provide the services required to maintain the facility, e.g. maintenance workers, repair workers;
- College administrators responsible for day care services.
Families are informed in the Parent Contract about Langara College student and faculty/staff involvement in the day care centre.
External Visitors
The primary purpose of the day care centre is to provide excellent child care and this purpose will be not be compromised to accommodate visitors. External visitors who are not known to day care staff will be asked to produce identification to verify their identity.
- For the following group of external visitors, some of whom may not be known to day care staff, identification to verify their identity must be produced:
- Therapists and professionals from a variety of community resource services who come to the centre to provide support to individual children with special needs, their families and staff, e.g. Community Health Nurse, Speech and Language Pathologist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Supported Child Care Consultant, Licensing personnel, Ministry staff;
- ECE students from other colleges who come to the day care centre to do practicum placements or observations.
For the following group of external visitors,
- Observers from other Early Childhood Education settings and from the community who come to observe our program and practices;
- Researchers from other colleges and universities who come to conduct studies in ECE practices, child development, and related topics.
this process will apply:
- A request in writing which includes a copy of photo i.d. will be required;
- A letter granting permission for the visit will be sent back from the day care;
- On arrival the visitor must produce picture i.d. and the permission letter;
Research
No child will be included in any research project or study until their parents or guardians have provided informed consent as indicated by their signature on the consent forms provided by the individuals requesting permission. If a parent or guardian does not give permission, that child will be accommodated away from the activity.
The process for conducting research in the day care centre will require that the individual or group complete the External Visitor Request to Conduct Research at Langara day care centre. They must provide:
- Their name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), fax number(s), and e-mail address(es);
- A complete written proposal or description of the project to be reviewed by the Head teacher and the Dean of Student and Education Support Services;
- Agreement to abide by the requests made by Langara College including provision of reference and credential checks.
Consent
Following approval by the Head Teacher and Dean of Student and Education Support Services, consent forms must be completed by each parent or guardian whose child may be included. Consent forms must be signed by all signators to the Parent Contract. Parents or guardians are to receive consent forms three to five days in advance of the research date. Consent forms must include:
- Name(s) and contact number(s) of the person(s) requesting permission;
- Intended use of the research;
- Method of dissemination;
- A complete description of the project including such information as dates, times, number of children involved, number of people on site, children and staff involvement, procedures, expected outcomes of the project, how confidentiality will be assured, and how the project will benefit the day care centre;
- Space for parents or guardians to fill in the date, the name of their child, their name(s), their signature(s) indicating their consent.
