IMPLEMENT REFERRAL SYSTEMS
You should be competent to carry out your job, but you should also know when a situationrequires knowledge outside of your area of expertise. When you detect problems that you are
unable to solve because they lie outside of your scope or expertise, you should make referrals to
other professionals. Some of the professions frequently contacted to assist Early Childhood
workers and parents are healthcare and social workers.
The process of sending or guiding someone to another source for assistance is called a referral.
As an early childhood worker, you can facilitate referrals, but they should be done with the full
involvement and approval of the child’s parents.
All referrals should be done according to the children’s health needs which may include:
• Allergies to certain foods
• Food intolerances e.g. lactose intolerance
• Medical advice and diet
A determination of whether a child is overweight or underweight should be made only by a
medical doctor. You should never place any child on a special diet without documentation from a medical doctor or other recognized medical professional such as a nurse or dietician. You should
check with the regulatory agency to determine what documentation you will need to keep on file
for special diets.
Before referring a child to a health facility for further evaluation, the following factors must be
taken into consideration:
• Birth weight – the premature or low birth weight child may take several years to ‘catch up’
with the child who was in the normal range for height and weight at birth
• Nationality – certain groups have longer legs and a shorter body structure while others have
shorter legs and a longer body structure
• Heights and weights of biological parents – attention to parental body structure may help to
determine if the pattern of growth is actually abnormal for the child
• Frequent or recent acute illness e.g. diarrhoea or respiratory infections
• Chronic illnesses - example diabetes, anaemia.
ENSURE THE USE OF EXTERNAL PROFESSIONALS AND AGENCIES
Many Early Childhood Institutions are not large enough to hire a full time nutritionist or
dietician, but it is common practice to consult with such a professional to ensure that all meals
provide the required nutrients to help children grow and develop. Some of the ways in which the
nutritionist or dietician can offer assistance include:
• Using the tools of nutrition assessment, planning and evaluation to help the ECI staff and
parents to solve children’s nutrition related problems
• Managing chronic conditions such as overweight, underweight, diabetes, anaemia etc.
• Assisting food preparation personnel and staff in planning menus
• Ensuring the nutrient content of menus complies with nutrition standards set by
regulatory agencies such as the Ministry of Health and the Early Childhood Unit of the
Ministry of Education
• Training food preparation personnel in sanitary requirements and the use of safe practices
when handling food
MAINTAIN RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS
Record keeping refers to the documentation of facts or events. It is an important part of your
duties. The purpose of records is to:
• Document information for further use
• Assist memory – when in doubt, information can easily be checked from records
• See trends
• Evaluate what works best with the children
• Decide what changes need to be made
Every ECI needs systems for records which must comply with standards set by regulatory
agencies as well as enterprise policies. Such records must be available for inspection by the local
authority at any time. There are four simple systems for record-keeping which include:
• Card – index system – suppliers, children’s details
• Filing system – children’s records, budgets/accounts and financial planning
• A display system – weekly menus, food allergy notices for individual children in kitchen
• A book system – A bill book is used for the purpose of recording the items purchased at
the grocery shop or market. The account book should record all accounts spent. Bills
should be numbered in consecutive order for filing and securely preserved. The menu
book should be used to record the quantity of food used and the number of children fed.
This will indicate whether the amount of food prepared is adequate for the number of
children.
Some record systems are paper based while others are computer-based. There are special
software packages that are specially designed for ECI management. These packages are useful
because they:
• Increase the efficiency of the organization and therefore reduce costs
• Increase the quality of service
• Give the staff more control over the workload
Production record
This is a working tool which outlines the type and quantity of foods that need to be purchased
and made available for the meal service. These records should be started well in advance of the
meal service in order to be a successful planning tool. These records give you information such
what foods and recipes to use and what portion sizes to serve. These records also enable you to
record information such as actual quantities prepared and the number of meals and snacks
served.
Production records should show:
• The childcare location
• Meal date
• Menu type (breakfast, snack, lunch or supper)
• Menu item or food item used and form
• Recipe or food product used (including standardized recipes)
• Age group(s) being served
• Portion or serving size
• Total amount of food prepared (e.g. number of servings, kilograms, cans) – These records
will verify that the planned menu was actually prepared and served
• Leftovers and substitutions
Good recordkeeping is part of any successful food service operation and you should ensure that
all records are accurate, clear and up-to-date. You should ensure that when you divulge
information from the records, it is done according to the policies of the setting.
