Services can describe how it implements a range of guidelines and strategies which meet the individual needs of children and families. It is important for services to remember that equitable and inclusive practices are a continuous process and should occur every day.

Identifying and supporting individual needs
The service can describe how it supports children and families with additional needs. ‘Additional needs’ is a broad term of reference and can include children and families with:
intellectual or cognitive delay. Services should consider the following reflective questions:
How will the service communicate the requirements of child care in a way that is understood by the child or family?
How do staff/carers effectively communicate the child’s care experience to parents with cognitive delay?
How do staff/carers effectively retrieve information about the child’s home life at the beginning of each care session?
How can the service develop methods to effectively communicate between children, families and staff/carers?
language requirements, which can include diagnosed medical conditions that delay speech development, such as oral or verbal dyspraxia. Services should consider the following reflective questions:
How does the service meet and support the language needs of children and families?
How does the service support bilingual children and families?
Which of the service’s support documents can be translated in different languages?
How can the service access an interpreter?
How does the service aim to communicate with families and children after enrolment and when they are settling into care?
How are strategies reinforced between home and the service?
How are strategies evaluated by the service?
specific medical conditions, such asthma, diabetes, anaphylaxis or cystic fibrosis. Services should consider the following reflective questions:
How does the service support children and families with medical conditions who require child care?
How does the service communicate the medical needs of children to staff/carers?
How does the service ensure that children with a medical condition are treated equitably and offered play and learning opportunities with the same outcomes as other children?
child rearing practices that differ to the service’s practices. These include belief systems regarding gender roles in play, independence, self-help skills, behaviour guidance and nutritional needs;

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