OSHC staff induction and training records
Induction is where compliance starts. If a new educator has been walked through the emergency procedure and has read the policies, you should be able to show it. If they have not, the gap turns up later, usually at a bad time. This guide covers what to cover, how to record it, and how to keep training records that stay useful.
Induction is a record, not an event
A good induction takes an hour or two of someone's time. A good induction record takes two minutes. The record is what you can point to afterwards: a dated entry that says who was inducted, by whom, on what, and that the person acknowledged it. Without it, induction exists only in people's memories.
Make the record part of the induction itself. Fill it in at the end of the session, with the new educator, rather than from memory the next week.
What induction usually covers
Cover what your service actually needs, and be specific about the premises and the children.
- Emergency and evacuation procedures, assembly points and who does what
- Child protection obligations and how to report a concern
- Supervision expectations, including during transitions, excursions and use of outdoor areas
- Medical conditions, action plans and where medication is kept
- Sign-in and sign-out of children, and who may collect them
- Behaviour guidance approach and the service's policies
- Who to call, and the chain of responsibility on shift
Policy sign-off that means something
A signature on a long list of policies on day one proves little. Better to have the educator read the policies that matter most in the first week and sign each separately, with the date, and then sign again when a policy changes. Keep the version number or date of the policy they signed, so you can show which wording they accepted.
Training records beyond induction
After induction, keep a running record for each person. Useful fields are the topic, the date, the provider or trainer, the length, and a copy of any certificate. Where the training has an expiry, record that too.
- Mandatory training, such as first aid and child protection
- Short internal sessions, for example a team meeting on medication
- External courses and professional development
- Quizzes or acknowledgements from online modules, where you use them
Keeping it short enough to maintain
The common failure is a record system so heavy that nobody updates it. Keep the fields few, keep the format the same for everyone, and give the director one place to look. If a record takes more than a couple of minutes to update, it will fall behind within a term.
Where Lighthouse fits
Lighthouse gives each new educator an onboarding list, policies to read and sign off, and training modules the director can assign. Completion is recorded with dates, and the director can see who has not finished. Educators work through it on their phone. The content of your induction is still yours to write, and Lighthouse keeps the record of it being done.
Common questions
How long should an OSHC induction take?
There is no single answer. It depends on the person's experience and the size of the service. What matters is that every item on your own induction list is covered and recorded with a date.