a. The Education Bureau encourages KGs to raise students’ awareness of self-protection through different means, such as inclusion of teaching topics on understanding the body and protecting self and designing related learning activities. Through story times, morning assemblies, afternoon assemblies, weekly assemblies, class teacher lessons, talks, etc., schools may enhance sex education and organise sex-related preventive and developmental guidance activities to teach students how to protect their bodies, refuse when they feel offended, and seek help from teachers, family members, guidance personnel or relevant organisations when necessary. In offering guidance service, schools are also encouraged to make good use of the learning and teaching resources provided by the Education Bureau, such as sex education animation resources and lesson plans on prevention of sexual assaults, and strengthen related parent education to remind parents of the need to protect their children against sexual assaults.
b. Schools are strongly advised to conduct checks under the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme in their appointment procedures to further safeguard the well-being of children. For details about
the operation of the Scheme, schools may visit the dedicated webpage(https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/11_useful_info/scrc.ht ml) and refer to the relevant circulars/guidelines issued by the Education Bureau.
Chapter 5 Sanitation
5.1 Environmental Hygiene
For all pre-primary institutions
5.1.1 Premises shall be laid on with mains water supply.
5.1.2 Premises shall be provided with a proper drainage system.
5.1.3 Premises shall be provided with adequate ventilation and lighting.
For more detailed guidance on ventilation, please refer to “A Supplement on Ventilation: Guidelines on Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Schools / Kindergartens / Kindergartens-cum-Child Care Centres / Child Care Centres” published by the Department of Health.
(Website:
https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/supplement_on_school_ventilation _eng.pdf)
5.1.4 Premises shall be provided with adequate floor space for children.
5.1.5 Clean the floors/carpets regularly and keep the floor surfaces dry.
5.1.6 Change water in flower vases completely and remove the water in saucers of potted plants at least once a week. Saucers shall not be used as far as practicable.
5.1.7 Keeping pets is not recommended.
5.1.8 Use of household bleach (1:99) for routine disinfection of furniture, equipment and toys.
5.1.9 Change bed sheets, quilt covers, pillow cases, etc. for children weekly.
Keep children’s blankets, quilts and pillows clean at all times to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
5.1.10 Observe the key points on hygiene of children toilets in paragraph 2.3 of Chapter 2.
5.1.11 Clean all parts of the kitchen regularly, including the exhaust fans, dining utensils / cooking appliances and all kitchen equipment.
5.1.12 Water for drinking, cooking and washing must be supplied from the mains or any other approved source.
5.1.13 All garbage receptacles must be kept covered and clean. Dispose of refuse properly.
5.1.14 Sewerage and drainage systems must be inspected and maintained regularly. The systems should be installed in places not accessible to children.
For child care centres
5.1.15 Children’s diapers, potties, bath sinks and diaper-changing benches must be kept clean at all times.
5.1.16 Clean the milk room and the equipment regularly. All bottles, teats and other utensils used for preparing milk and feeding children should be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised in boiling water or by using a chemical solution suitable for feeding utensils. Sterilised utensils should be stored in a clean covered container.
5.2 Personal Hygiene For all pre-primary institutions
5.2.1 To ensure personal hygiene, staff members must strictly observe the following points:
Keep clothes clean;
Always keep nails clean and trimmed;
Hair should be clean and tidily combed. Long hair should be clipped up or covered with a hat when handling food;
Wash hands immediately before cooking / serving food / feeding and after using toilet / when hands are contaminated by excreta, dirty diapers, respiratory secretions, refuse;
Never share personal items such as towels, toothbrushes, combs, etc. with other people; and
Sputum / respiratory secretions / contaminated articles should be properly handled.
5.2.2 Children should be taught and assisted to maintain personal hygiene, such as to wash hands immediately before eating / after using the toilet / touching articles for common use. The points mentioned in paragraph 5.2.1 are also within the scope of children’s learning.
5 . 2 . 3 Staff should observe personal hygiene and instruct the children to maintain respiratory hygiene practices in accordance to the following advice:
Cover both the nose and mouth with a handkerchief or tissue paper when coughing or sneezing.
Wrap up sputum with tissue paper and discard it into garbage bins with lids or flush them away in the toilet.
Wash hands immediately after contacting respiratory secretions or touching objects contaminated with respiratory secretions.
Put on a surgical mask for those with respiratory infection symptoms.
5.2.4 To prevent spreading / transmitting infectious diseases, children and staff must take heed of keeping their hands clean. You should clean hands with soap and water when hands are visibly soiled or likely contaminated with blood or body fluid. When hands are not visibly soiled, clean them with 70-80% alcohol-based handrub as an effective alternative.
The following steps for proper hand hygiene are suggested by the Department of Health:
1. Hand Hygiene with soap and water:
Wet hands under running water;
Apply liquid soap and rub hands together to make a soapy lather;
Away from the running water, rub the palms, back of hands, between fingers, back of fingers, thumbs, finger tips and wrists.
Do this for at least 20 seconds;
Rinse hands thoroughly under running water after rubbing;
Dry hands thoroughly with personal clean cotton or paper towels or under hand dryer; and
The cleaned hands should not directly touch the faucet again.
2. Hand hygiene with alcohol-based handrub:
Apply a palmful of alcohol-based handrub and cover all surfaces of the hands. Rub the palms, back of hands, between fingers, back of fingers, thumbs, finger tips and wrists for at least 20 seconds until the hands are dry.
(As for Section 5.2.4, please refer to Appendix 6 of the Guidelines on Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Schools / Kindergartens / Kindergartens-cum-Child Care Centres/Child Care Centres for details –
https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/recommendations/35/index.html)
5.3 Food Hygiene
For all pre-primary institutions
5.3.1 Hygiene must be maintained when choosing, storing and preparing food. The following golden rules for safe food preparation are suggested by the World Health Organization:
Choose foods processed for safety;
Cook foods thoroughly;
Eat cooked foods immediately;
If not consumed immediately, cooked foods should be stored at safe temperature (keep hot foods at above 60°C and cold foods at or below 4°C);
Reheat stored cooked foods thoroughly;
Separate raw foods and cooked foods;
Wash hands repeatedly;
Keep all kitchen surfaces meticulously clean;
Protect foods from insects, rodents and other animals; and
Use safe water.
Content of this chapter is derived from the “Guidelines on Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Child Care Centres / Kindergartens / Schools” published by the Department of Health.
(Website: https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/recommendations/35/index.html)
The above guidelines provide practical suggestions for the prevention of infectious diseases. In addition to this operation manual, pre-primary institutions should also strictly observe the above guidelines in order to ensure hygiene.
Chapter 6 Nutrition and Diet
6.1 Choice of Food
For all pre-primary institutions
6.1.1 An adequate and balanced diet is essential for the healthy growth of children. A balanced diet should include food that provide protein, fat, dietary fibre, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals and water. The type and quantity of food should be scaled to the age as well as the growth and development of children.
6.1.2 To avoid the health problem caused by being overweight or underweight, children should cultivate good eating habits from an early age. The institution should establish a Healthy Eating Policy to promote the importance of healthy eating to their students, school personnel, catering staff and parents, on a sustainable basis. This is achieved by establishing a healthy eating environment conducive to developing and making a habit of healthy eating in everyday life. Sample of Healthy Eating Policy could be obtained from “Nutrition Guidelines For Children Aged 2 to 6” issued by the Department of Health. (Website:
https://www.startsmart.gov.hk/files/pdf/nutritional_guide_en.pdf) The food provided for children should be based on the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid, with grains as the primary food source, supplemented by a large quantity of vegetables and fruits, a moderate amount of meat, milk and their alternatives and less fat / oil, salt and sugar.
6.1.3 As far as possible, food served to children should be fresh, seasonal, easy
6.1.4 Raw or undercooked foods are high-risk foods that can cause food poisoning and should be avoided by children. All food, especially meat, seafood and eggs, must be thoroughly cooked before serving.
6.1.5 Bony fish and shellfish are not suitable for children.
6.1.6 Avoid feeding honey or foods containing honey (such as sweets) to infants under one year of age to avoid the risk of infant botulism.
6.1.7 Food with damaged packages, beyond expiry date or without proper labeling should not be provided for children.
6.1.8 To minimise choking hazards from foods, young children should avoid foods like konjac (hard) jellies, Lunar New Year puddings, glutinous rice balls, chewing gum, marshmallows, hard or sticky candies, ice cubes, whole nuts and direct consumption of peanut butter and nut spreads without spreading. Please refer to 6.2.11 for preventive measures.
6.1.9 Apart from providing a healthy diet for children with less fat /oil, salt and sugar in the main meals, children should not be given food or drink that are high sugar, high salt, high fat or containing artificial colouring or caffeine as snacks. At the same time, no food reward is allowed.
Main meals should provide grains, vegetables and meat (and its alternatives), and choose food items with less oil, less salt, less sugar and high dietary fibre. Provision of fruit and vegetables should be adequate throughout a day, with vegetables served in every main meal and fruit as snacks. For more information on food choices for children, please refer the “Nutrition Guidelines For Children Aged 2 to 6” issued by the Department of Health (Website:
https://www.startsmart.gov.hk/files/pdf/nutritional_guide_en.pdf).
6.1.10 Infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to foodborne illnesses and associated complications because their immune systems are still developing and cannot fight infections as effectively as adults.
Infants and young children also secrete less stomach acid that kills harmful bacteria, putting them at increased risk of infection from bacteria in food. Therefore, when preparing food, raw or undercooked food should not be chosen. For details, please refer to “Know Your High-risk Foods: Food Safety Advice for Infants and Young Children” issued by the Centre for Food Safety.
(Website:
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/food_leg/files/Infants_young_children_
e.pdf)
6.2 Preparation of Food
For all pre-primary institutions
6.2.1 Low-fat cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, braising, baking, etc. are desirable. Frying and deep-frying are not recommended.
Attention should be given to the texture, colour and taste of food. Visible fat from meat and skin from poultry should be removed before cooking.
6.2.2 Monosodium glutamate, condiments containing sodium and hot and spicy seasoning should be avoided in cooking. Oily, deep-fried, sweetened and strong flavoured food and high fat and high sodium gravy / sauce are not suitable for children. When seasoning and cooking, use more natural and fresh spices and as little salt as possible.
6.2.3 To preserve as much nutrients as possible, vegetables and meat should be washed before chopping. The chopped vegetables and meat should
6.2.4 Raw food such as carrots, lettuces, tomatoes or fruits which are eaten raw must be thoroughly washed and rinsed in cooled boiled water. Fruits should be peeled and cut into pieces shortly before eating.
6.2.5 Vegetables should be cooked as near mealtime as possible. They should be cooked in a small amount of water or a minimum length of time.
6.2.6 Meat should be ground / minced / cubed for children’s easy chewing and digestion.
6.2.7 The correct method of defrosting frozen meat is to put it in a refrigerator of 4°C in temperature.
6.2.8 Utensils which may cause chemical changes to the components of food should not be used.
6.2.9 Cooked food should be covered properly before serving.
6.2.10 To avoid cross-contamination, different utensils should be used for handling raw and cooked food, such as using different chopping boards and knives to cut raw and cooked meat. Raw and cooked food should also be stored in different compartments of the refrigerator. Cooked food should be stored in the upper compartments and raw food in the lower compartments.
6.2.11 Measures can be taken to reduce the choking risk of certain foods consumed by young children: cut hard vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, etc.) into narrow sticks and large or firm fruits (melons, apples, etc.) into slices. Soften them by cooking or mashing for younger children. Peel the skins of fruits and vegetables. Cut small fruits (grapes, cherries, berries, cherry tomatoes, etc.) into small quarters. Check for fragments of pips or stones when preparing fruits. For sausages, remove the skin and slice them thinly. Cut breads into thin strips.
6.2.12 The menu should be prepared in advance in accordance with the standards set out in the Dietary Scales approved by the Director of Social Welfare / Permanent Secretary for Education and should be made available at all times for inspection. There should be a wide variety in the combination of food and the menu should also be changed from time to time.
(Refer to Regulation 35 of the Child Care Services Regulations and Regulation 46A of the Education Regulations)
6.2.13 If it is not appropriate for a child to eat certain kinds of food because of health or religious reasons, the institutions and the parents should discuss and make alternative arrangements for him / her.
6.2.14 Children should be taught good table manners and good eating habits.
6.2.15 Sufficient time should be given to children during mealtime to enable them to have a chance to get together with other children and to enjoy one another’s company in eating.
6.2.16 To ensure that children develop healthy living habits, meals should be taken at the regular time. Meals of full-day institutions should include lunch, morning and afternoon snacks. Provision of breakfast will depend on the type of service offered by the institutions. Meals and snacks may also be prepared at home by parents. For children in residential child care centres, there should be 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) a day with morning and afternoon snacks in between.
6.2.17 When preparing milk dairy products for children, child care workers should take note of the following:
Before preparing a milk feed, child care workers should perform
sealed container into a tub of warm water below 40°C (Test the temperature of the milk using the back of your hand. If it feels warm, then the temperature is right). Please refer to Chapter 5 of the “Love, Starts from Breastfeeding...” of the Department of Health for more information about the storage and feeding of expressed breastmilk at http://s.fhs.gov.hk/x4fy1.
Infant formula feeds should be properly prepared and handled to ensure it is safe for infants. “Guide to Bottle Feeding; How to prepare infant formula and feed your baby safely” issued by the Department of Health lists the procedure for preparing milk feeding from infant formula safely, storing a prepared feed, rewarming a feed, and cleaning and sterilization of the feeding bottles and teats. (http://s.fhs.gov.hk/6tt2k).
6.2.18 The health standard concerning the choice, preparation and storage of food as set out in the “Guidelines on prevention of communicable diseases in schools / kindergartens / kindergartens-cum-child care centres / child care centres” issued by the Department of Health should be complied with.
(Website:https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/recommendations/35/index.html)
6.3 Dietary Requirements
For all pre-primary institutions
Children grow at different rates. Therefore, the same standard should not be used to determine the daily consumption of all children.
6.3.1 From birth to 6 months old
Food Items Amount / day
Milk (*Breast milk / Infant Formula)
60 ml each time and 6-8 times / day at birth
to
180-240 ml each time and 4 -5 times / day at 6 months
The amount of milk needed daily varies among babies. Babies will adjust the amount of milk they take to meet their growth and body needs.
The feeding should be guided by baby’s feeding cues. “Guide to Bottle Feeding; How to prepare infant formula and feed your baby safely” issued by the Department of Health set out how to feed the baby with bottles.
(Website: http://s.fhs.gov.hk/6tt2k) Depending on individual needs, nutrients supplement may be given to babies according to instructions of pediatrician / registered dietitian.
* To optimise nutrition and health, the Department of Health
6.3.2 6 months to 1 year old
Generally, babies about 6 months of age are physiologically and developmentally ready for solid food. Oil can be added when cooking solid food for infants but sugar and salt should not be added to the solid food.
Children differ in adapting eating solid foods. The amount and frequency of milk feeding will gradually be reduced upon the adaptation to eating solid foods. Food choice, preparation of solid food and feeding infants during 6 to 12 months are set out in the health education booklets on Healthy eating for 6 to 24 month old children (1) Getting started and (2) Moving on, and the 7-day healthy meal planning guide issued by Department of Health.
http://s.fhs.gov.hk/22xa3 http://s.fhs.gov.hk/hfttt http://s.fhs.gov.hk/z4fbs
Food Items Amount / day Milk (*Breast milk / Infant
Formula)
210-240 ml each time and 3-4 times / day
The amount of milk needed daily varies among babies. The amount and frequency of milk feeding will gradually be reduced upon the adaptation to eating solid foods.
Cereal (rice or oat) / congee / thick congee
1-2 times / day at 1 teaspoon each time and gradually increase to 3/4 medium size bowl each time
Start with cereal. If baby tolerates well, to replace cereal by congee and to increase the thickness of congee gradually.
Mashed fruit / minced fruit 1-2 tablespoons to half piece of fruit
Minced meat (chicken, pork, fish, beef)
OR Egg
OR
Dry beans or soy products. e.g. tofu
1-2 times / day
½ teaspoon each time, gradually increase to 1 tablespoon minced meat / egg yolk / whole egg (1 tablespoon =1 egg yolk = ½ whole egg approximately)
Mashed / minced vegetables 1-2 times / day
Depending on individual needs, nutrients supplement may be given to babies according to instructions of pediatrician / registered dietitian.
Milk products, eggs, peanuts, fish, shellfish, nuts, wheat (e.g. bread, biscuits), pulses are common food allergens. Adults should observe babies for any allergic reaction after giving these foods to infants.
* To optimise nutrition and health, the Department of Health recommends babies should be breastfed exclusively in the first 6 months, and continue breastfeeding until 2 years old or beyond.
Solid food should be introduced gradually at around 6 months old to cater to their nutritional needs.
6.3.3 1 to 6 years old
Children can continue taking breastmilk after 1 year old.
Recommendation on healthy eating and meal planning for 12 to 24 month old children is set out in the booklet Healthy Eating for 6 to 24 month old children (3) Ready to go (12-24 months) and the 7-day healthy meal planning guide issued by Department of Health.
http://s.fhs.gov.hk/o4d67 http://s.fhs.gov.hk/z4fbs
Food Items Amount / day
1-2 years 2-4 years 4-6 years Grains (Rice / Noodle / Rice
noodle / Spaghetti / Macaroni / Oatmeal / Bread)
(avoid bread with excessive sugar and fat)
Examples of 1 serving of grains
bowl / 1 tablespoon of cooked rice
bowl of cooked macaroni
bowl of congee
slice of bread (without crust)
1-2 medium size bowl
8-12 servings (1½-2 ½ medium size
bowl)
12-15 servings
(2½-3 medium size bowl)
Fruits (orange, tangerine, apple, pear, banana, etc.)
Examples of 1 serving of fruits
2 pieces of small-sized fruit (e.g. kiwi, prune)
1 piece of medium-sized fruit (e.g.
orange, apple, pear)
piece of large-sized fruit (e.g. banana, grapefruit, dragon fruit)
1 tablespoon of dried fruit without added sugar and salt
glass (180ml) of pure fruit juice*
½-1 piece or 1/4 to 1/2
medium size bowl
At least 1 serving
At least 2 servings
Vegetables (Choi Sum, spinach, Pak Choi, runner bean, bean sprouts, winter melon, hairy melon, carrots, cauliflower, tientsin cabbage, etc.)
Examples of 1 serving of vegetables
1 bowl of uncooked vegetables
bowl of cooked vegetables
2-4 tael (80-160g)
At least 1½ servings
At least 2 servings
Meat, fish, egg and alternatives (chicken, pork, fish, beef, eggs)
Examples of 1 serving of meat
30g of cooked meat (size of a table tennis ball)
1 medium-sized egg
1 piece of silky tofu
1-2 tael (40-80g)
1½- 2 servings
2 -3 servings
Milk and alternatives (cow’s milk / reconstituted milk / # calcium added soya milk) / other dairy products
Examples of 1 serving of milk
2 cups of milk (360 -480
ml)
Approx. 2 servings
Approx. 2 servings