Frequently asked questions
What makes this centre better than others?
We have qualified and experienced staff. Our philosophy is based on that of early education, and not babysitting or 'child-minding'. Any profits made are put back into the centre, to provide better resources, so that the staff can provide high quality programs to enhance the children's development. We don't exceed the permitted staff/child ratios.
Your child can commence with us in the Babies group, which is based on 'developmental' programs, and progress through the centre to our pre-school. Each year our 'Early Educational' programs provide stimulating and challenging activities to allow each child to develop their own interests, and to be the 'best that they can be' in a non-competitive environment.
When they go to one of our local Primary school, we have our Centre buses to drop off the children in the mornings and collect them in the afternoons. We provide fully supervised and caring programs consisting a variety of physical, social and mentally stimulating activities each day. This allows your child to make friends at an early age and not necessarily from the same school, and continue those friendships for time to come.
Our 'schoolies' staff are all qualified, and experienced with this age of children.
When do children move to other rooms?
They progress when they are developmentally ready in all areas, so there is often an overlap of age groups in each classroom.
As we have strict limits of maximum numbers of children in each classroom, sometimes moving up is also limited to spaces being available in the next level room.
Do you have a big turn over of staff?
No - we are very lucky in this regard. While the Childcare industry has a record of very high turnover and burnout, we have some staff that have been with us since the centre first opened, and generally the only reasons staff leave are for personal reasons, such as travel, full-time study, and of course, pregnancy.
Many staff have returned after their confinement, and knowing the industry as well as they do, are confident to have their children within our Centre. We even have the children of staff of other childcare centres attend our Centre!
We try to give our staff a happy, safe environment in which to work. We are proud to say they rarely want to leave. As we also employ qualified, stable and mature staff, we feel that this minimizes the staff turnover. We are also proud to say that because of our reputation within the industry, we have a 'waiting list' of childcare staff wishing to find employment within our Centre.
Are all of your staff qualified?
Our staff are all qualified in Early Education, or are in the process of studying. All our 'early educators' hold their Early Childhood Diplomas, and several hold their Degrees in Early Childhood teaching.
In our Pre-School & Prep Year classes, BOTH teachers in each room are also fully qualified Early Education teachers.
How many children are you licensed for?
Centre 1 - 75 children ;
Centre 2 – 71 children;
Centre 3 – 50 children.
What is the adult/ child ratio in each group?
Pre-Kindy 1:5
Junior Kindy 1:5
Kindy 1: 11
Pre-school 1:11
In our Kindy, Pre-school, & Prep Year classes, we work on having at least 2 teachers in these rooms, and often have 3 teachers at the same time, when we are doing intensive activities, or activities where the children will benefit from having a higher staff/children ratio. By having a higher ratio, we are able to immediately give a child in need, one-on-one support.
Do you have visitors to the centre, or excursions?
The children go out on excursion when they seek extra support for their learning and interests. Parent permissions are always sort before we venture out of the Centre.
We also bring a lot of various visitors into the Centre periodically to ensure everyone can enjoy and learn from the educational shows or experiences.
Are parents allowed to visit/play?
We have an 'open door' policy, so family members are always welcome to stay for a while. We encourage parents to attend 'special activities' and excursions with their children and their friends.
Parents meetings are held regularly, and parent/teacher interviews are conducted periodically, or whenever the parent or teacher wish.
What strategies do you use to manage children`s behaviour?
We use positive reinforcement within our centre always trying to focus on appropriate behaviours rather then negative ones.
We use redirection to avoid negative situations and use lots of open communication with parents, to deal with repeated behaviours.
