Opening Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 5:30pm
The routine is just a guideline, teachers will make adjustments from time to time to best suit what is happening that day and what is best for the children. Teachers will keep with infant’s routines and requirements as stated by parents.
All children settle into a new centre at their own pace. Some children need a little more time than others to familiarise themselves with the new environment. We recommend that children are settled in gradually. The parent is welcome to stay with the child for as long as they need. The child is welcome to stay for a visit as short as 10 minutes or as long as a couple of hours. During the settling process we will try to introduce your child to certain parts of the day’s routine, for example sleep times if required and meal times. Staff will let you know the best time to come.
Children enrolled will have a portfolio book which is kept in your child’s room. The Stories and Learning the teachers document about your child gets printed and goes into this profile for you to read. When your child leaves the centre, the profile book goes with you. Your child will also have an online portfolio. This is a private online portfolio. As teachers write about your child, they upload Stories and Learning to your child’s portfolio and an email gets sent to you to let you know something new has been uploaded. You can invite family members to be a part of this profile as well. You then can write comments, share photos and have direct input into your child’s learning and goals.
We provide meals and snacks for children while they are in our care. All food, for children aged over one year, is catered. The weekly menu is displayed in the foyer. Children under 12 months may need to provide their own meals.
Food Allergies – Children with food allergies will be catered for to the best of our ability. Please talk to the Team Leader / Management on enrollment to establish what needs to happen to best cater for your child’s allergy.
If your child is under one year, and you are supplying their meals please ensure all containers and bottles are clearly named. You can place these in the fridge in the Earth room. If you have any further questions regarding bottles please feel free to ask any of the teachers.
Sunscreen will be applied during Term 1 and 4 at $10 per term. This will be added to your child's account.
You will need to provide nappies for your own child.
All children will receive up to 5 days sick leave at no charge, any days above this will be charged at full rate, please ensure that you ring the centre before 8.00 am on the day. A 100% retainer fee will be charged to your account if you fail to do so.
Please ensure that you clearly name all of your child’s belongings. We try to encourage children to take responsibility for their own belongings and encourage them to put things away in their bags. But this is not guaranteed to work all the time and items then become lost. If they are named staff will return the items to the correct owner. Any unnamed items will go in to our lost property, which will be emptied on the last day of every month - all unnamed contents will go to the Salvation Army.
We want you to be involved in your child’s learning. You are welcome to visit anytime, join in our daily activities, look over the programme planning and talk with our teachers about your child’s development and current interests.
Educa online – Other than conversations, Educa is our most common way of communicating with you. We post photos, videos and learning stories to Educa often. You can download the app “Educa Touch” on your smart phone for daily updates from us or, click on the link we send you to your given email address. You can share this link with your own family all over the world and comments can be written as you see the post, thereby creating a conversation between you, family and us. This is a great way to share the goals and aspirations you might have for your child as well. It is all private and is a secure site.
Newsletters / notice boards - These are located in each room, please read any notices and check pockets regularly as this is where important centre information, notifications and changes of procedure will be displayed.
Portfolios – As we write learning stories about your child, we post them onto your child’s Educa profile so only you (and those you have shared the link with) can see them and comment on them. We then print these off and keep a hard copy folder in the room for your child to see, and for you take away with you when your child leaves the centre. You are welcome to view, discuss and contribute to your child’s portfolio at any time. We value your input and any contributions you make.
Facebook – We have a public Facebook page which you can join. Look up Grasshoppers Early Learning Centre and request to join the page. We post regular updates on the Facebook page about things of interest.
Parent / teacher events – These provide an opportunity for parents to come into the centre and discuss their child’s progress, the direction of current interests and meet other parents and families.
Reviews and consultation – Once a year our policies and procedures come up for review. You will be alerted about any changes and given the opportunity to contribute and discuss these changes. You may also consult with us at any stage if you have concerns about our policies and procedures or aspects of centre operation. Please refer to our communication and consultation policy.
