Starting at Young Scholars

What should your child bring?

• A back pack or a bag large enough to hold their own belongings and any craft they are to take home.
• Bottles with formula made up.
• At least two (2) sets of complete clothing – one summer set and one winter set.
• Security blankets and favourite soft toys to rest with. These are encouraged for the child’s comfort and should be clearly labelled.
• Clothes that they can easily be manipulated by the children themselves. (e.g. overalls and belts can be tricky for children to manipulate.)
• A wide-brimmed sun hat. (Baseball caps are not recommended by the Cancer Council.)

Arrival & Departure of Children

Please ensure that you bring your child to their allocated room. Under no circumstances will we receive children from the front gate or the carpark. Not only can this be unsafe, but also a bewildering experience for young children. Please ensure that a staff member knows that your child has arrived and has accepted them for care for that day (i.e. After you have signed your child in, walk them over to an activity and settle them before leaving.) Once again, when collecting your child, please sign your child out immediately before conversing with the staff or with other parents.

In order for families to receive the Child Care Benefit and adhere to the Centre’s policies, all parents must complete the attendance register situated in the foyer of each Centre. You are required to note the time of arrival and departure. You then sign in the allocated positions.

If your child is being collected by another adult, they must be named on your child’s enrolment form as having authorisation to do so. If they are not mentioned on this form we require you to complete a permission note nominating them to collect your child on the day. Without this, we are, by law, not allowed to release your child.

We are not permitted to allow your child to leave the Centre with anyone under the age of 18, nor with someone who is unknown to us.

Meal times

All meals that are provided throughout the day by Young Scholars Early Learning and Childcare Centres are of a high quality and prepared by a qualified food handler in order to meet the daily nutritional requirements of all attending children.

Please ensure that you inform us of any special diets, food allergies or religious requirements your child may have so that we can cater for these. Parents will need to supply adequate certification/information from a qualified physician pertaining to the specific diet and/or allergies.

We encourage parents to take time to feed their children breakfast at home as it is a very important part of the child’s day and the only meal that Young Scholars Early Learning and Childcare Centres do not supply.

Morning and afternoon tea offers children a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, toasted melts, as well as a selection of water or milk. Weekly menus are displayed outside the kitchen and are rotated on a five-weekly cycle. We welcome your input for different recipes or cultural meals.

Lunch often consists of a variety of cooked meals and a cool drink. As much as possible, we attempt to cater for individual likes and dislikes whilst incorporating a multicultural aspect.

Late afternoon tea is provided for those children whose parents are working and collected late in the day.

Health & Safety

In the case of serious illness or accident, staff will attempt to contact the parent immediately. Please ensure that the telephone contact you have given is correct. If emergency treatment is required an ambulance will be arranged without delay.

It is essential that all parents sign the authority for staff to seek treatment at a hospital or call a doctor and/or ambulance so that emergency treatment may be commenced.

The staff keep a record of any accidents which occur at the centre, and will inform you if your child has hurt him/herself.

Parent Involvement

We have a parent involvement policy which encourages families to become involved in the centre by:

• Making suggestions for activities
• advising about events that are culturally significant to your family
• completing feedback sheets/surveys to let us know what you think about the service
• sharing and discussing with children any special interests or skills
• contributing to the review of our policies
• donating goods such as craft items, dress-up clothes, pre-loved games etc