Once your child has been offered a placement with our service, you will need to complete and return our Enrolment Forms which include a Consent Form, Child & Family Profile And Direct Debit Request Form. You will also need to provide us with a copy of their Birth Certificate and a recent copy of their Immunisation Record together with any additional information in relation to any allergy or medical conditions your child may have. If your child has any allergies, asthma or other medical conditions, you will need to provide us with an Asthma, Allergy or Medical Management Plan.

A Non-Refundable Enrolment Fee of $200 is due and payable at least two (2) weeks prior to your child commencing their Enrolment with us. This will secure your child’s placement with us and also go towards your child’s hats, sheets and Journey Record Book.

We believe that developing open, honest and collaborative partnerships between families, educators and management is essential to providing quality care and education to young children. On Enrolment, you are agreeing that you have read and understood our Centre Philosophy, agree to be bound by our Policy and Procedures and that you are excited to join our family and develop a collaborative partnership with us. We pride ourselves on our relationships with children and their families, and are looking forward to developing this partnership with you.

Your child must be signed in and out of the centre every day that your child attends using our ipad sign in and out facility & procedures. This is a legal requirement that we must follow. These records are used in case of emergencies and for the calculation of any Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

More information can be found in our Sign In & Sign Out Policy & Procedure and our Delivery and Collection of Children Policy.

Access to the centre is restricted and only persons who have registered for access will be able to freely enter the facility. You and any family members can be provided with access during the Enrolment Process or once your child starts care with us.

No child will be released into the care of any persons not known to team members. If team members do not know the person coming to collect your child by appearance, the person collecting your child must be able to produce some form of photo identification to prove that they are a person authorised to collect your child (Authorised Nominee) and that they are noted on your child’s enrolment form or we have received further written correspondence in this regard.

There is ample parking provided on site. All families must enter in through the vehicular entry gate on arrival at the centre and park as close as possible to the front entrance. Please attempt to use the path located in the front of the car spaces as much as possible. This is for the safety of our families and staff.

Please ensure when existing by vehicle, that you use the vehicular exit gate and turn right when driving back onto Mentone Avenue.

Introducing your child to care can be an emotional time. There is likely to be some tearful goodbyes in the early days however understand that this is normal and that there are many ways to assist your child with this transition.

Providing an environment that meets the needs of your child is crucial which is why you will find that our educators will ask you about your child’s interests and personality to understand your child’s individual needs. Our educators play an active role in gathering information from you and your family to assist in creating a smooth transition between home and Sky Tree.

Communication between families, children and educators is crucial in helping our families to adjust. It is understood by Families that there is a shared responsibility to engage in honest, open and free conversation. Please see our Code of Conduct (Families) for more information.

We encourage families to participate in our programs where they can, allowing them an insight into their child’s day as well as seizing the opportunity to demonstrate to your child that you are also settling in.

You are welcome to contact us through various means including by telephone, text messages, email correspondence, through Storypark (our online collaboration platform), through room communication books, through your child’s Journey Record Books and of course through face to face discussions.

Our Nominated Supervisors are hands on and will be passing through rooms throughout the day assisting children and educators in an attempt to provide higher quality individualised care. Your chlid’s educator/s may not be available during the full course of your child’s day while they are in care but a Nominated Supervisor / Responsible Person will be available to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Our families are welcome to pop in during the day, to telephone or message us to check in on their child’s progress and to see how they are settling in. We will also send you regular updates by text messages and through our online platform ‘Storypark’, to let you know how your child is going.

You will need to bring your child into our care in clothes which offer sun protection, are comfortable for both indoor and outdoor experience and which are easy to clean. We do have natural play yards and children enjoy sensory play so please be mindful that their clothes may become dirty and possibly stained.

Please ensure that your child wears weather appropriate clothing and comes to Sky Tree with a spare set of clothes packed for unexpected changes in weather. You must not bring your child in clothing which can cause a hazard when climbing, running or jumping.

If your child is toilet training, please provide pants which will come off easily so they can grow confidence and we can support their independence. Please see our Child Safe Environment Policy, Clothing and Comfort Policy and Sun Protection Policy for additional information.

Sun Protection of your child is a shared responsibility. You are required to bring your child to Sky Tree in clothing which provides adequate sun protection (e.g. no singlets or mesh shirts, etc). Our educators take care to protect children and themselves from direct exposure to the sun. Children are extremely vulnerable to sunburn which can increase their chances of skin cancer by almost 50%.

Our centre abides by regulations in relation to the amount of natural shade available in our playgrounds. You will notice that much of the play space available has been designed to take advantage of the natural shade from our building. We will supply sunscreen and our educators will put sunscreen on your child when they are playing outside. If you would like your child to use an alternative sunscreen other than the Cancer Council of Australia Sunscreen which is provided by our service, please bring in your preferred sunscreen to Sky Tree and hand it to your child’s educator with a pharmacy supplied label with your child’s name on it.

Please see our Clothing & Comfort Policy and Sun Protection Policy for additional information in relation to sun safety.

Children in our care are offered nutritional meals and encouraged only to drink water throughout the day. You will need to bring your child’s water bottle to Sky Tree each day and collect it at the end of the day to be thoroughly washed at home. We will refill your child’s water bottle throughout their day with tap water.

We provide three meals daily, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. All meals are prepared by us and meet the nutritional needs of children. Please assist us in meeting the nutritional needs of your child by collaborating with us and providing us with examples of healthy foods your child enjoys. Please see our Healthy Eating Policy for more information.

Each room has its own individual and unique routines to cater for the ages and development stages of children in that room.

On enrolment, you will receive a Welcome to the Family Pack designed to provide you with information about your child’s room, your child’s educators, programming and room routines.

Routines are arranged around the needs of children and families which is why even as early as your initial tour or on enrolment, we ask you about your child’s routine and about your family.

We provide opportunities for children to explore both indoor and outdoor environments through natural and built environments, activities and resources, and to have access to a range of spontaneous and intentional teaching throughout their day. Children’s language and literacy skills are developed through time spent together storytelling, participating in games and drama, listening, singing and dancing to music and exercising their minds and bodies.

Our environments are designed to allow children to enjoy quiet spaces or active play. Educators provide a range of active and restful activities to support children in making decisions about their participation. They care for all aspects of children’s learning including physical, social, emotional, personal, spiritual, creative. Cognitive and linguistic learning.

Please see our Program & Planning Policy for additional information.

As your child grows and develops, so will their needs, interests and abilities. To cater for this, your child will gradually transition to the next room. We cater to children’s needs and offer options to transition children to meet those needs.

The transition is done in consultations with children, families and your child’s educators, to ensure that after careful assessment, your child is ready and comfortable with taking the next step.

Short visits to play in the next room will take place to increase your child’s confidence in moving up to the next room and to help support a smooth transition. Educators will conduct activities as a group with children and educators of the next room to support your child making additional friendships with children and educators of the next room before they have formally moved up. Our educators remain flexible to allow children to come back to their room if they begin to feel uncomfortable at any point during their day. We remain flexible as after all, we want each child to feel like Sky Tree is a second home and be confident and comfortable.

Please see our Program & Planning Policy for additional information.

Our programming is designed around each child’s individual interests, strengths and abilities. We will provide you with a Quarterly Programming Plan each quarter which aims to set goals for children, families and educators in relation to intentional teaching aspects which educators aim to cover over the course of the ensuing 3 months. These are flexible and we invite all children, families, educators and the community to provide input into our programs. The Quarterly Programming Plan also aims to cover all five learning areas of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) which governs our education and care programs for children from 0 – 4 years of age. Our programming is also guided by the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines (QKLG) for our pre-prep children (4 – 5 years of age) and My Time My Place for our vacation care programs.

A Weekly Program Plan which sets out the intentional teaching aspects of the program, is also shared with you via Storypark. It is displayed next to your child’s Quarterly Program Plan in their room. You are welcome to add input via email, face to face discussions, directly onto the programming plans, or by telephone or email. We welcome all and any input you may be able to offer in relation to your child’s care, learning and development.

You will also receive daily Learning Stories through Storypark where you will be able to view and comment on your child’s day. Again, please feel free to use this platform to communicate directly with our educators or to the group. Please see our Program & Planning Policy for additional information.

We are committed to child protection and value the diversity of all children within our service, regardless of gender, ethnicity, cultural background, socio-economic status, strengths, weaknesses and abilities. As such, our programs and service provide environments which are safe and inclusive, providing children with opportunities to develop an understanding and embrace their differences and similarities. Please see our Child Safe Environment Policy.

Bumps, minor cuts and bruises is part of early childhood and exploration and is a means of children learning limits however these need to be done in a safe environment.

Our educators take a proactive approach to the safety of your child and aim to minimise risk of injury by conducting risk assessments. Effective supervision strategies are implemented to ensure that each child can feel safe and free to explore their environment.

Our educators hold First Aid and CPR qualifications to be able to assist in the event that an accident should occur. Should an accident occur, educators will immediately commence first aid / CPR and you will be contacted to collect your child, or in emergency situations, advised of the plan of action regarding further medical treatment.

If you or your Authorised Nominee/s cannot be contacted, the Nominated Supervisor at Sky Tree will provide the ambulance officers with information regarding your child and a team member will accompany your child to the holidays and stay until you arrive. Please see our Accident & Incident Policy for more information.

Please see our Incident, Injury, Trauma & Administration of First Aid Policy for additional information.

All children and families attending our centre are encouraged to activity practice good personal hygiene at the service. We have gone to the extent of providing water saving automatic sensor taps and disposable paper towels in all children’s bathrooms to assist in reducing instances of illness at Sky Tree.

If your child is ill, you are required to keep your child home for at least 24 hours after last general signs of illness or for any extended exclusion periods which may be set as prescribed by Staying Healthy in Childcare. For example, if your child has a temperature at 4pm on a Monday, your child will be excluded from care at least until 4pm on the Tuesday. Temperature, vomiting, diarrhoea, chesty coughs and green runny noses are all symptoms requiring exclusion from care.

If your child presents at the centre with signs of an illness, an educator or our Nominated Supervisor may advise you that you will need to collect your child. Your child will be able to return once the exclusion period in relation to any sickness has ended. You may be asked to provide a medical clearance letter from a medical practitioner before your child can return to care.

You will be charged full daily fees for any days your child is away sick / ill in order to retain your child’s booking. Please see our Hand Hygiene Policy, Hygiene and Infection Control Policy, Immunisation and Health Related Exclusions Policy, Illness Policy for more information.

Occasional days may become available from time to time which families can access if they need a few extra days here and there to suit their family requirements.

When any occasional days become available, they will be offered to existing families seeking additional days as priority, prior to being offered to new families wishing to join the centre. Families are welcome to contact us to enquire if there are any occasional days available. We aim to do our best to accommodate families but we can but kindly ask that you appreciate that we are bound by child-educator ratios and may not be able to accommodate you and your child’s needs for additional / occasional days. Please see our Enrolment & Orientation Policy for additional information.

If you are planning holidays, you will need to notify us at least 2 weeks in advance in order to claim a 50% discount in daily fees payable during the time you are away. You are entitled to up to 4 week’s annual leave / holidays each year with a 50% discount.

All children’s booked days including public holidays are charged at the full day rate in order to retain your booking. Please see our Enrolment & Orientation Policy and Payment of Fees Policy for additional information.

If your child has not been collected by closing time, we will contact you or any Authorised Nominees stated on your child’s Enrolment Form. If your child has not been collected 30 minutes after closing time and we have been unable to contact you or any of your Authorised Nominees, we will contact the police and call the Department of Human Services Child Protection Services on 131 278.

Additional fees will be charged at $15 for the first 15 minutes and $30 thereafter for each additional 15 minute period or part thereof for a child that remains in the centre after the centre closing time. Additional information can be found in our Delivery and Collection of Children Policy and our Payment of Fees Policy for additional information.

All families must pay their fees weekly in advance through direct debit as we do not accept cash at our service. Please note that any overdue fees that remain unpaid will mean that your child will no longer be able to receive care at our service. Please see our Payment of Fees Policy for more information. Please see our Payment of Fees Policy for additional information.

All Educators at our service regularly attend professional development in relation to child safety and inclusion. All educators are mandatory reports if they suspect a child may be subject to abuse or neglect.

The Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women is the Queensland Government's lead agency for child safety and adoption services. They focus on safety, belonging and wellbeing and support the delivery of services to build families’ capacity to care for and nurture their children.

For more information or any concerns, please contact us and speak with one of our directors or nominated supervisor - we are more then happy to help!