Frequently Asked Questions
Can I book in for a tour?
We offer tours for families if you have been offered a place within the service. We do this to minimise interruptions to our care routines. The office will contact you to book in a tour at a mutually convenient time.
How long will you hold an enrolment booking?
When a position is available that fits your needs, our office team will give you a phone call and send an email through. You will have 48 hours to complete the enrolment with any supporting documentation required. If we do not hear from you within 48 hours, a follow up phone call will be made. However, if we are unable to contact you past this point, we will no longer hold the position.
Enrolment Fee
Once you have completed and returned all your child’s enrolment information, a one-off enrolment fee of $65 will be charged per child. This enrolment fee confirms your booking.
Families that have an existing booking with Wynnum Family Daycare will not be charged our enrolment fee.
Daily Fees
Children at Bay Terrace has two fee rates. These fees are prior to any eligible Childcare Subsidies.
$113 per day
or
$116 per day – inclusive of nappies
All fees are to be paid two weeks in advance.
Payment occurs using the Direct Debit platform iPay. All iPay payments occur on a Wednesday weekly.
Stay-and-play visits
We encourage you to book in for a stay-and-play visit prior to your child’s first day in care. As transitions into a new care environment can be a point of anxiety for both you and your child. By accessing a stay-and-play visit, you can better; get to know the educators, understand the routine, ask any questions you may have, and feel confident for your child’s first day in care.
Please speak with our Service manager to book a stay-and-play visit, which run Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 11:30 am.
What do I need to bring to care?
To avoid any items being lost or misplaced, we strongly encourage you to label everything that is brought in.
- Hat – As children at bay terrace is a sun smart service, we ask that your child comes with a broad-brimmed hat each day (link to Sunsafety procedure). Your child will need to wear their hat each time they go into the playground, even on overcast or winter days.
- Spare clothing – Pack at minimum 2-3 sets of shirts, shorts, underwear, seasonal clothing e.g. jumper, socks.
- Cot Sheets – 1 set of cot sheets inclusive of a bottom and top sheet. As the weather gets cooler, please bring in a small blanket as well. Sheets should arrive in either a draw string bag or a pillowcase. Please do not bring a pillow.
- Lunch or Bento Box – We encourage you to bring in a selection of healthy food for your child to eat throughout the day e.g. fruit, yoghurt, vegetable sticks, cheese and crackers, sandwich. We can heat up leftover food from the night before, please ensure any food items to be reheated are kept separately, in a clearly labelled container.
How can I join the waitlist?
Please complete the ‘waitlist enquiry’ using this link. To find out more about our current vacancies please contact the service directly.
Absences
If your child is absent from their regular booking, please call the service or send an email to advise us. As a part of our child safety policy, we will contact families who do not let us know their child is going to be absent.
Families accessing Childcare Subsidy are entitled to 42 absences per financial year. All absences past the first 42 will only receive CCS if the parent/guardian can provide evidence that the absence has occurred under a permitted circumstance. More information on what permitted circumstances can be found here.
Approved Provider
The approved provider of Children at Bay Terrace is Community Childcare Incorporated (CCI). CCI is managed by a voluntary management committee, which accepts the overall responsibility for the Education and care service. CCI ensures that Children at Bay Terrace continues to meet the needs of the children, families, and the local community.
The management committee is comprised of parents and interested community representatives. Anyone, who has an interest in Children at Bay Terrace, is encouraged to seek nomination to the committee at the Annual General Meeting, held in September each year.
Birthdays
We acknowledge the importance of special occasions such as birthdays. We invite you to celebrate your child’s birthday here at Children at Bay Terrace. Should you wish to do this, please provide cupcakes for all the children in your child’s class to share (with ingredients list). You may wish to provide alternative celebration foods such as ice blocks, fruit platters etc.
If your family has a specific religious or cultural belief, please talk with our educators.
Casual Bookings
We offer casual bookings subject to availability in your child’s classroom. Please contact the office to discuss vacancies.
Change of booked days or Ending an Enrolment
Please contact the office directly regarding any change to your booked days or to cease an enrolment. We require two weeks written notice to reduce days or end an enrolment.
To cancel a casual booking, 24 hour’s notice is required.
Childcare Subsidy
Children at Bay Terrace is eligible to access the Childcare Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Childcare Subsidy (ACCS).
Eligibility Requirements:
To be eligible for CCS the following requirements must be met;
A child must:
- Be a ‘family tax benefit child’ or ‘regular care child’ and
- Be 13 or under and not attending secondary school and
- Meet immunisation requirements
The person claiming the CCS, or their partner, must:
- Meet residency requirements and
- Meet the Child Care Subsidy activity test (or be eligible for an exemption) and
- Be liable to pay for care provided under a Complying Written Arrangement (their written agreement) with their childcare provider
- Childcare must be provided by an approved provider in Australia and not be part of a compulsory education program, for example a school
Childcare Subsidy is paid directly to childcare providers and is used to reduce the cost of fees. Families as a part of the arrangement must pay the difference between their subsidy and the fee charged, this is known as a ‘Gap Fee’.
Additional Child Care Subsidy
ACCS aims to assist families and children facing barriers in accessing affordable childcare, and provide additional fee assistance to families and children who are genuinely disadvantaged including: children at risk of serious abuse or neglect, grandparents on income support who are the principal carer of their grandchildren, families experiencing temporary financial hardship or low income families transitioning to work from income support.
If you believe you meet the requirements for ACCS, please speak with the Service manager who can provide advice on how to access it.
Curriculums and play-based learning outcomes
We use the Early Years Learning Framework and Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines to plan for, document, and support children’s learning and development. Children at Bay Terrace abides by and follow all the outcomes within the National Quality Framework.
We encourage families to discuss their children’s learning and development with our educators.
Collecting your child from care
Only persons registered on your child’s enrolment form will be allowed access to collect them from care. We ask that you provide the names and contact details of any adults that will be dropping off or collecting your child from care. Photo Identification is required for the first collection or drop off for your child, this allows educators to confirm the person collecting is authorised to do so.
If you require an adult who is not currently on your child’s enrolment form to collect, please contact the office directly via email to provide written consent for authorisation.
Excursions and visitors
Our educators and children when possible love to engage with our local community through excursions. Any excursion we host will always be free of charge to families. Places that your child might visit include local schools, library, the esplanade, shops, the waterfront, and creek. For your child to attend an excursion, written permission must be given by a parent or guardian.
Visitors may from time-to-time be invited into the service to share experiences and activities with children. Artistic and musical performances or cultural experiences are just a snapshot of some of events that your child may engage with. Children at Bay Terrace does not pass on the cost of these events to families.
We encourage our families when possible to share their time, ideas, culture, traditions, and experiences with us. Please speak with your child’s educators to organise a time to come in.
Illness and exclusion periods
The nature of group-based care with children does allow for the spread of illnesses and infectious diseases. Children at Bay Terrace takes preventative steps through our hygiene and cleaning procedures to minimise opportunities for illnesses or infectious diseases to spread. If your child is unwell, educators will contact you to collect them as soon as possible.
To help minimise the spread of illness, do not bring your child into the service when they are unwell, or administer any fever-reducing medication prior to their arrival in care. In some cases the service may ask for medical clearance before your child is allowed to return to care.
Inclusive Education
Injuries in care or at home
Children at Bay Terrace will contact parents/guardians or emergency contacts for all significant incidents that occur. You may be asked to collect your child, dependent on the nature of the incident. Educators will continue to monitor and care for your child until they are safety collected.
Incident reports will be completed for you to view and sign acknowledgement of at the end of your child’s day in care. On request a copy can be provided. If your child requires medical treatment outside of immediate First aid, and we are unable to contact a parent/guardian, we will contact your emergency contacts or an ambulance.
Incidents occurring outside of care are frequent with children, we actively encourage families to notify us of injuries sustained outside of care by completing an injury on intake form. The injury on intake form is a part of our child safety policy.
Kindergarten program
Children at Bay Terrace operates a Kindergarten program during School Terms. The Kindergarten is run by our qualified Early Childhood Teachers, whose roles are to support children’s learning and development as they get ready for School. Our Kindergarten operates from 8:30 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday. You can drop off or collect from 6:45 am to 6:00 pm, outside of Kindergarten hours, making our Kindergarten program easier to access for working families.
To be eligible for the Kindergarten program children need to have be 4 years old by June 30 in the year of enrolment.
Kindergarten Funding and Subsidies
The Queensland Government supports the inclusion of eligible children into Kindergarten programs through funding paid by the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme. Children at Bay Terrace claims QKFS to purchase resources, excursions, and improve learning outcomes for all children attending the Kindergarten program. For a child to be eligible to receive ‘Free Kindy’, they must attend a minimum of 15 hours per week for 40 weeks per year.
For families attending Children at Bay Terrace, to access ‘Free Kindy’ your child will need to be enrolled on two booked days of Kindergarten per week.
Medication
Your child on occasion may require medication during their time in care, even though they are well enough to attend. If this occurs, please let your child’s educators know so they can show you where to store the medication and complete a administration of medication form alongside you.
In order for the service to administer medication to your child, the medication must have be prescribed by a doctor, in date, labelled by a pharmacist with your child’s name, as well as the instructions and dosage to be administered.
Photos, videos, and audio recording
During your child’s time in care, educators will take photos, videos and create audio recordings to support documentation and planning. We use this content in the delivery of our education programs and to keep you informed of your child’s time in care. With a seperate consent form, we may ask to use their photo for purposes such as marketing on our website or social media. We take your privacy seriously, all photos, videos and audio recordings remain the exclusive property of the service.
Public Holidays and Service Closures
Children at Bay Terrace is closed on each gazetted public holiday.
Public Holidays – Standard daily fees will apply
The service is closed each gazetted public holiday.
Service Closure – No charge incurred.
Christmas and New Year period (dates will be advised in advance).
Mandated closure (e.g. Natural disaster)
Storypark
Children’s learning, development, growth, achievements, and play will be captured through Storypark. Storypark offers families a digital way to connect with their child’s learning within the service. You will see a range of different kinds of documentation presented through the Storypark platform. We encourage you to spend some time navigating your child’s profile, looking at our planning documents, and commenting or providing feedback on their learning journey. Resulting from your contributions in Storypark, connections can be formed between home and the service.
Students and volunteers
Here at Children at Bay Terrace we pride ourselves on our commitment to providing excellence in teaching and mentoring student educators. We have a partnership with TAFE Queensland and other Registered Training Organisations to support the learning and development of new educators. If a student educator is attending, we will inform families in advance of the days they are here. All students abide by our code of conduct and have current Bluecard registration.
