We thank you for your patience in waiting for an offer to join our wonderful service and community. Enrolments for 2018 is proving to be another challenging process as we endeavour to meet the growing community need for excellent education and care which also reflects the increase demand of new families opting to be on our waitlist in addition to the re-enrolled families including new siblings.
Generally, what enrolments are accepted?
Enrolments will be accepted providing:
- Family is on the wait list
- The maximum daily attendance does not exceed the licensed capacity of the service
- A vacancy is available
- Child ratios for groups are maintained
- Priority of access guidelines are met, as set by DEEWR
When a family has indicated their interest in enrolling their child into Kids Cottage the following will occur:
- A tour of Kids Cottage will be organised and conducted once a position is available. During this tour, the Approved Provider/Nominated Supervisor/Educator conducting the tour will give the family information about the service including, but not limited to, philosophy, programming ethos, meals, incursions, excursions, inclusion, fees, policies, our status as a Sun Smart Service and the responsibility our service has to ensure Sun Safe practices, Regulations for our state and the Assessment and Rating process under the National Quality Standards, signing in and out procedure, the National Quality Framework, room routines, Educator and other educator/staff qualifications, introduction of Educators/Staff in the room the child will be starting in and Educator/staff and parent communication. Families are also invited to ask any questions or raise any concerns they may have.
- Families are emailed the Service’s Family/Guardian Policy Handbook to read, and are invited to ask questions and provide feedback or suggestions.
- Discussions are held between office staff and families regarding availability of days, a start date and tailoring an orientation process to suit the needs of the family and child.
- Families are informed of the Priority of Access Policy, and have their position assessed as to how they place within this system. Any matters that are sensitive of nature, such as discussing a child’s medical needs or Court Orders, will be discussed privately with the Approved Provider/ Nominated Supervisor at this time.
- Provided families are satisfied a bond payment is required to secure the position and proceed with the formal enrolment including enrolment forms
- We request families begin to fill out enrolment forms, and provide us with background information so we can accommodate their needs in Kids Cottage from the first day of their enrolment.
- Should a child speak English as a second language, we request that families provide us with some key words in the language the child speaks at this time so Educators/Staff can assist in meeting the child’s needs.
- Families also need to contact the Family Assistance Office (Centrelink) to have their eligibility for Child Care Benefit assessed. If these details are available, we will complete the child’s formal enrolment. Should a family still need to access this information, we will complete an informal enrolment until these details are finalised.
- As per our Child Orientation Policy, families will be invited to bring their child into Kids Cottage at a time that suits them so the child and family can familiarise themselves with the environment.
- Before the child begins their first day with us, Kids Cottage must have all required documentation for the child. The child will not be accepted into the service without this being completed.
I wasn’t offered a position. What next?
Its important to understand that if families are not on the waitlist or do not continue to remain on the waitlist they will not be considered and will miss out on an offer. However, we also understand that families may wish to view the service before they would like to apply on our waitlist. Families may have also missed out on an offer but would like to continue on our waitlist. We acknowledge all families should also have the opportunity to view the service before an offer is made but we hope families can understand and appreciate showing every family expressing an interest for a tour while also managing services striving for excellence particularly when not arranged does make it humanly impossible to achieve and can be disruptive to the service. In addition to staying on the waitlist, Kids Cottage offers three major tour dates through the year for each services.