What to Bring?

To make preparing for Fit Kidz as trouble free as possible, we provide virtually everything to meet your child’s daily needs, including all meals, disposable nappies, sheets, sunscreen and so on. The only request is that you pack a spare set of clothes and a sunhat into a bag for your child.

Hours of Operation

Our Centre is open from 7:00am – 6:30pm, Monday to Friday, 52 weeks a year. The Centre is closed on all declared public holidays.

We ask parents to collect their children by 6:25 pm, which allows for a smooth transition for children, and time for staff and parents to liaise about their child’s day before closing at 6.30 pm.

Parent Communication

At Fit Kidz, we understand that it can be stressful for parents to have to leave their children with new faces, especially in the early stages. For this reason, we have a very strong emphasis on communicating with our parents, and whilst we would ALWAYS welcome the opportunity to talk with you personally, we also employ several different methods to ensure that we are always available to you, and that you and we are always well informed.

• STORY PARK – Our custom software platform which makes our learning and development documentation and collaboration with families better, easier, and more enjoyable than anything we’ve done before.
• PHONE – Fit Kidz is equipped with a highly sophisticated phone system with voicemail in each room, and the ability to call any individual phone directly from outside the Centre. We encourage you to call at any time to discuss your child’s day.
• EMAIL – Each and every Team member at Fit Kidz has their own individual email address. Our email system is heavily used internally by management and staff, and we encourage parents to communicate with us via email if they choose to. Please ask us for an email list or simply request the address for the Team member/s you want to email.

Parent Feedback

The Centre prides itself on our Open Door Policy. This is not a cliché that we write for your peace of mind, we actually enjoy and encourage your involvement, and actively seek feedback and suggestions from families. The more engaged you are with us, the better the service we can provide for your family.

In all areas of our business, we have a policy of striving for continuous improvement. Whilst we justifiably feel that we already offer the highest standard of care in our industry, we welcome the opportunity to improve even further IN ANY WAY.

Therefore, naturally we are available for discussion and feedback at ALL times.

Fees

Fees are payable two weeks in advance, and are calculated as follows:

* The day rates shown are total, before the application of any government assistance, which is paid directly to us resulting in lower “out of pocket” expense to you. Don’t forget that “government approved” care like ours is heavily funded by the Commonwealth as follows – Child Care Subsidy (CCS) – assessed based on the level of family income and eligible activity and is not available to all families.

For more information please see Family Payments.

Orientation & Settling In

Before your child commences with us, orientation visits are encouraged, when you can visit together with your child to familiarise yourselves with the surroundings and our program. This is to assist you and your child in settling into the Centre, and can help to make your child’s first day less daunting. Each child and family is unique in their needs for orientation, you may need one day or you may need 2 weeks.

During your child’s first day(s) it is perfectly understandable for you to be keen to know how they have settled in, and as always we invite you to phone the Centre at any time to check on your child’s progress. You can phone the room directly or call and speak to the Director.

The staff will do their very best to settle your child in as quickly as possible, and you can rest assured we will try to make this transition time as smooth and happy as possible. Every child is unique and settling in times can vary dramatically from child to child. We ask you to be patient and keep the lines of communication open with your child’s carers. We are willing and available to support you and your child through this process.

On your child’s first day please bring the following items:

• A full change of clothes
• An appropriate hat to protect from the sun (either broad brimmed or legionnaires)
• Preferred style of water bottle, hopefully that your child is accustomed to drinking from

When dropping your child in each day please bring the following where appropriate:

• Comforters for bed, eg. dummy, soft toy, blanket.
• We provide cows milk for children’s bottles, but we request that you provide a well labelled bottle to remain at the Centre. For children still on formula bottles, we request that the formula come in pre-measured portions where possible, with all bottles clearly labelled, and with legible graduations please.

For many children, entry into preschool will be the first experience of being separated from their parents or family. Most children will experience some anxiety leaving their parents for the first time and it will be important that both parents and staff work together to build the special relationship necessary for successful adjustment.

Even if your child has been at play group or in child care, they will still need time to adjust to new staff, environment, routines and to make new friends.

You can help your child adjust by:

• Bringing your child to visit the Centre a few times prior to leaving them. Always feel welcome to do this.
• If possible, collecting your child a little earlier the first few times.
• Being confident yourself (if parents are anxious they can easily influence the way a child feels)
• Ensuring that the child has his or her special “security object” such as a teddy or a blanket etc
• Always telling a child when you are going and that you will be back (this will be reiterated by staff also)
• If a child is having difficulty settling into the Centre, discuss this with the Director or your child’s carer

Most importantly, be patient with your child. Some children will adjust readily, others take time.

Remember that we are here to support both parents and children, and we have lots of tissues for teary Mummies as well!

How to Enrol

Prior to enrolment, parents are encouraged to come to the Centre for a tour and to meet with our Team. Please feel free to call anytime to make an appointment with the Director for a tour.

The Centre Director will advise you when you visit if there are places available for the days you need or want. If not, we will notify you when a position does become available. On acceptance of this position families will generally visit the centre to collect all required paperwork, or we can send it to you if preferred.

For administration reasons all forms (sorry there are quite a few!), your Enrolment Agreement, and copies of Birth Certificate and Immunisation Records need to be returned to the Centre at least a day before commencement, so that we can process them and distribute to our relevant people in time for your child’s arrival.

Please don’t hesitate to ask for our help if you need it.