Policies and Procedures

Our centres maintain close and daily communication with parents and takes an informed and responsible team approach to administering medication to children. Qualified Educators will administer both prescription and non-prescription medication to children as per written instructions on a Medication Plan Form signed by the child’s doctor. 

Our centres adopt policies and procedures to ensure we are a nut aware centre. It is accepted that while we are unable to guarantee this, all reasonable and possible steps are taken to comply with this mandate. Parents of children with nut allergies are encouraged to seek further information about the policies and procedures in place to determine the suitability of their child for enrolment. 

It is a centre policy requirement that all children who attend the Northgate or Greenwith Childcare Centres are fully immunised. Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting your child against harmful diseases that can cause serious health problems. 

We will ensure all children attending our centres receive appropriate, effective and safe treatment to relieve the symptoms of Asthma. Our Educators are trained to recognise the symptoms of Asthma and take appropriate action in an asthma emergency. Educators are competent in working with children’s Asthma Action Plans signed off by their doctors as well as administering reliever medication form the Asthma First Aid Kit under instructions from paramedics.

All children with or without Asthma will be treated equally. 

Our centres take every reasonable precaution to protect children and Educators from the harmful effects of exposure to the sun. Our policies are consistent with The Cancer Council’s Sunsmart recommendations for outdoor environments, clothing, sunscreen, scheduling of activities and ongoing education for the children, families and Educators at our centres. 

Our centres are committed to promoting good nutrition and to consistently implement movement and physical activities for all our children. Our menus are nutritious and delicious and are designed in conjunction with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. All meals are prepared fresh daily by our experienced cooks who ensure our menus meet 50% of a child’s daily nutritional requirements. Our cooks ensure our varied multicultural menus accommodate specific dietary requirements. We encourage all families to discuss particular dietary requirements directly with our cooks. 

Payment of Fees Policy

National Quality Standard

National Education and Care Regulations

Purpose

For parents/carers to gain a clear understanding of Northgate and Greenwith Child Care Centres’ fee structure to ensure all Child Care accounts are kept up to date.

Scope

This policy applies to children, families, staff and management of the Centre.

Implementation

                Booking Fee upon enrolment

• A non-refundable booking fee is payable upon enrolment.
• The fee amount is equivalent to the cost of one day of care.
• The fee ensures a position is held for your child.
• The fee is not a bond and is allocated to the first week/s of fees.

General Fees

• Fees are charged on a daily basis and vary depending on the Child Care Subsidy entitlements for each family
•  Fees are due and payable by the end of each week of attendance.
• Fees are paid by a weekly Direct Debit from a nominated bank account.
• Fees are due in full every week until cancellation of enrolment.
• All booked days, including public holidays, sick days and any other days of absence must be paid to retain your child’s position in the Centre.
• Fees are charged at full days only regardless of attendance hours and no discounts apply.
• Casual / extra days may be offered if available at the time.
• The Child Care Subsidy is a payment by the Australian Government to help families with the cost of Child Care and is paid to the Service to reduce weekly fees. Refer to www.education.gov.au/childcarepackage for eligibility.

Payment of Fees

• Upon enrolment a Direct Debit is set up via a form requesting authority and bank account details.
• The Direct Debit will occur on a Monday morning for the previous week’s attendance.
• If a payment dishonours due to insufficient funds or incorrect account details, a $15.00 fee will be charged to your account.
• When a payment dishonours, the parent / carer will be contacted to negotiate how the dishonoured amount will be recovered to prevent an account from going into arrears.

Failure to pay

• The Centre reserves the right to cancel your child’s enrolment if fees become two weeks in arrears or if your Direct Debit regularly dishonours and fees are constantly in arrears.
• Before care is cancelled, numerous SMS texts and phone calls will be made in every effort to bring your account up to date.
• In certain circumstances, a parent / carer may be placed on a “ pay as you stay” scheme whereby fees will be required to be paid in advance via eftpos / credit card to allow care to be used for the day.

Financial Difficulties

• If a family is experiencing financial difficulties, the family are encouraged to speak with Administration to set up a suitable payment plan and the Direct Debit can be adjusted accordingly until fees become up to date. Please note that authorisation of a payment plan is on a case by case basis.

Late pick up fees

• It is unacceptable to collect children after 6.30pm and a fee will be charged.
• Currently the fee is $30.00 for the first 15 minutes and $50.00 after 6.46pm.
• Late pick up fees will also apply to children using 10 hour sessions where attendance is outside of their chosen sessional hours. The amount will be at the discretion of Management.
• A review of your child’s enrolment will occur where pick up is consistently late.

Fee changes

• Fees are subject to change at any time and four weeks’ notice will be given to all families.

Termination of Enrolment

• Parents/carers are required to provide two written notice of their intention to cancel their enrolment.

• If two weeks’ notice is not given, a payment in lieu of two weeks must be made and this will be charged at full fee as Centrelink will forfeit all Child Care Subsidies as they are not payable when a child has left the Centre.

Our centres recognise and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander People as the first peoples of Australia and as the custodial of the land. Our centres believe in and are committed to reconciliation between aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples and other Australians to support closing the gap.

To support our commitment to reconciliation our centres have embedded a reconciliation action plan into everyday practice.