BOOKINGS/SIGNING IN/OUT
We are booked from week-to-week by regularly attending children. If your child is not attending through holiday or illness, please let us know as soon as possible. Please see Belinda if you would like to alter your child’s bookings.
Regular fees are charged for absences (illness and holidays) however there is no booking charge for children over 3 years old for their attestation hours (20 hours ECE).
Please sign in/out via our tablet each day your child attends. You will be emailed an individual pin code to use at sign in and sign out on enrolment. Pin codes can also be allocated for family members that are authorised to collect your child.
BOTTLES
If your infant/toddler has a bottle (breast milk or formula), please send it already made up or in easy to dispense containers.
Frozen breast milk can be stored at the centre if required. We take the utmost care to ensure the hygienic storage and safe handling practices to avoid contamination.
Please ensure bottles and containers are clearly named to avoid any mix ups We also request that bottles have lids to protect the teats for hygiene and hygienic storage.
BUILDING SOCIAL COMPETENCE
Building social competence and managing self-control is something we support and strive to develop in children. Kaiako guide children to respect their environment and surroundings, the equipment, and other people in our setting.
Children are supported to develop self-regulating strategies for developing their social skills, managing their own behaviour, and learning to act appropriately. At all times children are treated with respect and dignity. Kaiako alter their guidance strategies to respond to the developmental stages and ages of the children.
Kaiako encourage children to acknowledge and express a range of emotions and feelings and encourage children to develop self-esteem and confidence.
Kaiako will inform parents/whānau of any behavioural concerns regarding their child and discussions will be held to work in partnership to develop empowering strategy plans to promote their well-being and contribution.
“Positive guidance promotes social learning and cooperative play. Children show trust in their teachers and confidence as learners.” Education Review Office.
CHILD PROTECTION
All staff at ABC EDUCARE will protect children from abuse. Staff will respond immediately to any form of suspected or identified abuse – whether physical, emotional, sexual harming, ill treatment, neglect, or deprivation of any child to ensure they are kept safe.
We view child abuse as unacceptable and it will not be tolerated at any time.
ABC EDUCARE policies and centre procedure are established to protect children from abuse as well as protecting teachers and other adults from being suspected.
All employees are police vetted before they are employed as well as having thorough work history and reference checks.
CLOTHING
We ask that you please send at least two full changes of clothing (including underwear) and your child’s wet bag (or an alternative) for wet clothing.
Please do not dress your child in good clothing. Water play, sand play, painting etc., are all exciting, stimulating ways of learning through play, although they are messy. Most of the paints we use are water based and should wash out.
Please name all clothing and shoes, don’t forget to name socks. This way lost items can be returned quickly to the right child.
Each centre has a place where they store lost property. At the end of each term any unclaimed items are taken to the Hospice, so please check the lost property regularly.
CONCERNS
Should you have a concern regarding any aspect of your child’s education and care please address it as soon as possible with your child’s key teacher or Belinda (Managing Director).
We would rather you express your concerns with us so we can address these quickly and problem solve together. Your feedback (good or bad) allows us to constantly reflect on and review our practices.
Should you wish to make a complaint regarding a non-compliance with the EC Regulations or Licencing Criteria please address the issue with Belinda.
A copy of the Complaints Regarding Non-Compliance Policy is displayed in each centre and details the necessary process for making a formal non-compliance complaint with the Ministry of Education.
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Our greatest responsibility is to ensure the health and well-being of all children attending our centre. Because of the risk of infection, we are unable to take care of sick children.
To minimise the transmission of bugs and viruses, we ask that you keep your child away if they are unwell. We are very aware that it is inevitable that the children will pick up some sort of bug while attending the centre (especially when they first enter a group situation), whether it is a cold and a runny nose or conjunctivitis.
Kaiako may require parents/caregivers/whānau to collect their child during instances where the child appears unwell and cannot participate in the general activities of the centre.
We have a 24-hour exclusion period if children are taking antibiotics. This helps to ensure the antibiotics have time to work effectively.
Any children suffering from head lice must be excluded from the centre until there are no lice present.
REF: Response to Illness, Injury or Incident Policy.
KAI / FOOD
We supply morning tea for the children.
Lunch and afternoon need to be supplied from home in a clearly named lunchbox. We are a ‘NUT FREE’ centre, with children attending with severe allergies. Please ensure there are no nut products in your child’s lunch box.
Please also bring a clearly named drink bottle each day for your child – we will refill this throughout the day as required.
LATE PICK-UP FEES
A late fee will be charged if you pick your child up after closing hours. It is important you show consideration to our Kaiako by picking your child up promptly at closing time as teachers also have other commitments.
NAPPIES AND TOILET LEARNING
Please supply nappies (if necessary) for your child. You may either put the expected number required in their bag, on a daily basis or bring a packet at a time into the centre and these will be put in your child’s cubby in the nappy changing area.
Cloth nappies are more than welcome to be used in the centre. We ask that a separate wet bag (or an alternative) is provided to keep used cloth nappies separate from wet clothing. For hygiene reason please provide disposable liners in your child’s cloth nappies.
OUR CURRICULUM
Our curriculum is based on the principles, strands, goals and learning outcomes of Te Whāriki the Early Childhood Curriculum. Kaiako implement planned and spontaneous experiences that reflect the children’s emerging interests and learning and that encompass various learning opportunities.
We promote the importance of play and the learning processes rather than final products. The children’s routines and rituals are viewed as an important part of the curriculum, learning experiences are woven throughout routine and ritual times.
Our Kaiako provide an unhurried environment where infants/toddlers and young children can learn at their own pace.
The environment is prepared to foster creativity, promote wonder and discovery and encourage children’s natural curiosity and desire to explore and learn.
Trusting relationships, responsive care and the well-being of children and Kaiako are expressed through our values of aroha and manaakitanga.
“The curriculum is soundly underpinned by respect, empowerment and embraces the mana of each child. The environment is organised with great care. Resources and the layout of work areas reflect a strong emphasis on real things, the natural world and self-directed play. The tone of sessions reflect the purposeful and sustained engagement of children at play.” Education Review Office.
PARENT/WHĀNAU EDUCATION AND INVOLVEMENT
At ABC EDUCARE we acknowledge the importance of parent/ whānau and Kaiako partnerships in children’s learning and place great importance on strengthening and maintaining our partnerships with families and whānau.
We encourage parents to communicate with the teachers and Management and value your feedback.
We are committed to providing opportunities to support parents and whānau in their parenting role/roles.
We encourage parents to advise us of any topics of interest so we can do our best to provide support and workshops that will benefit the most families. We provide time for parents to socialise at these events so you can meet some of your child’s friend’s parents.
Our Policies, Early Childhood Regulations and our current Education Review Office report are displayed in each centre for you to read at any time.
Our policies and procedures are reviewed on a three year cycle and your input is valued and appreciated. Management post policy reviews on our Story Park community page and may approach parents with knowledge in specific areas for feedback (ie: health, child protection, nutrition etc).
PARKING
You are welcome to park outside any of the centres.
Some times of the day are much busier than others, especially between 8.30-9 in the morning where the main road traffic is extremely busy also.
We ask that you park within the white lines to ensure there is enough space for others and to minimise risk of accidents. We prefer you not to park on the other side of the road to avoid having to cross the busy main road with young children. Unfortunately, cars and trucks speed past and the children’s safety is paramount.
SLEEPING AND REST TIMES
Please discuss with us your child’s sleeping needs. We have beds, mattresses, and cots available for children to sleep in. We aim to keep the children’s sleep routines as similar as they would be at home. We will work with parents who need support with their child’s sleep routine.
We encourage you to bring any special item/s your child usually has at sleep times, for example a special blanket or soft toy.
Due to the Early Childhood Regulations, we are not permitted to put children to bed with bottles. You will be reassured to know that many children that are used to having bottles to soothe themselves to sleep cope extremely well without them.
STORY PARK
Kaiako use Story Park to document the children’s discoveries, learning and development, strengths, and interests.
We print a copy of the learning story and collate these in each child’s learning journal – where children can freely access their journals and revisit their learning.
Story Park will send you an alert each time a new story has been added for your child. There is a tool for you to share your child’s learning with other family members also.
We encourage you to share your aspirations for your child and contribute to the planning and assessment processes.
We use an emergent, localised curriculum approach (planning in action) to explore and document children’s theories and understanding within their play and make learning visible.
Learning stories are a powerful narrative tool we use to document and celebrate the learning of the individual child.
While planning stories are written as a retrospective act, we believe this is still a valid approach to documenting the real learning that has occurred.
“Individual learning journals are rich records of participation, learning and progress and show that teachers know children well.
The effective use of photographs and well-expressed narratives relate to curriculum outcomes and teacher observations.
Children display strong ownership of their journals and enjoy regular opportunities to view them with parents and teachers.” Education Review Office.
SUN PROTECTION
To ensure a sun-smart environment is provided at all times we supply sun block and have sun hats available.
Our Sun Smart Policy states ‘children must wear at least a t-shirt outside to ensure their skin is not unnecessarily exposed to the sun (singlet tops and dresses are not appropriate)’.
Hats are always encouraged to wear hats outside for additional sun protection.
If you would prefer your child used a specific sunblock – you are welcome to supply your own for your child.
REF: Sun Smart Policy.
