Enrolment

On your first day of attendance, you will receive an enrolment pack.  This will include your enrolment forms and a portfolio book for your child.  Please take time to read through this and fill out the necessary forms and return to us.

There is an initial enrolment fee of $100 which will be added to your account upon confirmation of enrolment.  This fee is used for hats, your child’s portfolio and administration costs.

To secure your child’s place at this centre, we require your first week fees to be paid upon acceptance of the space.  This guarantees your place at the centre and will be paid directly to your account.  If however, you decide NOT to take your place at Avenues Educare, these first week’s fees are non-refundable.  Until your first weeks fees have been paid, the space is NOT guaranteed.

Please keep your enrolment information up to date and let us know of any allergies, medication or any information which may change.

Settling Children

We offer free settling-in time.  This is for up to 2 weeks prior to your child/children starting.  Please discuss this with a staff member so that we can meet your and your child’s needs, to make the transition to Avenues EduCare as smooth as possible.

Emergency Supply Kit

It is a ministry requirement that we have supplies on the premises in case of an emergency where children are unable to be collected from the Centre.  This includes food, so we ask that on enrolment you provide a can of Spaghetti or Baked Beans, or baby food AND a bottle of water.

What do I need to bring?

All children’s belongings should be named to prevent loss!

Please supply a bag with at least one set of spare clothes.

If your child is in nappies, please supply at least 5 nappies per day.  These will be taken out of your child’s bag, named on the end, and put on the shelf above the change table.

If your child has a bottle, we supply cow’s milk but ask you to supply your own formula.  Please make sure that all formulas, bottles and containers are named.

We ask that your child not bring in toys from home unless they are for security or sleep times.

Arrival

Please be sure to sign in your child/children on arrival at the centre and sign out on departure.  Please leave an emergency contact number on the sign-in sheet for the day.  It may be the same each day but this is the roll that we use in emergencies such as fire and will not be able to contact you is we have no number.

Please shut all gates and doors as you pass through to keep the children safe.

Medicine

If your child is on any medication, please let one of the staff know and enter it in the medicine book, and mark on the comments column of the sign in sheet.

All medication must be named and have the dosage written on it.  We do not give medication without it being signed for.  We also require you to sign the medicine book at the end of the day when you pick your child up.  This is a ministry requirement.

Illness

We discourage you from bringing your child to the centre if they are unwell.  All children are required by Health and childcare regulations to be kept home if they have a condition that is easily passed onto other children, eg. Chicken pox, diarrhoea, school sores, conjunctivitis, measles or mumps.  In the case of Vomiting or Diarrhoea, our policy is that the child must not attend Avenues for at least 48 hours (2 days) after their last attack.

When children are sick at the centre, parents or emergency contact person will be contacted to collect the child immediately.

If an accident occurs at the centre, comfort and first aid will be given and the accident will be recorded in the accident book.  Parents or the emergency contact person will be contacted immediately of serious accidents and medical assistance will be sought accordingly.

Meals

All meals are provided by Avenues EduCare, each day except for Lunchbox Day.  Currently lunch box day is on Friday.  You will need to supply a lunchbox of food, enough for your child for the day.

Every day, our cook will prepare all meals where healthy eating will be promoted.

At lunch time, a hot meal is offered, and will be followed with sandwiches (marmite, peanut butter, jam etc), or a pudding.

Morning and afternoon teas comprise of fresh fruit and biscuits or crackers, or sometimes home baking.

Meals will be recorded on the daily activities chart by the sign in sheets.  The menu follows a 3 week cycle and can be found in the kitchen.

Free ECE

We offer 20 hours ECE when your child turns 3.  You can claim up to 6 hours per day.  Over and above these hours we charge you the current hourly rate.  We also have an optional charge of $3 per day for meals, and we strongly encourage you to opt to pay this charge.

Hours

We are licensed to be open from 7am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.  We are open during the school holidays.  We are not open public holidays and no fees will be charged for these.

We do close over Christmas and New Year but for no more than 2 weeks.

Childcare Subsidies

Please ask about these.  You may qualify for a subsidy from WINZ.

Fees

For regular and permanent bookings we ask that you pay either weekly or fortnightly. Payments can be made by cash, cheque or direct credit.

Please telephone the centre before 8.00am if your child is going to be late or if they are not well, and will not be attending.

The current fees are here.  Fees will be subject to review but adequate notification will be given.

Collecting Children

Please let us know if someone other than the person you have named in the sign in/out sheet is going to pick up your child.

Please remember to sign your child in on arrival and out on departure each day that your child attends the centre.

We ask you not to park across the gateway.  It may block access for others and may need to be used in the event of an emergency such as a fire.

Parent’s notice board

Please read the parent’s noticeboard.  It will be updated regularly.  Please ask if you are interested in courses or workshops which we may know about or can arrange for you.

Smoke free

At Avenues EduCare we have a “smoke free” policy and thank you for your co-operation.

Profile Books

Every child has a profile book that records their learning while at Avenues EduCare.  Please feel free to share these with your family and contribute to them.  We encourage parents to share their aspirations for the children’s learning.  Please share these with the staff and contribute to our daily planning.

Programming

Programming will be based on the children’s interests.  We will program to Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum.

Charter and Policies

Our charter and policies are available on request and displayed on the parents notice board, eg;

• Behaviour management
• Complaints procedure
• Nappy changing procedures
• No smoking policy
• Consultation & Communication

At Avenues EduCare, we make all effort to ensure communication and consultation with each other, families and Hapu/iwi and local communities, acknowledge and respect all parties values, needs and aspirations.  We will endeavour to identify effective and culturally appropriate practices and procedures, adopt a flexible approach and recognise that a variety of approaches may be required for communication with local whanau, Hapu and iwi.

Please let the supervisor or staff know if you would like to be on the committee of Avenues EduCare, or would like information of what is required being on the committee.