Settling Your Child In:

It is important to make the transition from home to kindergarten as smooth as possible. It is important to build on this initial contact with the centre by:

• Talking about the Kindergarten in a positive way.
• Spending some time with your child exploring the new environment and talking about how good it is going to be.
• Encouraging you child to engage in an enjoyable activity on arrival.
• Using the teacher and other children’s names at the centre and at home to help you child become more familiar with the new people in their lives.

Saying goodbye in the early days can be hard. Often children’s ways of protesting are very dramatic; leaving parents feeling emotionally drained when they leave the centre. But in most instances the protests are short lived and often have ceased by the time the parents are out of sight. It is better for the child if you try not to prolong the farewell. Briefly explain to your child what is going to happen i.e. “I’m going now, I’ll be back at 2.45 pm.” Give them a kiss and a hug then follow through by going.

Please speak to the teacher and advise that you are leaving, particularly if you think your child might need some extra support. Never hesitate to ring later to find out how your child is feeling, and to put your mind at rest.

At other times throughout the year, children may show some reluctance to come to the centre in the mornings. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons including adults going to work or working away from home, a greater attraction at home, lots of changes going on in their life, not feeling too well or feeling rather tired, not wanting to leave what they are doing at home and difficulties with peers. If this occurs, please feel free to consult with staff.

Returning For Your Child:

Please be on time.  A few minutes late can seem like a long time to a child who is waiting for you.  Greet your child warmly.  Say “Have you had a nice day?” rather than “What have you done today?”  It is not easy for a child to tell all that has happened so they may reply “nothing”, disappointing you and leaving them dissatisfied.

Because children are participating in so many things, they will often be exhausted after kindy/preschool.  Allow for quiet time when arriving home.

Lunches:

Nutritional education is an important part of centre’s philosophy.

You will be encouraged to supply your child with fruit for morning tea, and a nutritious lunch. There are many healthy choices – salads, cheese, meat, sandwiches, (wholemeal bread preferably). Leaflets are available with suggestions on healthy school lunches or you can click here to go to our Healthy Lunch Box page for recipes and ideas. Biscuits, cakes, sweets, roll ups, chips , chocolate and chewing gum will be discouraged.

We ask that your child’s food is sent in one lunch box containing all of your child’s food for the day, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. We store the children’s lunches in the refrigerator and this means the size of the lunch box needs to be limited.  We ask that children’s lunch is NOT supplied in an insulated lunch box.  With these type of boxes the food temperature cannot be regulated, and they are too bulky for our refrigerators.

Here at Yorkeys Knob Kindergarten we are teaching the children about caring for our environment. As part of our program of sustainability we are using a worm farm to recycle the fruit and vegetable scraps left over from our meals, and this in turn will fertilise our garden. We are encouraging you to use a ‘Litter Free Lunch Box or brown bag (recyclable)’. This means that we will be actively discouraging the use of throw away containers, plastic wrap, zip lock bags and other disposable packaging. Thank you for your support in helping to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Excursions:

Parents will be notified if the children are to go on an excursion or outing.  Children will leave the centre only if there is one adult to every four children.  Children must wear sandals, sneakers or shoes with laces (not thongs, waterproof boots or shoes with slippery soles).  Permission slips for each excursion must be signed by the parent prior to departure.

Personal Belongings:

Children should wear sensible play clothes, no ‘best’ clothes please.  We like the children to become involved in all activities, some of which are messy as well as fun.  Long dresses/skirts can be dangerous.  All powder paint is easily washed from clothes, but acrylic is not.  (Aprons are supplied but accidents do happen).  The best way to preserve your child’s clothes is to have them wear our kindy and preschool t-shirts or dresses.  These are available from the office.

Please discourage your child from bringing toys from home.  They tend to get lost.  Guns are not allowed at the centre.  Children may bring a soft toy or ‘cuddly’ for rest time if required.  Jewelry can be hazardous, e.g., long earrings can catch easily and be torn from the ear, and small rings can be swallowed.

Barefooted play is beneficial to children’s safety, growth and development of sensory awareness.  Bare feet can grip climbing equipment and promote more effective balance and control.  Therefore, shoes will be removed for music, outdoor play and rest times.

Parent Involvement:

This centre recognises the important role played by parents in the education of their children and values parent participation and involvement on a variety of levels, e.g., sharing skills and interest in functions and becoming involved at committee management level.

A library for parents is available with books on child related issues for loan.

Communication:

Parents are encouraged to speak with their child’s teacher about their child’s progress, or any other concerns they may have.  Open communication between parents and staff facilitates positive home/kindergarten relationships based on trust and positive co-operation.

Where discussion is needed, it is important to make an appointment to speak with the teacher outside of session times, rather than take the teacher’s attention away from the children.  This also gives the teacher the opportunity to refer to developmental records and observations in discussing any concerns.

Email communication is also welcomed.

It is the parents’ responsibility to:-

• notify the child’s teacher regarding changes in information recorded about the child.
• read all the information pertaining to the centre in order to be familiar with policy information.
• comply with relevant health and hygiene policies of the centre and to participate in the centre’s activities.

We are always consciously aware of our environmental footprint here at the Kindergarten. To insure that we are ‘doing our bit’ for the environment we are working towards becoming a paperless Kindergarten, this means most of our communication will be done electronically, you will receive account statements, newsletters, and any other general information via email. If you would prefer a hard copy please advise the Directors and this can be organized otherwise the email address you have provided will be our first point of contact. Please note that it is your responsibility to let admin know if your email address changes, the kindergarten will take no responsibility for loss of account statements etc due to a defunct email address.

Student Placements & Volunteers:

This centre recognises the importance of student placements as being consistent with the long term training of staff in the provision of quality education and care for children.  Students are supervised both by the centre staff and by University/TAFE staff.  However, acceptance of placement of students must be determined upon consideration of the children’s needs at the time.

This centre supports the inclusion of work experience school students, as part of their educational program.  This can be implemented on a limited basis upon request from the school Liaison Officer and in consultation with the teacher.

This centre may accept placement of volunteers, but only after the commitment to students has been met, and after full investigation of the person concerned.  Volunteers work under the guidance of qualified staff.

Complaints Procedure:

Where a parent has any concern relating to the program, the waiting list or roll, this Association advocates that the parent make direct contact with the teacher responsible for that group of children.

Where a parent has any query relating to the payment of fees or any matter relating to Committee management or administration, this Association advocates discussion with the Office Manager and/or the appropriate committee member.

If the matter cannot be resolved, the C&K Education Practice Advisor, or the Department of Family Youth & Community Care, may be asked to assist.

Office for Early Childhood Education & Care;

Cairns Service Centre
Department of Education & Training
PO Box 1682
Cairns Qld 4870

Address:  Level 2, 17-19 Sheridan Street, Cairns
Phone:  07 4042 5301
Fax:     07 4042 5300

Please click on the link below to download a PDF of our current Parent Handbook.