NEWSLETTER

We are seeing fresh development, forward liveliness and motion every week as we move beyond the disruptions caused by the Covid 19 pandemic.

There was a feeling of deliverance and excitement as children in our care enjoy the sunshine and autumn colours around the kindergarten grounds during their visits to the field & yoga huts. We still aren’t able to welcome families into our rooms/yards but we hope the improvements and enhanced communication from each room of the children’s learning journeys makes
this ongoing restriction to access to rooms/yards a
little easier.

Educators are busy their new curriculum reflections, snap shots of the children’s day and learning journeys. We are excited with these ongoing positive developments and look forward to receiving feedback from our families.

I could not be happier with the level of energy and commitment of educators and children at this time. The initial enthusiasm we all experienced on returning to more normal kindy routines which has continued on and is testimony to the great philosophy that we have built together at Erina kindergarten.

We hope your children enjoy the up and coming incursion and kindy events and I expect over the weekend and next week we will see the Government reduce even more restrictions in a cautious manner.

I can now provide a further update on the end date for the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package (‘free childcare’ Package).

The Government has announced this Package will now end on 12 July 2020, and that from 13 July 2020 the former Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) will recommence.

To support families as they return to normal hours of work or study the Government has also announced a more relaxed CCS Activity Test.  From 13 July 2020 until 4 October 2020, people who previously received CCS but can no longer engage in the same hours of work, training, study or other recognised activity they engaged in immediately prior to the COVID-19 crisis can access 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. From 13 July 2020, families will be able to update their activity levels to access the 100 hours through either their Centrelink online account, myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.

For your assistance we have attached several Frequently Asked Questions the Federal Government has answered in relation to accessing the 100 hours.

We also strongly advise all families to check their CCS details are up to date as a matter of priority.

Families who have not yet applied for CCS should do so as soon as possible to ensure they can receive the Subsidy when fees commence. We also remind families who received CCS in 2018-19 to confirm your income with Centrelink. If you don’t do this by 30 June 2020, your CCS will stop from 13 July 2020. To confirm your income, you and your partner must either lodge your tax returns with the Australian Taxation Office, or complete an ‘Advise non-lodgement of tax return’ with Centrelink if you don’t need to lodge a tax return.

Please note that if you are experiencing financial difficulty, we encourage you to contact Centrelink to see if you’re eligible to receive a higher CCS percentage or the ACCS.

As per our Fees Policy, we require families to pay fees in advance from the 13th July & statements will be sent out on the 13th July. Payments will be processed on the afternoon of the 13th July, 2020. Fees will be directed debited from your account. We understand you may have concerns or questions in relation to returning to the previous fee-paying system, and Kelly in the Office or Melissa would be only too happy to discuss these with you. Please don’t hesitate to speak with us.

Travel Bug Incursion was on Thurs 11th, this incursion was about visiting different countries, in particular we went to Australia, Africa and China. In China we learnt about chopsticks, silk gowns, rice, pandas and how Chinese dragons being good luck. We learnt about similarities & differences and diversity between cultures.

We have hired Miss Corrine as a trainee she will be working in the babies room Mon to Fri. Miss Daisy will be starting in the Gumnuts room doing her cert three traineeship. Miss Sarah will be working in the babies room permanently Mon to Fri, she comes to us with a wealth of experience and knowledge being in the childcare industry for many years. Miss Erin will be joining the Emus room on a Tues, Wed & Thurs. Miss Jessica will be joining the preschool side to complete her cert three she comes to us with a lot of experience with speech therapy. Miss Kayley will also be joining us in the babies’ room she will be starting her cert three working 5 days.  We also welcomed Miss Ayako she will be in the babies’ room 5 days to support the room.

WE can all DO our part to help, we now have boxes in the foyer you can donate loose parts to from home that we can put into our rooms so the children can reuse these during play and creative arts. Don’t forget to “Reuse, Reduce and Recycle”.

The environment is something you are all very familiar with. It’s everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth—the air we breathe, the water that covers most of the earth’s surface, the plants and animals around us, and much more.We have our worm farms at kindy, native bees and mulcher/ compost  recycling bins all contributing to sustainable practices following the little Green Steps. We can make a difference,
what do you have or do at home to help our environment? If you do something at home you can let your child’s educators/ room know via some photos and we can talk about this with the children.

If anyone is need for any hand sanitiser gel or spray, please see Kelly in the front office, we have some for sale for $15.oo.

Please ensure you SLOW down in the carpark when driving in and out of our centre. There are children/ families/educators entering and departing and we need to look after each other. Don’t forget to CLICK CLACK friends in your car seats and drive safely.

Educators have started their new curriculum reflections, snap shots of the children’s day and learning journeys. We have been reflecting weekly upon this process with families and the educators with our educational leader and compliance officer. We have recently purchased some more new toys for the rooms , if you have any suggestions or ideas on equipment we could purchase please let us know via email at info@erinakindergarten.com.au we would love to hear any ideas.

We have been working with the educators on sun safety, supervision and hygiene goals and they have been involved in a survey in house and we have followed up with training in these areas. We have now been focusing on progressive mealtimes and communication with our families and our new curriculum/ documentation.

• Physical Environment (WHS, Learning and Admin) Policy – Environments, Layouts, Activities and Groupings

• Environmental Sustainability Policy

• Photography policy

Policies are available on our website at www.erinakindergarten.com.au

• NAIDOC week 5th-12th

• Dentist talk Tuesday 7th

• Black Duck Incursion Fri 10th

• PJ Week 13th-17th come dressed in your favourite PJs.

• Erina kindergarten Olympic games 27th-31st

• Hearing Tests 29th – $35 on site

• Plant a tree day 31st