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Early Learning Centre Routines

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4.1 Our ELC Day 4.2 What to Bring to ELC 4.3 Settling In 4.4 Meals 4.5 Birthday Celebrations 4.6 Extra Activities 4.7 Excursions and Incursions 4.8 Toys 4.9 Environmental Awareness 4.10 Family Involvement 4.11 Communication with Parents and Families 4.12 Concerns and Complaints [Grievance Procedure]

4.1 Our ELC Day

Operating Hours

The ELC is open from 7.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday. The ELC operates for 50 weeks each year, closing between Christmas and New Year and on Public Holidays.

Arrival and Departure

On arrival, each child must be brought into the ELC and signed in on the KIOSK by a responsible adult in their room. Following this procedure, the child is to greet an Educator and become settled for the day.

Before departing, each child needs to have the opportunity to say goodbye to the Educators, and the necessary signing out requirements are to be carried out.

The Head of Early Education must be informed, preferably in writing, if any person (other than those persons nominated on the enrolment form) will collect your child.

Names which appear on the enrolment form and Authorised Nominee Form will be the only persons able to collect individual children.

Children can only be delivered and collected by a responsible adult. Brothers and sisters under the age of 18 are not appropriate for this responsibility.

Authorised Nominees to Collect Children

At the time of enrolment, parents must provide us with the names of persons authorised to pick up the child/children. It is the parents' responsibility to inform the ELC of any changes in the names of authorised nominees. We will release the child/children to authorised persons only. If necessary, the ELC may request photo identification or other official identification before the child/children are released.

Copies of legal documents must be provided to the Centre Manager before any staff member can actively prevent non-custodial parents from picking up their child/children.

Emergency Contacts

It is essential that parents leave with the ELC, all emergency telephone numbers, including the family doctor, and ensure that an up-to-date record is available at all times. In the interests of each child's welfare, up-to-date, pertinent information is maintained at the ELC.

4.2 What to Bring to ELC

6 Weeks - 2 Years

  • Spare clothes for messy play
  • Fitted cot sheet, top sheet if required, cuddly/comforter if needed. All to be in a drawstring sheet bag, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Please do not bring pillows.
  • Appropriate Shoes (no thongs please)
  • Bottles (please refer to the Bambini Information Book for bottle requirements)
  • Disposable nappies
  • Bottles and dummies must have lids/covers.
  • Wet bag for wet clothing.

15 Months - 2.5 Years:

  • Spare underwear if toilet training
  • Spare clothes for messy play
  • Appropriate Shoes (no thongs please)
  • Fitted cot sheet, top sheet if required, cuddly/comforter if required. All to be in a drawstring sheet bag, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Please do not bring pillows
  • Bottles if required
  • Disposable nappies
  • Bottles and dummies must have lids/covers.
  • Wet bag for wet clothing.

2 Years - 3 Years:

  • Spare underwear if toilet training
  • Spare clothes for messy play
  • Appropriate Shoes (no thongs please)
  • Fitted cot sheet, top sheet if required, cuddly/comforter if required. All to be in a drawstring sheet bag, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Please do not bring pillows
  • Disposable nappies (if required for nap time)
  • Dummies must have lids/covers.
  • Water bottle
  • Wet bag for wet clothing.


3 Years - 4 Years:

  • Spare clothes and underwear (for toileting or messy play)
  • Appropriate Shoes (no thongs please)
  • Fitted cot sheet, top sheet if required, cuddly/comforter if required. All to be in a drawstring sheet bag, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Please do not bring pillows.
  • Water bottle
  • Wet bag for wet clothing.


ALL CHILDREN ARE PROVIDED WITH A NAMED HAT UPON ENROLMENT THAT IS KEPT AT THE ELC.

4.3 Settling In

When entering a new environment, the parent and child need time to adjust. To assist with a smooth introduction into the ELC, the following suggestions are offered.

Orientation Visits

Orientation visits enable your child to engage in experiences within their new environment before their commencement date. After visiting the ELC, talk with your child about the experiences that you shared together. Your child will develop positive memories and develop confidence with their new surroundings as you continue to speak positively about their visit, the experiences they engaged in, what they could see and who the educators were that they played with.

Try to visit the ELC as much as you can before your official starting date. This will enable your child to become more familiar with the environment and staff. By spending time at the ELC with you, your child will see that you are comfortable here and are interested in what happens at the ELC.

First day

Each child is unique and will cope with their first day in their own way. When you feel that your child is comfortable and you are ready to leave, let the Educators know so that they can offer support to your child. Say goodbye and tell your child when you will be back. Try not to prolong the farewell as this may cause distress for your child.

Please call the Centre to ensure your child has settled well once you have left. Anytime throughout the day that you are anxious about your child, phone the ELC for an update of their wellbeing.

Collecting your child

Try to return on time for this first day as a few minutes can be a long time for a child. The Educators will give you a thorough report on how the first day proceeded. Showing your enthusiasm about what your child tells or shows you can also help with the settling-in process.

4.4 Meals

The ELC provides breakfast (until 7.30am), morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and late afternoon tea. A variety of wholesome, fresh ingredients are used in a nutritionally-balanced menu to provide meals for the children. These cooked meals are prepared in the ELC by our cook, using our fully-equipped kitchen.

Our ELC Cook has completed several food-handling courses which focus on health and hygiene practices. The ELC has also been awarded the highest rating for food handling: achieving five stars in this quality food handling area.

The Weekly Menu is displayed for the parents' information and emailed weekly as well.

A conscious effort will be made to avoid foods that contain a great deal of sugar, salt, preservatives, additives and food colouring. From time to time, the children will have the opportunity to cook and prepare special foods served at snack time.

An example of a daily menu:

Morning Tea: Fruit platter, cheese and crackers

Drink: Milk or water

Lunch: Carbonara with salad

Fresh fruit

Drink: Water

Afternoon Tea: Vegetable Platters

Drink: Milk or water

Parents of bottle-fed children are requested to supply the required number of bottles to meet their child's needs. Please refer to the Bottle and Feeding Procedure in the Bambini Information Booklet.

Parents of children who require specific dietary considerations are requested to inform the Head of Early Education in writing before the child's enrolment.

4.5 Birthday Celebrations

At JPC, we focus on the individuality of the child. Therefore, birthdays are very special occasions. The ELC provides birthday ice-creams to celebrate each child's birthday. Due to our Food Safety Program, parents are requested not to provide cakes or sweet treats. However, families are encouraged to bring along activities such as pass the parcel or any other cultural experience you may wish to share on your child's special day.

4.6 Extra Activities

The children can attend tennis as an extra activity at the ELC. Tennis is facilitated by a separate provider (Dannielle Young at Tennis4Kids) and parents must complete the appropriate permission form provided to authorise their child's participation. These sessions are held throughout the week and minimum age requirements apply for each class.

  • Tennis - During the sessions, children develop ball handling and coordination skills as an introduction to tennis.

4.7 Excursions and Incursions

Excursions (usually on campus) and visiting performances will be arranged several times throughout the year.

These are planned experiences that support and extend the children's learning at the ELC and are age-appropriate for the different groups of children.

Parents are invited and encouraged to attend any of these events. Information is distributed to parents before these occasions and written permission is requested from the parents on enrolment for the children to participate in on-campus events.

4.8 Toys

The play equipment at the ELC is specifically designed for endurance, with multiples to cater for the number of children in the group. The children learn to care for the resources and equipment, and know that these belong to the ELC and everyone can share them together. Therefore, it is appreciated that children DO NOT bring toys from home to the ELC.

If, for example, a toy received as a birthday gift is brought along to share with friends, it needs to be given to an Educator upon arrival. If an item from home is brought to the ELC, the centre is not responsible for its care. A cuddly/comforter used for rest time or as an emotional link with home is encouraged.

4.9 Environmental Awareness

The program will also develop awareness in children for recycling and re-use. Sustainable practices are encouraged, such as composting at Finch Farm, recycling materials, water conservation, energy efficiency. They are turning off lights when we leave the room during the day and using vegetable scraps to feed animals belonging to staff.

We have also introduced Wet Bags to store children's wet clothing. These bags support our Sustainability plan to reduce waste and the unnecessary use of plastic bags.

4.10 Family Involvement

We Value Your Input

The John Paul College Early Learning Centre aims to extend the home and continue fulfilling the individual family's requirements for each child within the ELC. To achieve this, close, open, and frequent communication must exist between the parents and staff. We appreciate any relevant information you can share about your child with their Educators. This enables the staff to understand your child's and family's needs better.

We have an Open Door Policy*, and parents are welcome at the ELC. Parents are invited to volunteer in the rooms, join in excursions or share lunch with their children whenever their schedule permits. The sharing of interesting occupations, talents, traditions etc., by parents and grandparents, are also wonderful additions to the program. Please speak to the Head of Early Education or Administration Assistant if you would like to be a volunteer. They will support your application to the College to become an approved volunteer for the ELC.

Parent participation assists the Educators tremendously. It also allows parents to understand the developmental process and gives each child great satisfaction to see that their parents are interested in what they are doing.

Parents are encouraged to offer suggestions about our program and the ELC as a whole. We value the feedback from our parents so that we can best meet the needs of our families.

There are many other opportunities for you to participate in your child's play and learning apart from regular classroom visits. In our College calendar, you will see activities such as Easter celebrations, Teddy Bear's Picnic, Mother's Day celebrations, Under-Eights Week, Book Week, Grandparents Day and more. During the year, you will be advised when these opportunities occur so that you will be able to participate in the full life of the ELC community.

Just as children have rights to high-quality care and education, so too [do]
parents have the rights to be involved in all aspects of their children's school lives.

Gandini in Hill et al 2005

*The ELC reserves the right to restrict access to the premises where necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to health and safety. Any restricted access to premises will be communicated in advance to parents and details on the ELC's management plan(s).

4.11 Communication with Parents and Families

Communication between educators and parents is an essential component in fostering strong partnerships with our families. Our Educators aim to communicate informally with parents regularly to share stories and experiences about their child's time with us in the ELC.

Arrival and departure times are valuable opportunities to exchange pertinent information relevant to a particular day.

Discussions requiring more time are not appropriate on these occasions as the staff's primary concern during the day is the care and supervision of the children. Educators will arrange a more suitable time with you for more in-depth discussions.

A daily Learning Story from each class is emailed, notes in parent pockets, email notifications and information on noticeboards are other methods utilised to maintain communication.

4.12 Concerns and Complaints [Grievance Procedure]

If you have any concerns relating to the care of your child, a staff member, or another child, please see the Head of Early Education.

Parents and children will not be discriminated against or suffer any repercussions if they make a complaint. All rights in the ELC are respected, and no visitors or parent/s may reprimand staff or other children.

We hope that all concerns of parents can be satisfactorily met. However, if you are unhappy with the result of the complaint handling, further assistance can be received from Ms Lindsay McQuattie, Head of Primary School at JPC. After discussion with the parent, the Head of Early Education and Head of Primary School will investigate the complaint, focusing on the issue of concern, and working towards a resolution that meets the needs of everyone involved.

The Office of Early Education and Care can also be contacted if a parent has any further issues that they would like to discuss and resolve.