We understand that choosing a centre can be a difficult decision, so it’s perfectly normal for you to have a lot of questions. To make it easier, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of common questions that we hear from parents.
If you have any other questions, please contact us or mention it during your centre tour.
One large playground encourages the development of motor abilities – challenging young children to crawl, walk, climb and explore in a safe environment that features natural elements such as water, rocks, mud and sand. Ample shade has also been provided to increase the opportunities for active learning, both indoors and outdoors.
Our operating hours are between 7am and 6pm. We are open Monday to Friday, 52 weeks a year. We are closed on weekends and all public holidays.
Children six weeks old up to school age (usually around the age of five or six). We also offer OOSH for school aged children.
When arriving at or leaving Little Emu Academy, a parent/caregiver is required to electronically sign in and out on the tablets located inside the centre. This is automatically transmitted through to our online attendance system. We can give extra authorisation codes for pickup at your request.
We ask our families to notify the centre where possible if your child is going to be absent for any reason. This way, our educators organise planned activities and holiday programs
The following items need to be brought in each day when your child attends the Centre and please ensure your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their full name
This should be easy for your child to open and close themselves without adult assistance. Please ensure that it is large enough to accommodate your child’s spare clothes and artwork.
These need to be appropriate for all weather conditions. Children get distressed when they have to wear clothes that don’t belong to them. Accidents occur and are not always caused by wet pants. They are often caused by the spilling of paint, water or other craft activities.
This needs to protect your child’s face, neck and ears and must be brought all year round regardless of the weather conditions. We recommend that parents apply sunscreen to their child every day before they bring them to the Centre. This encourages good habits from an early age.
All children need to bring a water bottle every day.
Before enrolling your child at Little Emu Academy, we always recommend that you book a guided tour first. This gives you the opportunity to meet with us face-to-face and experience the ‘culture’ of the service.
After the tour, we will guide you through the next steps of enrolment should you wish to proceed. We offer payment options for eligible families to help secure the desired booking and secure orientation (introductory play sessions) following this.
We provide five meals, including a late snack every day. Your child can enjoy breakfast as early as 7am and a hot nutritious meal in the middle of the day. Meals provided by our in-house qualified chef are approved by Munch and Move (a NSW Health initiative) and meet the most recently recommended nutritional guidelines for children 0-5 years. We cater for individual dietary requirements and communicate to you your child’s dietary intake on private online profiles each day.
Families provide nappies and formula where applicable. To accommodate for the requirement to provide these necessities, we continue to be committed to a lower daily fee than other local competitors.
Casual bookings are subject to availability. Sometimes, an extra day may be required and we can check to see if we can help you with an additional day required. Permanent booking patterns may also be modified and/or reduced in line with our enrolment terms and conditions.
We understand that family circumstances can change unexpectedly. Our service policy requires two weeks’ written notice for bond returns. This is subject to a minimum four week enrolment period.
We understand that it can be stressful for parents to have to leave their children with new faces, especially in the early stages. For this reason, we have a strong emphasis on communicating with parents and whilst we would always welcome the opportunity to talk with you personally, we employ several different methods to ensure that we are always available to you, and that you and we are always well informed.
The Centre has a custom secure mobile-based portfolio platform that aims to ensure your child receives the best support possible and that you are involved and up-to-date with your child’s development. It allows parents to see their child’s activities at any time while educators can share photos, videos, stories and reflections in real time. Parents can read and respond to posts, upload photos and videos and stay updated on announcements and calendar events
The Centre completes developmental progress reports which are sent home mid-year and at the end of year which explains your child’s development and answers any questions you may have regarding learning and development and school readiness
Our email system is heavily used internally and we encourage parents to communicate with us via email if they choose to
The Centre cannot provide adequate care for sick or contagious children so please keep your child at home if they are unwell. Please show consideration for others if your child has a cough or cold as these spread quickly in the Centre’s environment. Keeping them at home will reduce the risk of infections being spread at the centre and will allow for your child to recover quickly. A Doctor’s Certificate is necessary for re-admission to the Centre after an infectious illness.
Only authorised medicines can be administered to the children. These must be fully labelled and the details of the dose and when the medicine is to be given must be written daily on a medication form. Children with the following conditions must be excluded from the Centre as per the Centre’s Health Policy Statement.
– Coloured discharge from the eyes
– Vomiting
– Diarrhoea
– Fever, lethargic, irritable or tired
– Live lice or eggs
Keep your child at home while any symptoms of an illness remain and for 24 hours from commencing antibiotics to ensure they have no side effects to the medication. Children who are experiencing fevers, vomiting or diarrhoea need to remain home until symptoms have stopped for at least 24 hours and provide a doctors clearance.
Parents will be contacted and asked to collect their child if they develop a temperature, vomiting or diarrhoea. If parents cannot be reached an emergency contact person will be contacted and asked to collect the child. All parents are required to give permission at the time of enrolment for their child to be
Medications prescribed by a registered medical practitioner can be given to your child. We ensure strict medication policies and procedures are adhered to.
Over the counter medications cannot be administered at Little Emu Academy without a GP prescription.
As part of the enrolment process, families are required to provide a copy of each child’s ACIR (Australian Childhood Immunisation Register) immunisation status. These records must be updated throughout your time at the Centre. Immunisation status can impact on an enrolled child’s booking and result in attendance being refused as immunisation is a requirement under Australian law.
In the case that your child becomes ill during the day, we will contact you to discuss the situation. If paracetamol needs to be administered for fever, we will seek your permission before doing so. All children displaying any signs or symptoms of illness are required to be collected from the centre.
Medical clearances are often required for reported illness in children at Little Emu Academy before returning. We have Exclusion Policy Guidelines for specific illnesses that can be found in the Parent Handbook, provided to all
Our Learning Centre maintains an open-door policy for our families. This means that families are welcome to visit or call the Centre at any time during the day.
Call us directly on (02) 47356286 or click here to book your free guided tour of the centre. From here, we can support you with any further questions that you may have.
We look forward to meeting with you!