Sutherland Shire Council’s Early Education

Centres offer fun and nurturing educational

environments, led by caring, dedicated and

highly skilled Educators.

EARLY EDUCATION CENTRES

BECOME PART OF OUR ‘CENTRE FAMILY’

STRONG PARTNERSHIPS

Council’s 11 Early Education Centres

enjoy wonderful relationships with the

families who use our service.

From daily communication about your

child’s day to events for families, we

promote inclusion and strong family

partnerships.

Our centre environments are fun and

nurturing, led by Educators who are

caring, dedicated and highly skilled.

We spend time with each new family

during their orientation and transition into

care.

We are interested in every child’s specific

needs. We provide families with regular

written updates on their child’s

individualised and group learning.

We want every child to reach their full

learning potential. Our educational

program strengthens each child’s

academic and life skills on a daily basis.

Our intensive recruitment process ensures

we only employ the best. We invest

heavily in professional development,

ensuring our skills remain at the industry’s

forefront. Our Educators’ technical

expertise, combined with their personal

qualities, make them the best choice for

your child’s early years learning.

APPROVED FORM OF CARE

Council’s Early Education Centres are

approved and accredited by the industry’s

governing body, Australian Children’s

Education & Care Quality Authority.

Our centres operate under the same

national regulations and educational

frameworks as all forms of approved

childcare.

As an industry approved service, parents

are eligible for the Child Care Rebate and

Child Care Benefit.

Council’s centres are managed by

Children’s Services, which also oversees

a long-standing Family Day Care program,

a Before and After School Care service in

Miranda and Vacation Care centres at

Miranda, Lucas Heights and Burraneer

Bay.

40 YEARS OF QUALITY

Council has been providing childcare

services to the local community for 40

years.

We have proudly provided thousands of

children with high quality early education

and care during their important formative

years.

Our largest and longest running centre -

Moore Street at Sutherland - recently

achieved its 40th birthday milestone.

Our 11 Early Education Centres have a

combined total of more than 250 years

servicing the local community.

“I’m continuously blown away by the staff at Dianella Street Early

Education Centre. It’s lovely dropping your child off knowing they are so

happy and excited to be there. It’s even better knowing you’re leaving

them with nurturing staff who genuinely care. I take my hat off to the team.

Thank you for being the strong, capable, intelligent Educators helping us

raise our little girl. We couldn't ask for better role models.” Meg.

COMPLIANCE AND SAFETY

Safety and full industry compliance are

non-negotiable at Council.

We invest heavily to ensure every centre

is safe, fully compliant and operating to a

high standard.

We employ a dedicated Safety and

Compliance team to monitor all of

Council’s childcare sites.

Our team is on the road daily, conducting

many types of checks and visits including

spot checks and compliance visits.

We also place each Early Education

Centre under the microscope on a

monthly basis, examining a different focus

during each inspection.

Areas of focus include, for example,

educational programming and practice,

health and safety and relationships with

children.

These highly scrutinised visits lead to

ongoing quality improvements and

ensures full compliance with National Law

and Regulations.

Council’s centres are also subject to

unannounced spot checks by the

childcare industry's governing body.

(All forms of approved childcare can

receive these same spot checks.)

“The centre is fun and vibrant. The kids love going and the Educators are honestly amazing. They really do love the kids and the kids love them just as much. All of this is only possible from having a great team who feel valued and a great leader. Honestly from a working parent, to see my child so happy and centred, confident and developing, a thank you will never be enough.” Rebecca.

NATIONAL

QUALITY

STANDARDS

Our industry-leading

internal safety and

compliance practices

has resulted in 100% of

our services operating

at or above the

industry’s National

Quality Standards.

Services are assessed

against the seven

quality areas of the

National Quality

Standard (NQS) and

given an overall rating

based on these results.

DAILY EDUCATION

Our Early Education Centre curriculum

promotes the development of language

and literacy, numeracy, social and

emotional skills, physical development

and cognitive growth.

Many parents want to see their child write

their name and hear them count. Our

curriculum provides children with the

platform to develop these types of skills,

along with many others.

Education, incorporating academic and life

skills, occurs from the moment a child

walks through our doors.

Infants, toddlers and preschoolers

experience age appropriate learning on a

daily basis.

This learning is embedded in a holistic

program encompassing:

language and literacy

mathematics and engineering

science and technology

arts and crafts

sustainability education

music and dance

physical activity to promote gross and

fine motor skills

cultural experiences

sensory experiences

free creative play

community excursions.

“Our son was in care before starting primary school and he is excelling in all areas of his learning now, which we believe has resulted from the foundation set in the centre’s curriculum.” Penny.

ACADEMIC SKILLS

Academic skills include, among other

skills, literacy and numeracy concepts and

experiences.

On a daily basis, this learning includes:

recognition of numbers, letters, shapes

and colours (early numeracy and

literacy skills)

vocabulary expansion

story time, songs and rhymes

(including music appreciation)

developing pencil grip and fine motor

skills

writing, drawing, cutting, folding,

pasting and painting, including the

regular use of pencils, scissors,

crayons and textas

experimenting and hypothesising

(early science)

developing and increasing attention

span.

LIFE SKILLS

Life skills focus on the following aspects of

social and emotional skills, including:

emotional resilience (self regulating

emotions, expressing emotions

appropriately)

self help skills (caring for possessions

and helping children to be

independent)

conflict resolution skills

learning to share and take turns

cooperating and collaborating with

others

learning to adapt to changes in

routines

knowing when and how to ask for

assistance

empathy and caring for others

developing problem solving skills

toileting independence

the importance of good nutrition and

exercise.

INCLUSIONS

Free Cloth Nappy Service

Our centres provide an eco-friendly

Modern Cloth Nappy service to babies

and toddlers, at no additional cost.

The Modern Cloth Nappies, in partnership

with Lavenderia, are reusable and

professionally laundered. The fabric, fit

and comfort of the modern cloth nappies

are a far cry from the cloth nappies your

parents would remember.

The free cloth nappy service has saved

more than 5,000 kilograms, equivalent to

5.1 tonnes of landfill in one six month

period alone.

Nutritious Meals

Our trained cooks prepare nutritious

meals for the children each day. All meals

are included within our fees, including:

breakfast cereals and milk

morning and afternoon teas

lunch

late afternoon tea and snack

Our centres follow the NSW Health

Nutritional Guidelines, providing a

minimum of 50% of children's

Recommended Dietary Intake each day.

Consumable Items

We also provide the following items for

babies, toddlers and preschool age

children at no additional cost:

Zinc and Castor Oil Cream,

Sudocream, pawpaw cream for nappy

rash

baby wipes

water and milk in sippy cups

bibs and face washers (single use)

cow’s, rice and soy milk for bottles

cot and bed linen – individual to your

child and laundered on site.

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and environmental

education is a significant part of our

centres’ curriculum.

Some of our many sustainable initiatives

include vegetable gardens (produce is

often used in our kitchens for preparing

the children’s meals), a worm farm,

bamboo handtowels, the use of reusable

materials, upcycling, solar power and our

Modern Cloth Nappy Service.

The children regularly learn about

sustainability and the environment such as

saving water and energy, the role of

nature and admiring and respecting our

planet. We also celebrate various events

such as National Tree Day, National

Recycling Week and World Oceans Day.

Council’s Children's Services unit also has

a Sustainability Team called SEED -

Sustainable Environmental Education

Development - dedicated to sustainable

initiatives and environmental education

projects within all of Children's Services.

The team is passionate about embedding

sustainable practices within daily

operations and supporting centres to

incorporate environmental experiences

into their curriculum.

The team meets monthly to work on

various projects including research, grant

applications, behaviour change projects

and supporting Children's Services with

sustainable ideas and suggestions.

The SEED team also runs a monthly

Sustainability Challenge - The SEED

Superstar of the Month - where centres

submit a photograph of a sustainable

practice or educational project according

to a particular theme.

A DAY AT OUR CENTRES

We understand how important it is for

parents to have an understanding of

their child’s day.

The day commences with breakfast before

enjoying small group play and

transitioning into a day of learning and

discovery.

Our Educators engage the children in

small group interactions, moments of

spontaneous and intentional teaching and

play-based learning in either our indoor or

outdoor learning environments.

Following morning tea, this learning and

investigation time continues.

Education is wide and varied, and often

based on the children’s and Educators’

interests. Learning can focus on anything

and everything which populates our world

- nature, cultures, countries, people and

communities.

After a hot lunch, the children enjoy group

time activities including interest-based

stories and songs.

An opportunity to rest or sleep is provided.

Children who do not sleep are encouraged

to participate in quiet experiences such as

reading books. Educators work with each

child’s individual needs for rest and sleep

during this time.

As the children wake from their rest they

are invited to enjoy quiet and calm

experiences and learnings.

The children are later offered a

progressive afternoon tea when they feel

ready, while quiet play and exploration

continues. Sunscreen is applied 20

minutes prior to heading outdoors.

Our routines are flexible and responsive to

the children’s requests, interests, weather

and seasonal changes which may impact

the timing or location of the routine.

Every part of your child’s day is

meaningful and an important learning

opportunity.

The ‘routine’ components of the day, such

as lunch and toileting, provide children

with all important self help and

independence skills such as washing and

drying their own hands, serving their own

food and pouring their own drinks.

It’s important to recognise that children

are different when not with their parents.

Typically they are braver, stronger and

bolder in care than at home, because

they’re not relying on you for support.

In our centres children are presented with

opportunities which challenge them every

day, such as making a new friend without

an adult’s help or taking part in a new

game. Watch their learning soar as they

immerse themselves in this environment.

There’s a lot of talk about resilience, which

should never be underrated. We provide

opportunities for children to learn

resilience everyday - to take a step back

from their parents, do things themselves

and experience new situations. It’s

important because we know that resilient

kids do much better at school.

Throughout the year your child will also

experience a range of incursions (e.g.

mobile petting zoos, fire brigade visits)

and excursions to community destinations

including local parks, school events and

libraries.

What age can a child commence care?

Council accepts applications for care after

the birth of a child. Our services are well

equipped to care for babies and infants.

How do I apply for childcare?

You can apply online at

sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/childcare

Alternatively, please contact Children's

Services on 9710 0466 to request a

printed application form.

What is the waiting period for

childcare?

Waiting times vary considerably. Council

is required to follow Priority of Access

Guidelines set by the Australian

Government. Positions are filled from

applications received, in accordance with

these guidelines.

Vacancies do occur throughout the year

however the majority of placements are

made between September to January for

commencement in the new calendar year.

How are childcare places allocated?

Placements are given in the following

order:

Priority of Access Guideline: Priority 1

(Child at Risk)

Existing children moved up into

appropriate age group

Internal requests for extra days and

transfers

Siblings of existing children in care who

meet Priority 2

Priority of Access Guidelines: Priority 2

placements from Council's database

Siblings of existing children in care who

meet Priority 3

Priority of Access Guideline: Priority 3

placements from Council's database

A child currently in care cannot exit care to

create a vacancy for their sibling.

Positions in Council's Early Education

Centres are allocated into the following

age groups:

Birth-6 months

6-12 months

12-18 months

18-24 months

2-3 years

3-5 years

When a vacancy occurs, an assessment

is made across all rooms with regard to

the remaining children to decide whether a

transition to a new age grouping will be

beneficial.

For example, if a child in the 3-5 age room

is leaving our service, the centre

director will check to see if there may be a

child currently in the birth-3 age room

who would benefit from transitioning to the

3-5 age room (effectively taking the

position vacated by the child leaving).

What this means is that even though a

child has left our service from the 3-5 year

age bracket, the vacancy that arises could

be in a younger age group.

A vacancy is determined by the ages of

current children in attendance. Please

also note children do not automatically

transition to the next room when they turn

of age.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Can I claim the Child Care Benefit and

Child Care Rebate?

Our Centres are approved services and the

Child Care Rebate and Child Care Benefit can

be claimed.

What happens when I’m made an offer of

care?

When a family is offered a position in an Early

Education Centre, the family has a maximum

two working days from acceptance of the offer

to make a bond payment.

The current bond is $100 per day. The bond

payment will be held by Children's

Services until such time as the family leaves

the centre, after giving two weeks written

notice, and finalising all outstanding debts.

Bonds are not refundable or transferable if the

position is not taken up.

What are the childcare fees?

The following fees (before applying the

childcare benefit) are applicable for the

2016/17 financial year:

Per child per day up to 2 years: $100

Per child per day age 2-3 years: $94.50

Per child per day age 3-5 years: $92.50

What are the centre hours?

Our centres open from 7am-6.15pm Monday

to Friday (with the exception of public

holidays), 51 weeks of the year.

What is your emergency procedure?

In the unlikely event of an emergency, you will

be notified immediately.

Appropriate emergency services are called

straight away.

Council has stringent and robust emergency

guidelines which are reviewed regularly and

communicated with families.

Will my child go on excursions?

Your child can participate in excursions with

your written permission. Our Educators enjoy

taking the children in their care to local

destinations including the library and park.

I’m waiting for childcare and my details

have changed?

Should you need to update your details (e.g.

to supply a new phone number) contact us at:

ChildrensServices@ssc.nsw.gov.au

Phone: 02 9710 0466

What if I have a child with a disability?

We are a leader in the field of early childhood

development and the integration of children

with additional needs in mainstream care.

Let us know when placing your child on our

database and/or if any changes occur to your

child’s needs. This will enable us to ensure

that if a vacancy arises we can place your

child in the centre best suited to their needs.

We encourage you to disclose if your child has

a diagnosed disability, an allergy, challenging

behaviours or any other concerns that are not

consistent with their developmental age.

Centres may receive support from our

Inclusion Support Services. Dependent on

your child’s needs, we may also be able to

access funding of an additional staff member

for increased one-on-one support for the child

and to assist integration.

Can I visit a centre I’m interested in?

We encourage you to tour the centre/s of

interest to you. Each centre host tours

periodically. Dates and times are published

on each centre's profile page at

www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/CentreTours

Caringbah Dianella Street Early Education Centre Ph: 9524 2412

Cronulla Waratah Street Early Education Centre Ph: 9523 8223

Engadine Caldarra Avenue Early Education Centre Ph: 9548 1254

Illawong Hobart Place Early Education Centre Ph: 9543 5533

Jannali Soldiers Road Early Education Centre Ph: 9528 7285

Kirrawee Fauna Place Early Education Centre Ph: 9542 3992

Menai Allison Crescent Early Education Centre Ph: 9541 1713 Bradman Road Early Education Centre Ph: 9543 5942

Sutherland Moore Street Early Education Centre Ph: 9521 8087

Sylvania Canberra Road Early Education Centre Ph: 9522 7040

Woolooware Franklin Road Early Education Centre Ph: 9523 9944 For profiles of each centre, including photo galleries, visit sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/CentreTours

COUNCIL’S CENTRES

ENROLLING FOR CARE

The fastest and easiest way to apply for

care is online at

sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/childcare and

following the link to our online Application

for Care form.

Our form seeks your family details, the

days and hours of care needed, your

child’s medical information or allergies and

any other relevant information.

On the form you also have the opportunity

to nominate up to three Early Education

Centre preferences.

You can also nominate a preference for a

particular care type (either Early

Education Centres, Family Day Care or

both).

Where a position is offered, there is the

opportunity to exchange information about

your child and start a collaborative

relationship with us and your child’s Early

Education Centre team.

Some of the things we will ask you to

provide is your child’s birth certificate,

immunisation history statement or

approved immunisation exemption form,

Customer Reference Number if claiming

government childcare benefits and the

details of your emergency contacts.

You are always welcome to contact us for

any assistance or queries regarding the

application for care process or forms.

ONLINE ENROLMENT FORM

sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/childcare

PHONE

02 9710 0466

EMAIL

ChildrensServices@ssc.nsw.gov.au

ADDRESS

Level 2 Kirkby House

33-35 Belmont Street

Sutherland NSW 2232

WEB

sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/childcare

FACEBOOK

Search ‘Sutherland Shire Council

Children’s Services’

(@SSCChildrensServices)

APPLYING FOR CARE

“I'm sitting in my office with tears running down my face. It’s been an absolute delight to read through what our baby girl is doing while we are not with her. Both my husband and I have seen such development in our daughter since she started at Hobart Place. She is always happy to be dropped off and sometimes, even sad to be picked up! This makes us very happy to know that she must be enjoying her time at the centre every day.” Danielle.

CHILDREN’S SERVICES

Level 2 Kirkby House, 33-35 Belmont Street

Sutherland NSW 2232

Telephone: 02 9710 0466 Facsimile: 02 9710 0597

Email: ChildrensServices@ssc.nsw.gov.au

www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/Childcare