FAQ

You will need to complete the enrolment form and return with a copy of your child’s birth certificate, immunisation record and any relevant medical plans.

We require a 2 day minimum enrolment

We request that all children complete an orientation prior to their commencement date at the Service. An orientation is a great way for families to ensure that their child is ready for their first day and returning to a familiar setting.

Spare clothes, hat, drink bottle, milk bottles, cot/bed sheets, comforter, nappy cream.

Yes of course, we encourage families to come in for a tour with their child prior to enrolment

You can join our waitlist by filling out a waitlist form here or by calling our Family Relations team on 02 8362 3000

You can contact our Family Relations team on 02 8362 3000 and they can advise each centres vacancies.

Tours are run Monday through Friday.

There is no fee to join our waitlist.

Yes, you can join the waitlist prior to your child being born.

The Early Years Learning Framework is a guide for early childhood educators who work with children from birth to five years. They will use the Framework in partnership with families, children’s first and most influential educators, to develop learning programs responsive to children’s ideas, interests, strengths and abilities, and recognise that children learn through their play.

This ensures your child receives quality education programs in line with the National Quality Standard in their early childhood setting. This is a vital time for them to learn and develop.

Read more about The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia here

The National Quality Standard (NQS) is a key aspect of the National Quality Framework (NQF) and sets a high, national benchmark for early childhood education and care services in Australia. Early childhood services are rated against 7 quality areas of the National Quality Standard:

1. Educational program and practice
2. Children's health and safety
3. Physical environment
4. Staffing arrangements
5. Relationships with children
6. Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7. Governance and leadership

The National Quality Framework (NQF) provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for early childhood education and care and outside school hours care services across Australia. The NQF includes:

• National Law and National Regulations
• National Quality Standard
• Assessment and quality rating process
• National learning frameworks.

Read more about the NQF here.

At Active Kids, we implement a variety of extra-curricular activities that support the national Early Years Learning Framework. All activities are designed to stimulate childhood development including fine and gross motor skills, cognitive development, turn taking (important in the development of social behaviour), listening skills and more.

• Weekly visits from our Learn and Grow team which consists of professionally trained Fitness, Dance, Drama, STEM and French educators. All programs will be delivered in the form of 30 minute weekly lessons. Each week, educators and families will receive the lesson plans and the resources that will be used.
• We facilitate the development of children’s literacy and numeracy skills and harness children’s natural curiosity with letters and numbers through play based learning through the ‘Transition to School’ program. We also provide programs throughout the year to further support your child’s transition from the early childhood setting to primary school.
• School Liaison Program
• Incursions/ local excursions including library visits, shopping for veggies at the local supermarket, etc.
• Visits from local doctors, dentists, police officers and firemen.

Active Kids uses a variety of methods to help assist children in displaying positive behaviour. These methods are based around re- direction, praise and positive reinforcement.

Active Kids Group have a dedicated family relations team who are here to assist you with all of your enrolment enquiries. This team is dedicated to providing you with the most up to date, efficient and professional advice and service. The family relations team can be contacted on (02) 8362 3000 or [email protected]

All Active Kids educators hold or are currently working towards their Certificate 3 or Diploma in early childhood education or an early childhood teaching degree. Our educators are also trained in… First aid, asthma awareness, Anaphylaxis management, food and safety handling, nutrition/ menu planning, child protection, emergency and fire protection.

AKG has partnered with Community Early Learning Australia (CELA) to develop our own Professional Development and Training calendar. Engaging in a range of workshops, educators enhance their skills and teaching techniques ensuring they remain adaptable and proficient in their roles. In addition to evaluations and monthly staff meetings dedicated to continuous improvement, Active Kids Group organizes team building events that provides opportunities for our educators to enhance communication, build trust, and strengthen bonds within their teams, ultimately fostering a supportive and cohesive work environment that positively impacts the quality of care provided.

Active Kids childcare educators are committed to providing children with a supportive and caring early learning environment. We achieve this by working closely with families to ensure we understand your child’s individual interests, strengths and individual learning needs. We get to know you at orientation visits and then we continue to communicate with you openly each day that your child attends. Our educators will provide your child with support to develop confidence in their own abilities and the opportunity to extend on their knowledge of the world we live in. We also know that your child enjoys lots of care and praise during the day. We provide our educators with a positive work environment and we support each educator’s ongoing professional development to provide you with the best team. We provide learning and employee recognition opportunities to ensure that we retain our teams, so that the relationships they build with your child are long lasting.

Active Kids Group services are supported by an expert team of early childhood education professionals who provide leadership and consultation. The team ensures we deliver quality education to our children as well as ensuring that we continue to be recognised leaders in the provision of early childhood services. Active Kids Group operations, children’s services, financial, administration, human resources and a marketing manager lead our education and development strategy. Our Management team inspires and motivates the team of passionate early childhood professionals, creates a mentoring culture of continual improvement, implements professional development workshops and ensures that all educators have access to a wide range of educational materials.

You need to meet some requirements to get Child Care Subsidy. The child care subsidy is paid directly to child care providers to reduce the fees you pay. You may be eligible if you or your partner meet all of the following:

• care for your child at least 2 nights per fortnight, or have 14% care
• are liable for fees for care provided at an approved child care service
• meet the residency rules. See further information here
• your child must also meet immunisation requirements

The amount of Child Care Subsidy you can get depends on your circumstances. To work out how much Child Care Subsidy you are eligible for depends on the following:

• your family’s income
• the hours of activity you and your partner do
• the hourly rate cap based on the type of approved child care you use and your child’s age.

The amount of subsidised child care you can access per fortnight applies to each child.

Yes, we are a registered childcare provider which means that eligible families can claim the Government benefit relating to your childcare.

It is good idea to start your claim process as soon as you are considering starting your child in childcare. Claims can take over 4 weeks to process so the sooner you make the claim, the more likely the claim will be approved by the time your child commences care.

In order to receive the CCS, you will need to log into your myGov account and complete your CCS assessment task using your registered CRN. For further information on how to claim the CCS, click here.

CCS claims can only be backdated up to 28 days. You can’t make a lump sum claim for CCS.

Complete the following steps to apply for Child Care Subsidy (CCS). Before you start, check if you are eligible to receive the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Provide us with your and your child’s CRN details so we’re able to make a connection to Centrelink to ensure you can receive CCS payments. It is important that we receive both CRN’s as a connection can’t be made using only one.

Once a connection to Centrelink is made, you will receive notification to approve the enrolment notice. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.

Visit the enrolments tab in your Centrelink account to approve your child’s childcare details (i.e. the centre they are enrolled at, days they are enrolled and the daily fee)

Families are entitled to 42 absence days per child, per financial year. You may also be entitled to additional absence days in certain circumstances (e.g. illness of a child, a parent or sibling). In shared care arrangements, the allocation of 42 absences per financial year relates to the child, not each individual claimant.

If you don’t have enough CCS hours to cover all your care per fortnight, then your fees may be different each alternate week. Your activity levels relate to the number of hours of care that subsidy is applied to each week. For example; If both guardians are working fulltime (80hours per fortnight), they will be entitled to 100 hours of subsidised care per week. If their child attends 5 days per week at a service that operates for 11 hours each day, they will use 55 hours in week 1 leaving them with only 45 hours for week 2. This means the fees charged in week 1 will be lower than week 2.

The start date of your agreement may be earlier than the date your child commences care at the centre as this refers to the date your enrolment details were sent through to Centrelink. Even though the agreement date may be earlier, no childcare subsidy will be paid until attendances have been sent to Centrelink in your first week of care.

Yes, a new claim needs to be made for each of your children.

Your family’s combined income will help determine the CCS percentage you’re entitled to.

Your family income	Child Care Subsidy percentage
$0 to $83,280	90%
More than $83,280 to below $533,280	Decreasing from 90% The percentage goes down by 1%  for every $5,000 of income your family earns
$533,280 or more	0%

Centrelink will withhold 5% subsidy. This is to help reduce the likelihood of you getting an overpayment. At the end of the financial year when Centrelink balance your payments, if you have not underestimated your family income you will receive the 5% withholding back.

Fees are inclusive of meals, nappies, formula, wipes, sunscreen, Learn & Grow Program, Incursions & Excursions.

Fees are paid fortnightly by direct debit.

Fees are payable for all enrolled days at the service.

Under the Public Health Act 2010, the only people who can be enrolled in childcare are those who have an approved form that shows that they are:

fully immunised for their age, OR

are on a catch-up schedule, OR

have a medical reason not to be immunised.

You will need to provide your child’s AIR Immunisation History Statement showing ‘ up to date’ or ‘catch up schedule active’ or you will need to provide a medical exemption form.

You can obtain a copy of your child’s immunisation statement from your Medicare online account. Click here for more information.

Overseas immunisation schedules may be different from the Australian schedule. If your child was immunised overseas, their immunisation record will need to be checked by a GP/nurse who will transfer the information to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Parents can then request an AIR Immunisation History Statement.

Our services promote healthy living, good nutrition and the wellbeing of all children, educators and families. We support and provide for children with food allergies, dietary requirements and restrictions by being egg and nut free, as well as specific cultural and religious practices.

Children are offered food and beverages throughout the day that are appropriate to their nutritional and dietary requirements, based on the written advice contained in the child’s Enrolment, the Australian Dietary Guidelines and then reviewed by Munch and Move. We choose foods based on the likes, dislikes, growth and developmental needs, cultural, religious or health requirements of the children in our care.

Our educators will incorporate health and nutrition regularly into the learning programs. Educators will discuss food and nutrition with children and families and encourage parents to continue our healthy eating message in their homes. Educators will encourage children to be independent and develop social skills at meal times.

Active Kids services will minimise the risk of exposure to foods that might trigger severe allergy or Anaphylaxis in susceptible children.

• Each child care centre will ensure children do not trade or share food, food utensils and food containers.
• All our centres encourage nut and egg free zones.
• Personal information about individual allergies in food preparation or serving areas will be displayed in accordance with privacy guidelines and parental consent.