TERMS AND CONDITIONS

 

This is a summary of the main points of interest to parents and caregivers taken from our policies and procedures.  Please ask staff for a copy of the full set of documents so you can familiarize yourself with them if you want.  By signing the enrolment form you are accepting our terms and conditions and operating policies and procedures. These terms and conditions relate to the Bayview Early Learning Centre.
 

Absences

Please notify staff of any known absences as soon as possible.  There is a 24 hour answerphone service on 09 443 8144 and this landline is answered (wherever possible) during operating hours of 7.30am to 5.30pm, taking into consideration the nature of the work and that staff can’t always get to the phone.  Alternatively, you can phone the Community Centre office on 09 443 0231 between 9am and 2pm.

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Enrolled children are entitled to up to one enrolled week of sick leave per year without charge, as long as suitable notice has been given.  For example, if a child is enrolled for 3 days a week, they will be entitled to 3 days sick leave. Failure to give notice of sick leave will result in full charges.
 

Accreditation

The Bayview Early Learning Centre is licensed by the Ministry of Education to provide all day, teacher led care for up to 36 children.  We are also recognized by Work and Income as an approved provider of childcare services.  If you have any concerns we would love for you to talk to our staff first but understand that you may want to raise concerns directly with these organisations.

Ministry of Education (Auckland Office): 09 632 9400

Ministry of Social Development (WINZ): 0800 559 009

The Ministry of Education provides funding to the service and you can see more information about this in the Parent Information Folder at the sign in desk.  The Education Review Office also visits to inspect the Centre and you can find their most recent reviews of the service online or in the Parent Information Folder.
 

Ages of children

We accept children from 3 months to 5 years old and may be able to accommodate children after their 5th birthday but encourage you to discuss this with our Head Teacher.

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Behaviour management

Early Learning Centre staff will do all they can to work with children and their parents or caregivers to encourage engagement and positive behaviour.   We aim to make the Centre an inclusive environment and will work with other agencies to support children with higher needs wherever possible.

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Continued incidents of unacceptable behaviour that create health and safety risks for staff or other children, may result in children being asked to leave the Centre either temporarily or on a permanent basis.  The Centre has a zero tolerance for physical violence.
 

Child Protection

The Bayview Early Learning Centre staff have a duty to report any concerns relating to the welfare and safety of children attending the service, any siblings or other members of the child’s whanau that staff come into contact with as a normal course of operations.  Where appropriate, we will speak to the parent or caregiver about our concerns.  We do also reserve the right to report incidents of concern to relevant authorities without consultation with whanau.

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Collecting children

All children must be collected be a parent or guardian (aged 18 or older) listed on the child’s enrolment form. No children will be released to anyone not listed on the enrolment form unless we have received prior written authority from the primary caregiver.

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The parent or guardian must sign the child out with the time they left.  Failure to do so will result in the charge being set to the final closing time of the programme.

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We reserve the right to not release a child to their parent or guardian if the person collecting the child appears to be under the influence of alcohol or in a state that we feel may be likely to cause harm to the child.
 

Compliments and complaints

The Centre does operate an open door policy and we ask that parents provide feedback on our services. We ask that you undertake a quick survey once a year but if at any point in time you are really happy, or unhappy about the service please do raise this with the Head Teacher in the first instance, or alternatively to the Centre Manager on 09 443 0231 or manager@bayviewcentre.org.nz
 

Devices

Please do not send any electronic devices with your child to the Early Learning Centre.  The children get closely controlled and monitored screen time from time to time as part of our education programme.
 

Dropping off children

A parent or guardian (aged 18 or older) is required to sign in children being dropped off, with a time of arrival.

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Emergency contacts

Please provide 2 people (other than the main caregiver) that we can reach if we cannot reach the primary caregiver in case of emergency.
 

Emergency preparedness

As part of our planning we do hold supplies here to help us care for children for an extended period of time. If at any point we had to close the Centre we would phone each parent or emergency contact individually.  We encourage you to make a plan on how you would respond to a range of emergency scenarios which could include you not being able to get home to collect your child.

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We also teach the children about emergencies and hold termly practice evacuations so everyone knows what to do if there was a fire or other reason to leave the building.  We also hold termly earthquake drills and from time to time also practice our lockdown procedure.  These practices are all learning opportunities and of course may generate conversations in your family home. 
 

Enrolment

All children must be enrolled at Bayview Early Learning Centre and an enrolment form and supporting information must be held by staff.  Changes to enrolled hours or days, or leaving dates must be made in writing to the Head Teacher.  Adding days or hours will only be possible if space is available and applications will be considered in line with the waiting list policy if spaces are not currently available. Our waitlist for 2023 is currently closed an we are only enrolling for April  2024 onwards at this stage
 

Fees

Please see our fees summary for more information about the current charges and do ask if you have any questions.

Children receiving all or part of their 20 ECE hours will not be charged for these hours.

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From time to time the staff arrange trips away from the Centre and there may be charges for these trips.  These fees must be paid in advance and by the deadline given.

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Where children have not been collected by the end of their enrolled session, which is still within normal operating hours, the parent will be charged at a standard hourly rate.  Where children are not collected after closing (5.30pm), there will be a late charge of $1 per minute.
 

First Aid

Children take risks as part of their learning and are exposed to low level, supervised risks at the Centre.  Whilst staff do all they can to minimize potential harm, accidents may happen from time to time.

Where possible, injuries, accidents and onset of illness symptoms will be treated by one of the First Aid trained member of staff on duty.  Where an injury or illness is more serious, or there is concern that treatment has not been enough (e.g. with a possible head injury) then staff will seek further medical advice and treatment if deemed necessary.  Staff will make all possible attempts to reach a parent or guardian or one of the emergency contacts as soon as it is decided to seek further medical advice.  Lack of contact will not prevent staff seeking further treatment or advice.

Further treatment may involve, but is not limited to; calling an ambulance, taking a child for emergency medical treatment, seeking advice from poisoning or health phone lines or taking a child to hospital.  Where a child is taken off site, 2 staff members will go with the child if a parent or guardian has not arrived before the decision is made to seek further attention.

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If a child falls ill while in attendance, staff may make the decision to isolate the child and contact parents to ask them to collect the child.  We prefer that unwell children are not brought to the Centre to reduce the risk of disease passing between children and staff.
 

Food and drink

Our staff provide healthy morning tea and afternoon tea snacks appropriate to the age of your child.  We ask that you provide a packed lunch for your child each day.  We recognize the importance of healthy eating habits that begin at this age so encourage you to provide food that meets the nutritional requirements of your child.  If you would like some ideas on what to put in lunchboxes then please speak to one of the team.

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We hate to put rubbish in the bin and would prefer to see lunchboxes that contained items that are not individually packaged wherever possible, or are in packaging that can be re-used or recycled.

 

We have a NO NUT & WHOLE EGG policy and from time to time may extend this to other food groups if a child has severe allergies. 

 

Each child should bring a named drink bottle with them and we will fill these up during the day if need be.  Please note that we encourage the children to drink water (or milk for the younger children) when they are at the Centre and ask that you keep fizzy drinks and juice as drinks for home.

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Higher needs

Where a child enrolling at the Centre has any higher needs or special requirements, including allergies, regular medication or learning or behavioural difficulties it is the parent’s responsibility to inform staff of that before enrolment.  The Centre will do all it can to accommodate all children in our programmes but does reserve the right to refuse or later terminate an enrolment where a child’s needs or behaviour endanger other children or staff, require a higher level of supervision than current ratios allow, or pose a health or safety risk to others. Please speak with the Centre Manager if you feel your Child needs additional support.
 

Hours of operation

The Centre is open from 7.30am to 5.30pm and children cannot be dropped off before this opening time.  We are able to accommodate children until 6.00pm but only on an emergency basis and with the understanding that late fees apply after 5.30pm. 
 

Late pick up

Where the session has finished at a child is still at the Centre, two staff will remain on site and the senior member of staff will phone the parent or guardian.

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Where a parent cannot be reached by the staff on duty past closing time, the staff may take the child(ren) to the local police station and will leave clear notes on the Early Learning Centre entranceway and messages with the parent and all emergency contacts.
 

Non attendance

If a child does not attend an enrolled session and the Head Teacher or other member of staff has not been informed of the reason for the absence, a normal fee will be charged for that day.  Please note that children are allowed 1 enrolled week of sick leave and 3 weeks of annual leave at no charge and a 4th week at 25% of charge.  Absences, even if notified, beyond this in a calendar year will be charged at the standard rate.
 

Payment of fees

Parents and guardians of children enrolled at the Centre will be invoiced weekly in arrears but payments are expected to be paid in advance.  Our standard fees are set out in the enrolment information pack.

 

Bayview Early Learning Centre reserves the right to cancel the enrolment of any child(ren) where fees are not being paid in a timely manner and senior staff have taken appropriate action to retrieve this money.  Please talk to us if you are in financial difficulty and remember that WINZ do offer childcare subsidies to offset some or all of the cost of our fees.

Payments can be made online to the following bank account:

Bayview Early Learning Centre 12-3072-0604456-00 using the child’s name as a reference.
 

Parent involvement

At Bayview Early Learning Centre we welcome parent involvement and enjoy sharing knowledge and observations about your child.  Please do stop and chat to the teachers.  From time to time we require parent help on trips and run working bees which you can always volunteer for. 

 

If at any stage you want to make an appointment to talk to any of the staff in more detail, please let us know.  We have rooms available in the Community Centre so we can meet off site if you would prefer privacy.

 

Our Governance Board is also open to parents to join or just attend on a casual observer basis.  Please chat to the Centre Manager for more information
 

Policies and procedures

A full set of our policies and procedures are available at the Centre for you to look at.  Please feel free to ask a member of the team to get them for you and let us know any comments you may have.

 

Privacy

We value your privacy and that of your child, if you would like to view any information that we hold here at any point then please do speak to one of the staff.  Please note that we can only share information with the named parent(s) or caregiver(s).
 

Smokefree

The Centre and the grounds immediately around it (including the car park area) are smokefree 24 hours a day.   This includes e-cigarettes and vaping.
 

Spare clothes

We ask that you make sure your child has at least one full set of clean, dry clothes in their bag each day as they can get wet and / or messy and require a change during the day.  We do not use aprons or Art smocks please only send them in clothes you are prepared to have come home with paint on. We also request you send your child with a Wet Bag that we can use for soiled clothing.
 

Statutory holiday

The Centre does not open on Statutory holidays.  Where a statutory holiday falls on a day that your child would normally attend then normal charges will apply, you can request to use your Annual Leave entitlement for any Statutory Days.
 

Toys from home

We discourage children bringing special things from home as we cannot always guarantee that they will be returned in the same state they came in.  If your child does want to talk about something and show it to the others at mat time, please let us know so that it is removed from their bag and looked after during the day.
 

Weather wise

The Centre operates a sun safe programme and encourages all children to bring hats with them in the summer (spares are also available at the Centre), from the start of October to the end of April.  Staff will ensure children apply sunscreen before having any time outside, however feel free to provide your own Sunscreen if your child has any skin issues.  During the winter months children should come in appropriate clothing for the weather conditions, including Wet Weather clothing.

 

We look forward to welcoming you into our whanau and seeing your child grow and develop. 

Please do ask questions, we are here to help make sure you and your child feel welcome.