Enrolment
Epping’s caring and stimulating Pre-school
Fees and payments
- All fees are due in advance, fortnightly or monthly. Our 2024 full fees are $110.00 per day.
- Our Pre-school is approved under Federal Government guidelines to provide you with full access to all childcare fee subsidies currently available and offers Child Care Subsidy (CCS) fee relief administered by Services Australia (Centrelink).
- For further information regarding out of pocket expenses you can use the Fees Estimator at startingblocks.gov.au or you can get more personalised facts about CCS from the Department of Human Services (DHS) on 13-61-50.
- Fees are payable for 48 weeks of the year including public holidays, sick days and general absenteeism, including parents and school holidays.
- Please pay fees by the internet Direct Bank Deposit. Credit / debit card payments are not accepted. No printed invoices will be issued, as all families will receive by e-mail, fortnightly Centrelink Family Statements of Entitlements of their accounts.
- Additionally, Gum Tree Cottage Pre-school does offer to all enrolled families option of receiving Pre-school’s fee reduction through the NSW Government Start Strong Fee Relief program being part of the NSW Governments’ Start Strong Affordable Pre-school initiative.
Late fees
Our Pre-school closes at 4pm daily. Please ensure you're at the Pre-school by 3.45pm to have enough time to talk with the educators and collect your child's belongings. We do know that the unexpected events can occur, but we do ask that parents and families are mindful of our closing time to ensure that our educators are able to attend to their personal lives without interruption or delay. unfortunately, we do charge a late fee of $5 for the first five minutes after 4pm then $2 per minute after this time.
Call us today on(02) 9873 2615
to arrange a private tour around our caring Pre-school(during current COVID-19 restrictions it can be arranged any weekday morning preferably between 9 and 10 am)
Enrolment
- Parents are invited to visit our Pre-school at an arranged time to meet the staff and educators.
- A once-only, non-refundable administration fee of $30.00 is charged on enrolment or on a Waiting List application.
- As a condition of enrolment, an up-to-date copy of an Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) Immunisation History for your child must be provided.
- Pre-enrolment and orientation time is offered to all new children.
- A Holding Deposit is paid on enrolment which equals to two weeks full fees not being subject to the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) fee relief. Holding Deposit will be refunded at the end of your child’s enrolment at Gum Tree Cottage Pre-School. Please note that once a Holding Deposit is received, and your child is booked into our Pre-school, the first two weeks of your child’s enrolment cannot be terminated. The Holding Deposit will be refunded when your child completes term 4 prior to school entry, or earlier. This is only provided that a full 4 calendar week’s written notice of your intention for your child to leave the Pre-school is given to the Director, the termination complies with our Fees Policy, and the Pre-school's family accounts have been settled.
- It is necessary to give at least a full 4 calendar weeks’ notice for termination of attendance, or a full fee will be charged in lieu of notice. Please provide the termination notice in writing stating your child’s last attendance day. To make it simple, when you give us a notice any day from Monday to Friday, please be aware that that week does not count. Your child will be expected to attend for at least four more weeks.
- No child is to be withdrawn during term 4. If your child is withdrawn during term 4, after your child has been attending our Pre-school, the remainder of the term 4 fees are payable. Pre-school does not generally take new enrolments in term 4. Full fee will be charged for non-attendance days as no Child Care Subsidy (CCS) fee relief are available for those absences.
- The following information affects all the families receiving, or registered with Services Australia, for CCS purposes. If you terminate your child’s enrolment, a minimum of a 4 full calendar week notice is required and you will be entitled to CCS fee relief until the last day of your child's physical attendance. Also, if your child reaches the last week of the Pre-school year and does not attend his or her last days, you will be required to pay full fees for the days your child was expected to attend. You will not be able to claim the CCS for those days.
- The same rules will apply for all newly enrolled children. If a child does not attend on the first booked days the family will not be able to claim CCS for non-attendance days. Full fees will be charged for those absences.
- Your child has 42 absence days, including public holidays, allowed across all approved long day care services, approved pre-schools, family day care and specialised outside hours care services he or she attends. If your child is away for more than 42 days per financial year and you do not provide a doctor’s certificate to justify their absence, your CCS entitlements will be discontinued.
- For more relevant information please visit the Department of Education, Skills and Employment Child Care Package website at dese.gov.au or the Australia Services website.
- Where vacancies occur during the year, preference will be given to the children already in attendance that wish to extend their days.
- Please note, that because of the structure of care we provide we are unable to offer 1 day per week or 4 days per week enrolments. Additionally, the children celebrating their 4th birthday on or after 1st of April will be always enrolled or re-enrolled in the 3 to 4 years old group. Alternatively, the children born before 31st of March maybe enrolled or re-enrolled in the 4 to 5 years old group.
Gum Tree Cottage Pre-School 's Philosophy
We believe that all children have a right to belong, education, safety and a right to be respected. Therefore, we have provided a happy and safe Pre-school in Epping where security is given through love and care.
We cater for the development of the whole child through respect for the individual needs and cultures of each family. By working in partnership with families where everybody is valued, we believe we can provide a holistic approach to children’s learning, development and lives, making children capable and resourceful learners who are active contributors to their own learning.
We believe that all children should be treated equally and we give equal weight to each child’s ideas, emotions and needs. Through broadening a network of secure relationships, children become increasingly able to recognise and respect the feelings of others, and are able to positively interact.
We provide a developmentally appropriate environment in which each child will progress from one development stage to the next at their own pace. We believe that our environment has vibrant and flexible spaces that are responsive to each child’s interests and abilities.
We follow the National Quality Framework by offering choice and incorporating the children’s interests into the program. Furthermore, we are following and have a deep understanding of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and National Quality Standards (NQS).
We value the role of families’ input in the Pre-school's program and policy decisions. Family involvement is fundamental to a high-quality program. Therefore, we are committed to open and constructive communication with families which includes discussion, children portfolios, journals, journey slide show and newsletters.
We are open for discussion regarding your child’s development and will maintain strict confidentiality as well as reassurance and support where needed. Open discussions regarding care, routines and discipline are highly valued by our educators. All educators and parents working in collaboration with each other will allow for a smoother and successful transition for the child.
We continue to improve our knowledge and understanding of the child’s development through in-service training. By developing our professional knowledge and skills, we will continually strive to find equitable and effective ways to ensure all children have opportunities to achieve learning outcomes.
We support and value our local community and incorporate the community into our program. Gum Tree Cottage Pre-School utilises local services in an effective and meaningful way, as well as participates in community events.
We believe that children learn best through play. Play provides children opportunities to learn, discover, create, improve imagine, problem solve, ask questions and engage in critical thinking.
We accept that a good working team should consist of:
- Encouragement and respect for each other’s opinions.
- Being supportive towards each other.
- Respecting each other’s cultures and individual differences.
- Using active listening skills when communicating with parents, children and other staff members.