F.A.Q.

General Questions

As each family’s ability to claim government rebates and the child care subsidy depend on their unique circumstances, we recommend that you call one of our Family Support Team to discuss fees directly to get a true estimate of your costs. You will be very surprised at how economical flexible care actually is. 

Families are encouraged to contact our Customer Service Team to discuss their unique circumstances. While many families will be eligible for the Child Care Subsidy, additional Kindergarten support such as Early Start Kindergarten may also apply. 

In order to keep our fees as low as possible and to also allow for differing needs, wants and budgets, items such as nappies, teething gels, bottles/ formula and sensitive skin sun cream are self catered for. Items such as wipes and barrier creams, bibs, washers and the like are however provided.  Please talk to your Centre Director should you wish to provide a particular brand suited to your child.

Nutritious food that you would normally serve at home, in quantities sufficient for the length of your child’s time at Kindoo! are recommended. Food can be re-heated if required. 

Drinks should consist of water in a closed sippy cup or bottle. Please don’t pack juices, cordials or other sugary drinks. These can be treats served at home. 

Should your baby be breast fed, please provide a bottle with a teat that your baby will tolerate. The amount you provide is dependant on how much you wish to feed your child during the day. You are welcome to express milk for your baby or provide a made up bottle of your baby’s formula. Bottles will be stored in the fridge until required and then heated to the recommended temperature prior to consumption. 

Kindoo! is a SunSmart accredited Centre. we follow SunSmart’s policies to help provide protection for children’s skin from damaging UV rays. One such measure is the application of sunscreen 30 minutes before outdoor play as well as the use of hats.

Kindoo! has SPF50+ Cancer Council sunscreen on hand at all times. Should your child not tolerate this sunscreen, we welcome your choice to provide an alternative that better suits your child. 

Hats should be of legionnaire or bucket style so as to afford the greatest amount of protection. Hats are worn when we are outside from late September to late April (ie when daily UV rates exceed 3). 

Kids play is often messy so we recommend children attend Kindoo! in ‘everyday’ clothes. We try our hardest to ensure that the children are provided with art smocks and the like when using paints and glues but can not guarantee that they will always be effective!

Kindoo! invoices parents each Monday weekly for the previous week’s care provided. Parent credit cards or bank accounts are then debited on the following Friday after all subsidies such as the childcare subsidy have been deducted.

Applications for the Federal Government’s Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) can be made online via your MyGov>Centrelink or Express Plus apps. 

As Centrelink may take some time to process your application, we highly recommend that you start this process prior to your first booking. While Centrelink will backpay any eligible CCS for up to 28 days, you should note that full fees will be payable until such a time that an approval is issued. Any CCS received by Kindoo! will be immediately applied to your Kindoo! account. Please feel free to request a copy of our Fees Policy or speak to a Customer Service Team member  should you need additional information. 

Digital usage is a part of everyday life for people of all ages. At Kindoo!, as part of our STEM learning and curriculum program, we may use tablets and the internet in general to access age appropriate digital media and content. An example of this is the use of the Government’s ELLA (Early Language Learning app) which assists us with the teaching of foreign languages. 

The use of digital media will be guided by our Educators and is only  for educational use, not entertainment.

We believe supervised access to a range of age appropriate learning based apps and other media will aid your child and provide valuable experience in the lead up to primary school. At no time will your child be provided with inappropriate content or other digital media that is not learning based or educational. 

Please speak to your Customer Service Team to access a copy of our Digital Media Policy should you require further information. 

Unfortunately, young children often pick up colds, coughs and other viruses when in childcare. This is due to their underdeveloped immune systems and unfortunately mostly unavoidable. 

At Kindoo! we regularly disinfect high contact areas such as tables, chairs, doors, windows and especially toys. When combined with regular hand washing and only allowing children that are well into care, we minimise childcare related sickness as much as we are able.  

Out of pocket or gap fees are the fees families pay after any eligible Child Care Subsidy has been deducted. While the formula will depend on your unique circumstances, an approximation can be calculated by taking your session fee and deducting your Child Care Subsidy percentage. Don’t forget to add back in any Withholding amounts.

For example, Sally attends Kindoo! for a Monday core session. Her sessional fee is $85 less the family’s Child Care Subsidy % of 85% plus 5% Withholding. $85 x (100% -85% +5%) =$17 out of pocket each week. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/additional-child-care-subsidy

The Government provides an additional fee safety net for vulnerable families called the Additional Childcare Subsidy. To see if this support is available in your circumstances, please see  https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/additional-child-care-subsidy

Your child’s care and learning will change daily and be dependant on his or her age and developmental needs. 

For example, a child attending Kindoo! Kindergarten may play with play doh, sing a song, do show and tell and paint a picture in the course of one day. 

Babies do not have the skills as yet so their activities would be very different. For example, they might consist of activities concentrated on learning to crawl or walk, listening to a story, playing with developmentally appropriate toys such as a mirror or rattle and getting to sleep and eating. 

These are all skills in themselves and will be dependant on where each child is on the developmental continuum.  Our teachers regularly assess the skills required to developmentally extend your little one and program daily and weekly play activities to teach the skills identified

There is much research  that shows that children within mixed age groups benefit more positively from the experience. 

Mixed-age grouping is a model for preschoolers that allows children to be grouped according to different age ranges. The goal is to build confidence in younger children as well as enhance their language and behavioral skills alongside maximizing intellectual potential. 

Meanwhile, older children benefit from multi-age grouping because it allows them to ‘mentor’ younger children, which builds on their sense of responsibility, and empathy skills.

Session prices vary according to their length, booking type and any eligible subsidy that may apply. As each of these vary from family to family, please contact us directly for an estimate based on your family’s individual circumstances. 

The Child Care Subsidy is a payment from the Government towards the cost of childcare. It is determined by Centrelink based on your family’s income and hours of activity. In order to determine this, you must first submit a claim to Centrelink/ Services Australia. 

As adults, we have the skills to be able to frequently move between venues and routines with ease. For young children who don’t yet have these skills, this can be quite difficult. As such, your child must attend at least twice a week (23 hours) at Kindoo! so that we can develop a secure bond together. Experience and research show us that ad hoc or irregular care is not supportive, especially for very young children. 

At Kindoo!, at least two days (23hrs) of care is booked on a weekly basis. This regular care is called a Permanent Booking and carries over from week to week until cancelled. Four weeks of notice is required for cancelation to take effect. 

 

Once a Permanent booking is in place, families are able to access Casual bookings. Casual bookings can be made 24/7 via our booking app up to 24 hours before the session starts. They may be cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before the session starts. 

Casual bookings can be rolled over from week to week (if you many need to cancel) or made on an irregular basis depending on your needs. 

 

Emergency bookings are those bookings made less than 24 hours before a session starts and may not be cancelled. 

Kindoo! Intro is a group of support structures designed to gradually ease a child into care or kindergarten where their parent is uncertain of their ability to cope with a new environment. It consists of a series of shorter bookings and dedicated Big Buddy support prior to the child starting their regular, permanent session/s. 

In order to support your child, we allocate a Big Buddy to your family under the Kindoo! Intro program. Your Big Buddy acts as a support person for your child on their first few days of care so that they have a trusted, familiar face to turn to. In addition to this, due to our Orientation briefing process, your Big Buddy is intimately aware of your child’s routines, likes and dislikes and will help to ensure that all of these requirements are taken into account from Day One. Your Big Buddy will also help to support your family by acting as your dedicated liaison person at Kindoo! 

If your child is not tired or if you do not wish them to nap during the day, we are happy to encourage and engage them in quiet play as an alternative. 

Kindoo!’s play based curriculum follows the Early Years Learning Development Framework or EYLDF. As such, all of our teaching focusses on and recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development. Learning is pre-programmed by your child’s Early Childhood Teacher on a fortnightly basis, A copy of the planned activities can be seen your child’s classroom and your Teacher would be happy to discuss this with you. 

Kindoo! is an inclusive service and whatever additional needs your child may have, they are welcome and embraced first and foremost as a child at Kindoo! Please speak to your Centre Director to discuss your child’s need for any additional support. 

In working with your family, Inclusion support experts and using the marvels of modern technology , Kindoo! Educators have many avenues to bridge any language and communication gaps. Please discuss your child’s needs with our friendly Centre Directors at enrolment.

Staying connected with your child each day is a breeze at Kindoo! and there are many ways to do this. From speaking to your child’s educators, receiving daily photo/ video updates and individual learning observations to viewing learning plans and our Educator Hotline, you’ll never be short of information on your child’s learning and daily wellbeing. 

Casual sessions can be quickly and easily booked 24/7 via the Kindoo! Xplor Home app with just a few clicks.

Under the Federal Government ‘No jab, no play’ legislation, all children at Kindoo! must be immunised or on an authorised immunisation catch up plan.

With a degree qualified Kindergarten Teacher in charge of planning and implementing our Kindoo! Kindergarten program under the guidelines of the Early Years Learning Development Framework, there is no difference between Kindoo! Kindergarten and those services provided by local councils. 

In fact, with our service being run on a commercial basis, we would go so far as to say the Kindoo! Kindergarten is more robust than some other local government services!

While we take every precaution to keep the children in our case safe, we all know that accidents can sometimes happen. In the event that your child has a minor accident at Kindoo! you will be notified as soon as possible via the Kindoo! Xplor Home app. If the accident is of a more serious nature, parents are contacted immediately by phone. 

There are a number of safety practices in place at Kindoo! to protect your child from covid-19. These include limiting visitors to the centre to only those essential to the continued high functioning of the service, daily disinfection and hygiene practices and the exclusion of all staff and children when unwell. 

Of course! Please ask your Centre Director for a copy of Kindoo!’s Covid-Safe plan. 

We aim to have each child participate in outdoor activities twice daily regardless of the weather. This is achievable through the use of our large undercover area at the rear of the centre which ensures the children remain warm and dry in winter or cool and shaded in summer while still getting an outdoor experience. 

Our Centre Philosophy is focussed on the inclusion of all children and providing them with meaningful, quality learning opportunities through play. Our philosophy is that all children are competent learners who benefit from an being, belonging and becoming. 

Yes! Research shows that children learn best through play. All of our planned, impromptu and intentional teaching activities are delivered via play. 

climbing and gross motor skill development

A Little About Us

We provide parents with flexible, high quality education and childcare options specifically designed to meet the unique learning and social needs of pre-schoolers. Combined with innovative Before, After, Evening and Holiday Care for 3yo to 10yo, we’ve got your whole family covered.

 

Most daycare centers charge by the day. We can offer “sessions” to give more flexibility to parents. Sessions in mornings, afternoons, evenings and holiday care.

We are proudly

Australian Owned & Operated

Tinkering

Happy Parents

The girls are also great at giving me feed back on how bubs has gone in the day and they are always excited to see her. Martina has also been amazingly supportive and helpful with set up and enrollment which has taken alot of the stress away and I am so greatful.

Raven S.
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