Parent information

National Quality Framework

The National Quality Framework aims to raise quality and drive continuous improvement and consistency in education and care services through:

• a National Legisltative Framework
• a National Quality Standard
• a National Quality Rating and Assessment Process 
• a National Body called the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority

Enrolment and Attendance

To attend Preschool, a child must be 4 or turning 4 before 31 July in the year of attendance at the Preschool. Children attend Preschool in the year prior to attending Kindergarten. Children attend a 5 day fortnight 

Parents and Partnerships

Telarah Public School Public Preschool welcomes your family into ours. We have a focus on building relationships with one another, educators, children, families and our community to ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved for our children. 

We believe that we can best meet the needs of individual children by working closely with parents and carers. We aim to develop partnerships between parents, carers and staff which are based on mutual trust and respect which promote the sharing of information and knowledge for the benefit of the children in our care. 

Our aim is to support parents as their children's first and most important educators by involving them in their children's education. We also aim to support parents in their own continuing education and personal development. We aim to ensure our setting is warm and welcoming to parents and carers to help them feel comfortable. 

Parents and friends are most welcome in the Preschool. Various opportunites exist for parents to be involved in the educational life of their child, including: 

• Having input into our Preschool Polices and Procedures
• Excursions
• Being involved in the development of the QIP (Quality Improvement Plan)
• Making suggestions for experiences
• Working as a parent volunteer in the Preschool
• Attend special days eg. Education Week, Concerts
• Discussions with the class teacher concerning your child's development
• Accessing our Telarah Public School Preschool Facebook Page
• Accessing our Parent Portal - School Bytes

Parents can make appointments to speak to the class teacher if they are concerned about their child. A reflection folder of work will go home with your child towards end of Term 4. 

All parents/carers that attend excursions or volunteer at the Preschool are required to meet the Departments Child Protection policy by completing a Working with Children Declaration and providing photo identification. 

Custody Orders

Refer: Enrolment & orientation procedure

Staff need to be made aware of any issues relating to the custody and care of your child. Custody papers need to be submitted to the School Administration Office for processing before being placed in the child's records. Please advise the child's class teacher if there are any changes in custody of a child. 

Delivery and Collection of Children

Refer: Delivery & collection of children procedure

Telarah Public School Public Preschool has a duty of care to the children that attend the Preschool. A part of this duty of care is to ensure that access to a child attending the Preschool is limited to persons authorised by the parent/carer and this includes collection of the child from the Preschool. 

Drop Off

• Drop off commences from 9.00am. You can only drop off after this time
• On arrival the person bringing the child is responsible to sign the child in on the attendance sheet, indicating time of arrival 
• On arrival, the person dropping off the child must ensure that a staff member recieves the child/ren before leaving the Preschool and that any special needs are communicated 

Collection

• Children must be collected by 3.00pm
• On departure, the authorised person collecting the child must sign the attendance sheet next to the child's name, indicating time of departure
• On departure, the authorised person must ensure that a staff member is aware that they are taking the child from the preschool

If the child is to be collected by a person whose name is not on the enrolment form as a person authorised to pick up the child, the family must have personally informed the appropriate staff member prior to pick up in writing. The person picking up the child will be asked to provide photo identification. 

Clothing 

Children are asked to wear sturdy shoes and play clothes to Preschool, suitable for riding bikes, climbing, painting, playing in water and mud etc. Brimmed hats are essential every day wear, preferably with a large brim for sunny days. Sun safe clothing is part of our policy. This includes shirts with collars or covered necklines and shoulders. We are a Sun Safe Preschool and brochures are available. On wet days children are encouraged to bring gumboots and raincoats for outside play. The Preschool has Telarah Public School Preschool TShirts $25 and brimmed hats $15 available for purchase via our ordering platform - Flexischools. 

Please send along a spare set of clothes marked with the child's name in a plastic bag. There are lots of ways to get wet and messy at Preschool. 

Lockers

Children's bags and work are placed in lockers which are shared between both groups. The size of the lockers are 30cmH, 27cmW, 37cmD - please bear this in mind when purchasing your child's bag. 

Healthy Eating 

Please support our Healthy Eating Policy by providing healthy lunches and snacks for your child. The Preschool values its role in working with families to encourage the development of healthy food habits in the early years. Thank you for providing nutricious food options for your children. Our brochure from the Australian Government outlines suggestions for what are healthy options to bring to Preschool to eat. The brochure also outlines suggestions for food not to be included in the Preschool lunchbox. We call these foods 'sometimes food' and we request that they don't come to Preschool eg. chocolate, lollies, cakes, sweet biscuits, as they contain high amounts of sugar. Sometimes food may be returned home. 

To raise awareness of environment issues, families are encouraged to send in 'Nude Food'. Nude food is any food that has no packaging ie. fruit is a natural nude food, sandwiches and snacks may be put into containers. The children will love being 'Nude Food Dudes'. We encourage the children to drink water at Preschool and parents are asked to provide water only in their drink bottles. 

Fruit break and lunchtime are very social times at Preschool as well as being a time to refuel our bodies for activities. Sometimes your child might eat a little or a lot of food. 

We are a 'Munch & Move' Preschool. The children will have a morning tea snack where they enjoy fresh fruit and/or vegetables. They will need some fresh raw fruit and/or vegetables like carrot/celery sticks, cucumber etc. and their water bottle. Brochures outling lunchbox guidelines are available at our sign on area. Please feel free to discuss your views about lunchbox options with the Preschool staff. 

They will need the following food/water:

• Fresh raw fruit/vegetable for 'crunch and sip' break
• A healthy lunch (eg, sandwhich, healthy snack)
• A water bottle

Please label all containers.
Please ensure students use labelled fruit bag provided.