We provide freshly cooked meals daily (morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and late snack), 50+ sunscreen, SunSmart hat, nappies and a nurturing and educational environment. For children who are breast/formula fed – this must be supplied in a clearly labelled bottle and given directly to your child’s educator.

All our meals are prepared daily on premises by our qualified cook using fresh and in season ingredients delivered by our various local suppliers. Children enjoy a variety of meals including spaghetti bolognese, vegetable soup, lasagne, meat and vegetable curries, risotto, chilli con carne, tuna mornay, shepherd’s pie and many more. Water is consistently available for children throughout the day and with every meal. We provide morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and late snack – please ensure that breakfast and dinner is provided within the home.

We care for children who have been diagnosed with life threatening allergies, to ensure their safety – please do not bring any food into the centre. All formula and expressed breast milk must be provided in labelled bottles.

Please bring along a small bag (child size backpack) that contains at least 2 changes of labelled clothes. Your child’s wet bag, and a separate sleep bag (pillowcase or small drawstring bag) that contains a fitted cot sheet and blanket for rest time. All formula and expressed breast milk must be provided in labelled bottles. We encourage lots of outdoor play throughout the year, so please pack weather appropriate clothing: raincoats, beanies, gumboots etc.

Fees are still charged for any days your child is absent from WECC. Services Australia (Centrelink), will pay entitlements (CCS), up to 42 days per financial year without the requirement of documentation. Once 42 days is reached, you may be asked to present a medical certificate/statutory declaration etc.

We unfortunately do not offer make up days. Children can attend extra days (over and above days that are permanently booked), and this is based on availability at the time. This is organised through the My Family Lounge App or contacting the office.

At times, we will have infectious illnesses at the centre. There are certain infectious illnesses that we are under obligation to notify families of – we do this by posting a sign on our front and rear doors to the centre. We also send out an email notification of the infectious illness. Any concerns about infectious illnesses at the centre should be discussed with your GP.

Occasionally while your child is in our care, they may become unwell and need to be collected. Sometimes ‘unwell’ can be difficult to define – however if we notice your child is lethargic, disengaged and not their ‘usual self’ educators, together with management may make the decision that a child needs to be collected.

It is important to remember that a child’s day at WECC is very busy and stimulating – when a child is feeling unwell, they need one on one attention in a calm and supportive environment – this cannot always be easily provided in group care situations.

At other times there will be clear indications of illness, where children are required to be collected immediately. If we notice any of these symptoms you will be notified immediately: vomiting, diarrhoea (2 episodes or more), temperature 38 degrees or above. During these times, we ask that a parent/guardian/emergency contact immediately collects the child.

We do not carry Panadol/Nurofen on premises. If your child requires pain relief in the form of medication before coming for the day or throughout the day – they are not well enough to attend. Pain relief can be used in room 1 if symptoms of teething are present.

We encourage all children to have relaxation time at WECC. Not all children will sleep, some children may be provided with a quiet activity, listen to a story being read, or be involved in meditation or yoga.

We offer orientation to all new children to the centre and this is largely based on the requirements of the individual child and their family. We implement at minimum, 2 compulsory visits where a family member attends the centre with their child for at least a couple of hours to get comfortable with the environment and share information with their educators. After this initial visit it is then through collaboration between the family and the educator, as to what further orientation the child will need. WECC offers two, two hour orientation visits where fees are not payable, orientation days can extend beyond these initial two days, however fees are charged.

Every Wednesday morning, all rooms have a music session with Rhythm and Moves. This interactive session involves singing, dancing, musical education of rhythm and melody, musical terms, and group song writing. Annually we will organise special visitors to spend time with the children to develop and enhance particular learning outcomes, this may include our local Aboriginal Elder, animal incursions or cultural awareness programs. We also regularly engage our local community to enhance our educational program: police officers, dental nurse, environmental officer from the local council (planting seeds etc.) and library story time sessions.

Once in 4 year old Kindergarten we offer a Tennis program once a week for the children.

We also maintain connections with local charities and will often seek families involvement with this. Annually we collect items for St Kilda Mums and also donations for Diabetes Australia.

In April 2020, during a 2-day observational visit from the National Regulatory Authority, WECC was rated as EXCEEDING the National Quality Standard in each of the 7 quality areas.

Please click on the following link for further details on the 7 quality areas.

http://www.acecqa.gov.au/Quality-Areas

We encourage all new families to the centre to come along to our AGM, being held on a Tuesday night in November (date to be confirmed). On this night you will have the opportunity to hear about what the centres vision and philosophy is and also meet other families and the educators that will be in your child’s room the following year. On this night we also form the WECC Committee of Management (WECC CoM) for the following year by the way of nomination and family vote. If being part of the WECC CoM interests you, please feel free to contact the office for further information.

We encourage your involvement within the WECC community by attending one working bee and attendance at the AGM throughout each year of enrolment.

All educators at WECC, at minimum, have completed a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood. Although most educators hold a Diploma or a Bachelor in Early Childhood Education. Our 3- and 4-year-old kindergarten room have a Qualified Kindergarten teacher present each day of the term. Our educators are also trained in First Aid, Anaphylaxis, Asthma management, Child Protection and Food Safety as required by the Education and Care Services National Regulations.

We strictly adhere to the Education and Care Services National Regulations in relation to educator to child ratios. 1 Educator to 4 Children (Children aged less than 3 years)

1 Educator to 11 Children (Children aged 3 years and over)