WELCOME

We extend a warm welcome to all families and visitors.

We appreciate the confidence and trust parents place in us by enrolling children in our centre. This flipbook contains important information for families about Out & About.

Out and About Care AND Education - An Introduction

We are happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

O & A Care & Education caters to children from 6 weeks of age to school age.

We offer two approved Kindergarten Programs operating 5 days per week. Our educator team supports children as they learn and grow through our programs.

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We promote strong partnerships with families in our community. Information families provide to us about their children’s care and education is used to ensure children are comfortable and settled as they learn and play.

We would like you to participate in your child’s care and education and will share information about your child’s experiences and learning journey.

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IN GOOD HANDS

Out & About Care & Education operator, Pam Maclean has more than 40 years’ experience in the early childhood world and holds a master’s degree in education.

She has previously operated several high-quality centres – including the two extremely popular Big Day Out centres in Peregian.

Pam was Director of a centre named in the Prime Ministers top three businesses in its category in Australia – the first childcare centre to be so recognised. She has a long history of high-quality care and education provision in the field.

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Pam also operates a childcare consultancy service and has designed and built centres across Australia, so understands what constitutes a wonderful environment for young children’s learning.

She also provides playground design advice to many childcare centres across Australia. Her knowledge and expertise are applied in her play space design for Out & About.

Pam is an acknowledged expert in the areas of centre design, play space design, staff training and Kindergarten teaching and has delivered training across Queensland on behalf of Australian Childcare Alliance (Queensland) and across Australia as part of her consultancy work.

Parents and children at Out & About Care & Education will benefit from Pam’s long term experience and knowledge in the early childhood education field.

PLAY SPACES

At Out & About we encourage children to understand and work with the natural world. Our play spaces have been designed to foster children’s interaction with and enjoyment of outdoor play, investigation, and discovery. Outdoor play in nature offers children a number of benefits, including:

Development of physical skills and stamina
Practicing social skills, working with others, and collaboration on a range of projects and games
Space to run, be free of concerns, and to make noise and laugh like mad if they wish, or be quiet and thoughtful
How to think about and manage risks and challenges
A sense of awe and wonder at nature's marvels. Children will connect with nature, and understand how the natural world works, our interdependence on it, and our responsibility to nurture it
A place to simply run, play and have great fun with friends in a relaxing and safe space.

Our play spaces encourage children to cooperate with friends creating imaginative games, or explore independently.

Many life skills are practiced during fun outdoor play as children engage with friends and manage the challenges offered in the space. Children are able to practice being resilient, overcome difficulties, take on new challenges and develop new ideas during group or solo play. These are important life skills.

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O & A’s distinctive playgrounds encourage creative thinking and simple enjoyment of nature and the great outdoors. Timber, stone, other natural elements and planting offer children a natural environment in which to play.

We include a combination of irregular layouts, patterns and textures in natural materials, quiet nooks, open spaces and different levels to provide children with interest, challenge and to prompt many play possibilities and ideas for imaginative play.

Children will also develop and care for our flower, vegetable and herb gardens over time – using any produce (hopefully) in our kitchens when they participate in our cooking master classes.

We have many areas of interest and fun activity for children to play in our garden. They are encouraged to explore, try new skills, revisit old ones when needed and to engage with nature and their peers in a relaxing and supportive environment.

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FOOD & DRINK

On enrolment, specific instructions or requests regarding your child’s dietary requirements, particularly allergies, are discussed. Out & About Care & Education is a nut-free environment.

Children’s mealtimes are pleasant social occasions. Our educators sit with small groups of children during meals, engage with them and encourage meaningful conversation between children. This supports their social and emotional development and offers opportunities to practice manners and courtesy.

Children are encouraged to taste or try different foods, but never forced to eat. Toddlers and older children are encouraged to serve and feed themselves to enhance their self-help skills and confidence.

Our chef provides morning tea, lunch, dessert, and afternoon tea. Milk is served with lunch. These healthy, nutritionally balanced meals are freshly cooked and served daily on site. The seasonally and culturally appropriate menu is displayed near the kitchen. We offer a six-week rotating, seasonally adjusted menu sourcing fresh local produce.

Water is offered to the children throughout the day. Children may also access water independently when they wish using their water bottles.

Babies’ bottles, formula and first foods are supplied by parents. We understand families like to know exactly which first foods their baby receives.

Babies are held in a warm and loving manner while being bottle fed. They are introduced to solid food, after consultation with parents – this is a shared experience.

Information about children’s food and drink intake is recorded daily and is available for your perusal.

The O & A kitchen is an integral part of our education program for more than everyday meals. We have created a special work bench where children may work with our chef and educators to create special dishes, from time to time.

Children will wear our special O & A aprons and enjoy being part of our ‘master classes’ where they learn important food skills. Who knows what culinary marvels they will create?

FAQs

Q. Do we pay extra for the Government Approved Kindergarten program?

A. The good news is that your regular daily fee covers the kindergarten program.

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Q. Do your fees attract childcare subsidy?

A. Yes, we are a registered centre, so you can access the usual fee assistance arrangements through Centrelink.

Q. How do I enrol my child at Out & About Care & Education?

A. Enrolment is easy. You can call us any time to arrange a visit or you can complete the REGISTRATION FORM and email that to us. We will call you back to ensure we have the correct information for your child’s needs and to answer any questions you may have about enrolling at the centre. It is as easy as that.

Q. How do you manage rest time ?

A. This is a hotly debated issue. The AMA recommends that children in care for more than 3-4 hours need a rest period to recuperate and rest their muscles prior to resuming busy play and learning experiences. This means a physical rest, not necessarily a sleep. Some children need to sleep, and others do not.

Rest time allows children to learn about their own needs and those of others and to be respectful of others.

We expect all children to engage in rest time whether they sleep or not. After a period of 30 minutes or so of quiet resting on beds children may participate in quiet activities while others can sleep longer.

Q. Do we pay extra for meals?

A. Meals are included in your daily fee. We provide fabulous freshly cooked meals (morning tea, lunch, dessert, and afternoon tea) each day to support busy working families – we know it is hard to fit everything in so this is our way to help you manage life with a busy young family.

Q. Do we bring nappies?

A. We supply nappies for all children 0-3 years of age. All children need to be toilet trained before they move into our 3-4 years age group and would not need them.

If your child has eczema or other medical issues relating to nappies, we will discuss this with you and find a solution, but usually we supply all nappies.

Q. Will my child have regular carers and educators they know?

A. Yes, our roster is arranged so that each room has a core team of educators who will be consistently present. This assists young children to settle and feel comfortable. We also utilise a regular pool of relief staff members should carers be away, so children will be familiar with the replacement team member.

Q. How do you move children up from one room to another?

A. We consult with families to ensure they are comfortable that their child is ready to move to the next age group. Once all partners are happy, we begin short visits to the next room, so your child becomes familiar with the new space, routines, and people. After a few visits (some children take more and others less), we make the move to the new room. Settling in is monitored so we can ensure your child feels settled and happy.

Q. How will you communicate with me about my child’s development, wellbeing, and learning?

A. We will communicate with you using a range of methods including phone calls, face to face chats and discussions, newsletters, emails, posters, personal notes, photographs, communication books for infants and “About our Day” sheets in other rooms. As you can see, we have many ways to keep you in the loop about your child’s day.

Q. What makes your centre different to others in the area?

A. Our centre is designed and developed by a dedicated team of local people. We are a Sunshine Coast family, and we have a local builder, engineers and other ongoing local suppliers engaged with our centre. We support locals. You always know who you are dealing with at our centre. Our Approved Provider is a former award-winning Director with more than 40 years’ experience in early childhood care and education. She holds a master’s degree in education and provides training and mentoring support for our team to ensure we operate at the highest standard. Between them, members of our team have many years of experience in early learning.

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Out & About Care & Education also offers busy families:

Beautiful meals prepared daily by our onsite Chef.
Appealing, creative, well equipped, unique, natural, and stimulating indoor and outdoor spaces.
Provision of nappies for all children 0 – 3 years of age.
An early learning program providing opportunities to develop creative ways of thinking and exploring multiple avenues of learning.
An environment designed to offer exciting and generous play and learning spaces.

CHILD REGISTRATION - ENQUIRY FORM

APPLY FOR A POSITION AT OUT AND ABOUT