Welcome to Happy Faces Child Care

Our understanding is that the most important factor in a child’s world is the family. Therefore we aim to create an environment where parents/guardians and families are confident that their children’s needs are being met.

We believe that t is in the best interest of children’s wellbeing that the centre fosters partnerships between the staff and parents in a practical and relevant way that can best support continuous quality care and improvement in all our centre practices.

Our centre is open from 7.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday. A late collection fee will be incurred if your child is collected after 6.00pm.

Fees for 2 - 6 years are $63.00 per day. The daily fee includes all meals (morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea), nappies, sheets, and educational programs. All families should apply for Childcare Benefit at the Family Assistance Office (FAO) / Centrelink.

Our Aims are

1. To promote children’s wellbeing, development and learning in a safe and healthy environment in which families and staff feel relaxed and happy.
2. To foster and influence the development of healthy self-esteem and positive concepts.
3. To provide an individually based program that will foster each child’s unique ability.
4. To help children develop self-discipline skills.
5. To continue to plan and implement an ongoing improvement and maintenance plan which is available for parents and families to make comment.

We recognise and value the diversity of cultures in our society and incorporate a multicultural perspective in our program that will develop and respect greater understanding of such cultures in children.   We are a member of the Bankstown Early Integration Networking Group and Casual Ethnic Workers Pool. Both resource groups aim to provide resources and information to our centre in home languages. Please see the director or authorised supervisor if you require literacy assistance and or have a cultural requirement that we can include in our daily program

All staff at the centre are required by the Department of Community Services to complete a “Working with Children Check".  All staff at the centre are advised of the current NHMRS guidelines for immunisation.
Happy Faces Childcare promotes Occupational, Health and Safety Procedures and Practices.
Staff members are committed to ongoing education and complete numerous professional development courses throughout the year.

What makes Early Childhood Education Different from School

“Play” is at the centre of early childhood education. Play is the young child’s natural way of learning. It is a child’s work and the educational value for the young child is in the experience of “doing”. Play is just as important as a day in a library for a university student.

Different activities which includes painting, building with blocks, playing with Lego, climbing, jumping, dancing, singing, sand and water play, dressing up provide the basis of quality childcare education.

We provide breakfast, lunch and a range of tasty and nutritious snacks for morning/afternoon and late afternoon tea.  The food provided is nutritious and meets the social, cultural and educational needs of children.  The centre can provide information on nutrition and safe food handling and food storage.

If you would like more information about our centre or would like to discuss enrolment pease contact us.

What to bring

• A medium sized durable bag with your child’s name clearly printed on the front.
• Extra underwear and a spare set of clothes and a sun hat.
• A soft sleep comforter if necessary.

Please label your entire child’s belongings; bag, drink bottle, articles of clothing.

Clothing

We ask that children always have a hat in their bag; this is part of the centres sun protection policy. We also require children n to wear T-shirts NOT singlet tops to protect them from the sun. We also require children to     wear secure foot wear, NOT thongs.                                                                                                              

Our Program

Programs are aimed at fostering the individual child’s strengths and interests.  Our learning philosophies are derived from positive experiences.  We are moving away from structured programming, to programming experiences that are spontaneous.  We are very interested in the Reggio Emilia approach, also called the ‘emergent curriculum’.  Children will not only play with the traditional toys (construction builders, dolls, puzzles etc.) but will also experience the use of ‘real life sensory’ equipment, such natural things from our environment e.g. clay, shells, rocks, food etc.

We believe that children learn best when they are interested and when experiences are real to them.  This means we move away from determining what they want to play with and more towards listening to what they are telling us they want to learn and support their wants and needs.  Our day will continue to run to a routine as  we believe that children need the routine to feel safe and secure.  Our new curriculum is an exciting step forward towards early childhood eduction and we believe it will enable us to cater for the interests and developmental levels of each child and groups of children in our care.

Observations

Each child will have their own visual journal.  These journals will be a reflection of their development and interactions with equipment, peers and others whilst at Happy Faces.  The journal will include pictures of your child at play and documentation from the teachers that you can share with your child.  These journals will be accessible at all times, but we do ask that due to confidentiality, you only look at your own child’s journal.

Pre-school readiness

In the Yellow Room we have a school readiness program.  The aim of our program is to prepare children for school by developing certain skills that they will require to take the big step.  A strong focus is placed on independence and self-help.  We have realistic expectations and are happy to assist children in their attempts, although we encourage each child to try first.  We teach the children to recognise their name by using name tags and they learn to write their name as we encourage them to write it themselves on their artwork, drawings etc.  Other cognitive skills are incorporated through the program, such as counting and recognising colours. 

Children learn to open lunch boxes and feed themselves, to pour drinks independently, tidy their lockers and to put their shoes and socks on themselves.  Towards the end of the year we talk about putting our hand up at group times.  We would ask that you encourage your children to try things themselves at home to support their growing independence and willingness to try new things.  You can get children to carry their own bag to school and to unpack the bag themselves.  All of this boosts a child’s confidence and self-esteem.

From discussions with parents we have implemented a school readiness package.  Although this type of package is not recommended by the NCAC or the NSW Curriculum Framework, parents have brought to our attention their desire to have this more formal school readiness package implemented into our program.  Early in the year parents will be sent home a letter explaining the package.  A small fee will be collected to prepare the photocopies for the program.

Outdoor Play

We maintain a safe, attractive and pleasant outdoor environment. All play activities are programmed and evaluated each week. Our staff check the outdoor area each day for dangerous or hazardous pests or materials.

The centre implements a sun safe policy all year. Please bring a hat for your child for outdoor play. Staff assist children to apply sunscreen throughout the day.