About Us
The Children‘s Centre is located in Mulgrave. It was created in 1994 to support employees with families, and to provide families in the local community with high-quality and reliable childcare.
We currently have 115 places and provide care and educational programmes for children aged from three months to five years old. Seven dedicated rooms – Possums, Bilby, Duck, Parrot, Wombat Turtle and Dolphin – cater to different age groups and stages of development. We are open from 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and close only for two weeks over Christmas and for public holidays.
Our team of 50 qualified and trained staff have a wealth of experience in childcare and early learning programmes. We are very proud of the low turnover in our team, which means we can provide a consistent and stable environment, in which your child can thrive. Our Educators and teachers undergo continual training, which enables them to develop innovative early childhood programmes that best meet the needs of each child. Educators have adopted the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework into current practices and programming.
Contact with Parents
Families are welcome to meet regularly with Educators to discuss their child‘s learning and development. We positively encourage interaction to provide the best possible network of support. Several times throughout the year we hold parent information evenings where Educators and families discuss the running of each room and contribute to programming. We also regularly invite parents to hear guest speakers present on specific themes of interest, such as sleep education, school readiness, behavioural guidance, and health and safety awareness. We have several community events throughout the year as well which our families love to be involved in.
Families are welcome to make an appointment with the room educators to discuss their child‘s progress and overall development. This is an opportunity for Educators and parents to collaborate on their child‘s interests, strengths and family values. The centre provides termly newsletters and centre event calendars which keeps families up to date with happenings and developments in each room.
Meals
Meals are prepared and delivered three times a day by our kitchen team lead by our qualified chef. Our chef is also a trained nutritionist who is passionate about creating specific child-friendly, wholesome and freshly prepared seasonal menus for the centre which also includes a wide variety of multicultural dishes. The children‘s centre chef incorporates The Get Up and Grow guidelines and those set out by the Australian Health Department for Early Childhood Nutrition in the meal planning to ensure a healthy and delicious variety is offered. As a centre we recognise the important values of introducing children to a wide variety of healthy foods and textures so to set up healthy and positive life long eating habits.
Early Learning & Additional Programmes
As well as development programmes for each room and for each child, the centre incorporates specialist programmes including Active antics, Music & Drama, languages (Auslan, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish), Yoga, Art / Craft days, PMP, environmental awareness and cooking. These are available to all children at the centre at no additional cost to parents. Programmes are delivered by trained staff in fun and practical ways that encourage children to develop skills and knowledge in areas they may not be exposed to at home.
We welcome parental input into these programmes; if you have a skill, passion or profession that can be shared with the children, we warmly welcome you to discuss it with the staff and arrange a special visit.
Orientation
Orientation to the centre is carefully planned to allow for a smooth, slow and stress-free transition. Feeling secure and safe is vital to the settling-in period for each of us. Before children start full days, we invite parents to accompany them for two orientation visits which are for two hours, these sessions are free of charge. If a child is displaying signs of not settling within these periods‘ additional sessions may be negotiated. We have found that this orientation process works exceptionally well because it allows for children, families and staff to build trust, security and a foundation for early learning.
Fees
Fees for the centre are outlined below; our fees have been set to provide high quality care and educational programmes. Childcare benefit and childcare tax rebates are available at the centre; parents should access fee subsidies through the Family Assistance Office and the Taxation system.
From 8th July 2024 our fees are: Daily $167.00 per day, a discount of $5.00 per day for Full time children
Our Philosophy
NQS Quality Area/s: 1.1, 1.2, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.2
Legislation: Education & care services National Regulations, Early Years Learning & Development Framework (EYLDF), National Quality Standards (NQS)
The children’s centre was initially established with a commitment to support employees with work and family responsibilities and has since grown in response to the needs of the community.
We embrace and celebrate our diverse community with care, compassion, honesty, determination, justice and respect; being responsive to the uniqueness of each family, their circumstances, cultural and linguistic heritage, values and beliefs and kinship systems.
We acknowledge that families are the first and foremost educators of a child, and encourage and support their right to make decisions and be involved in their child‘s lives.
We support children to achieve their full potential in life, by equipping them with life skills to be resilient and confident individuals who show compassion and understanding of others.
We deliver inclusive and dynamic programs which are reflective of the individual, whilst respecting the rights of the child and remaining true to the centres curriculum.
We stand for being a centre of learners, where all children, families and educators play a role in shaping and nurturing the importance of lifelong education. Combining experience and inquiry based evidence to promote each child, family and educator‘s personal growth and holistic wellbeing.
We promote the awareness of our environmental responsibilities, contributing to a sustainable, cleaner future by making eco-friendly choices.
Our Commitment to Child Safety
We acknowledge that we meet on the traditional lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider community and beyond.
The Children’s Centre is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children, ensuring a safe and nurturing environment for each child in our care. We are committed to creating and maintaining a child safe organisation and take a zero-tolerance stance towards all forms of child abuse.
Through the implementation and monitoring of the Child Safe Standards, as specified under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act (2015) we will ensure that children feel safe, empowered and are taken seriously if they raise concerns in relation to their safety and wellbeing.
We are committed to the empowerment and participation of all children with a disability and identify with the LGBTQIA+ community and the cultural safety of indigenous children and all children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Centre Recognition
The children‘s centre has been awarded as a Smiles for Miles services. There are three key messages promoted through the Smiles 4 Miles program:
- Drink well - tap water is the preferred drink, limit sugary and fizzy drinks and plain milk preferable to flavoured
- Eat well - enjoy a variety of nutritious foods, limit sugary foods especially between meals and enjoy healthy snacks
- Clean well - brush twice a day with a low fluoride (children‘s) toothpaste, encourage flossing and develop good oral hygiene practices at an early age
Staff have incorporated these positive steps in the everyday programmes of each room, which has allowed us to become an awarded service. You can learn more about the programme by visiting www.dhsv.org.au/smiles-for-miles/
As a centre we are undertaking the Healthy Together Victorian achievement program, which is a Healthy Together Victorian initiative. It supports early childhood education and care services, schools and workplaces and workforces to create healthy environments for learning, working and living. A health promoting service approach is an internationally recognised best practice approach for enhancing health, learning and development outcomes.
The Achievement Program can help services adopt a health promoting service approach through coordinating action across six components:
- Healthy eating and oral health: Promote a healthy diet and good oral health, which are important for children‘s growth, development, health and well being.
- Physical activity: Engage children in physical activity and active play, which have a range of physical, emotional, social and devlopmental benefits for children.
- Sun protection: A balanced approach to UV exposure helps ensure children have healthy vitamin D levels, while minimising the risk of damage to skin and eyes and skin cancer.
- Tobacco: Protect children‘s health by creating a smoke free environment in which they can learn and play.
- Mental health and wellbeing: Provide an inclusive and empowering social environment for children to develop their resilience, and social and emotional wellbeing.
- Safe environments: Prevent injury and promote personal safety to create a safe place for children to develop and learn.
To learn more about the program please visit: www.achievementprogram.healthytogether.vic.gov.au
We are proudly committed to being a Sun Smart service. The Sunsmart program, jointly funded by Cancer Council Victoria and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Vic Health) since 1988, leads the world in UV protection. SunSmart recommends that all early childhood education and care services and schools implement a SunSmart policy to ensure a healthy UV exposure balance.
Our centre is recognised as being an Asthma Friendly Early Childhood Education and Care which is a program that is run in various Asthma Foundations across Australia. The program aims to recognise children services that make an extra effort to provide a safer environment for children with asthma by awarding them Asthma Friendly status.
