Frequently Asked Questions

On opening our service all children who arrive early will participate in an integrated age group program. This is a fantastic opportunity for siblings to spend time together and assists with them settling, not to mention the ability for children of varying ages to interact and learn from one another. When more children arrive the educators and teachers will then move their children into their classroom where they will spend most of their day. Each room has their own age appropriate planned programs and routines for the day. This routine includes meal times in our beautiful dining room. We offer progressive morning, afternoon tea and a late night snack so children can keep playing and learning uninterrupted. Rest/sleep times are included within your child’s day and the basic outline of the room routine will include both indoor and outdoor educational programs which have been specifically developed to cater for the strengths, interests and learning opportunities for your child. Each program and routine is age appropriate and has been planned to meet objectives that have been developed through observations of your child. In each of the children’s rooms the educators will record important information through the daily reflection and individual portfolios. Not only will this show you important information but what activities your child has participated in throughout the day, allowing you the opportunity to discuss the day’s events with your child and us when you pick them up. Towards the end of the day as children start to go home, the remaining children will once again participate in an integrated age group program.

All our campuses are privately owned and are run at the highest of quality with your child being at the core of why we do what we do. The Founder only has the best Campus Directors in place that share the same passion for your child’s learning, development and wellbeing as her. The Campus Directors run their campus like it is their own and take the responsibility of caring and educating your child very seriously, ensuring the absolute highest standards are achieved at all times.

The health and safety of your child is our highest priority therefore children must not attend if they are unwell. If your child is sick not only should they be resting but they can also compromise the health and safety of the other children within our centre.

We request that each child has a bag for their personal belongings. Families need to ensure that all their children’s belongings are clearly named. To assist us in meeting all your child’s needs we ask that the following items are provided:
– A beanie and warm jacket for winter
– Change of clothes for all weather conditions (enough underwear if toilet training)
– Ready made up bottles or pre measured formula and sterilised bottles (if required)
– Comforters (see our sleeping and rest requirements policy on premise)
– Drink bottle with strictly water only

When you enrol you will select which days will be your child’s permanent days to attend. Each week we will expect your child to attend on these days until you provide us with notice as per our policy of your intention to reduce permanent care days. Throughout your child’s learning journey with us you are welcome to increase or change permanent care days subject to availability by speaking to the Campus Directors to check if there are in fact vacancies for the days you wish to change to.

Our waitlist works by taking into account the age of the child to see if our age specific rooms do have vacancies to fit the families needs such as days and preferred start date. Priority Access Guidelines set by the Government is also taken into account. Unfortunately once one of our campuses is at full capacity, we can only rely on existing families to voluntarily change their care requirements or cease for a vacancy to be created. When a vacancy becomes available the Campus Directors will refer to the waitlist. In addition a month before you require a spot for your child you will receive a courtesy phone call from Elles Belles Early Learning alerting you to any possible vacancies for your consideration so that you don’t miss out.

Late in the year all our existing families will receive an invitation from the Campus Directors to request their requirements for the following year. Your family must return these forms no later than the date stipulated to secure their position for the upcoming year.

Even though legally not all staff are required to hold these qualifications our policy requires all of our Educators working directly with the children to maintain a current first aid qualification, anaphylaxis qualification and an asthma management qualification to be able to care for your child in case of an emergency. If your child suffers from asthma, epilepsy, anaphylaxis or has any allergies you must notify the Campus Directors upon enrolment and we will inform you of what steps need to be taken.

We always work together with your family to assist with individual appropriate strategies to overcome toilet training challenges. Our purpose built campuses are fitted with convenient nappy changing benches and age appropriate toilets easily accessible from both the outdoor play ground and inside the classroom.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations state that the minimum staff/child ratios for a licensed children’s service are:
– For every four children under the age of three, there must be a minimum of one educator.
– For every eleven children aged three and over there must be a minimum of one educator.
We staff above this ratio at Elles Belles Early Learning to provide the extra care, supervision and education your children deserve.

An Educational Leader is accessible on each campus they train and mentor our team to implement our curriculum and the national Early Years Learning Framework. The Educational Leader lends support for each teacher and educator’s professional development and your child’s learning.

Each classroom is lead by a qualified room leader who must hold a minimum of a Certificate 3 of Early Childhood Education. Some of our Room Leaders may hold or be working towards a higher qualification or degree in their field. These Educators together with the Educational Leader are responsible for the overall operation of the classroom including the implementation of learning and developmental outcomes for all of the children. Fifty percent of all educators caring and educating for your child must hold a minimum Diploma of Early Childhood Education or be working towards this qualification.

The Co-Educators are required to hold a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education at minimum or be working towards this qualification. We are always guiding and assisting our Early Childhood Co-Educators to further study and to add to their formal qualifications. We provide traineeships to support educators to be able to achieve this.

Our three and four year old Kindergarten programs are both delivered by a Qualified Teacher who holds a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education).

By having both a three and four year Kindergarten program with a qualified teacher in a long day care early learning centre we offer more flexibility with Kindergarten options in regards to hours that suit yours and your child’s needs. In addition there is no need to find twelve weeks leave each year, your child can attend Elles Belles Early Learning during the school holidays.

Our excursions/incursions are planned around themes based on the children’s learning and interests and we offer extracurricular activities relating to music, language or physical activity at all our campuses at no extra cost.