Choosing a quality early childhood centre in NSW
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Types Of Early Childhood Centres
There are two types of early childhood centres available to the general public in which an educational program is offered by appropriately trained personnel. These are:
1. Long Day Care Centres.
These are usually open for a minimum of ten hours a day and aim to meet the needs of working parents. Families may be offered from 1-5 days care. Many long day care centres also include children with additional needs. That is, those children who have delays or disabilities, those at risk of abuse or neglect, and those children who have minimal English. These centres offer an educational program based on the individual needs of each child.
2. Pre-schools.
These are usually open from 9am to 3pm during school terms and are closed during public school holidays. They cater for children 3 to 5 years old. They offer 1, 2, 3 or sometimes 5 whole days or can offer a series of morning or afternoon sessions.
In addition to these types of centres there are special classes offered to assist children with disabilities.
- Early Intervention Classes are offered by the Department of Education and Training to cater for the needs of these children. These classes comprise 6-8 children between the ages of 2 years 9 months to 5 years and are run by a teacher with an untrained aide to assist. Children are usually referred to these classes by a professional involved with the family. These classes work in with the other early childhood centres that the child may attend.
- Pre-school Preparation Groups are often offered by early childhood intervention agencies and once again have a small group of children who require more individual assistance. The group is usually run by a teacher and an assistant, very often with input from therapists on the intervention team.
For general childcare there are also:
- Occasional Care Centres. These offer several hours care per month though some now also have long day care places available. These centres are open for 8-10 hours a day and mostly have children under three years. Play activities are based on the developmental needs of children though little individual planning is possible for those children who do not attend on a regular basis.
- Family Day Care Schemes. These are sponsored by local councils. Small groups of up to five children are cared for by a parent in their home. Family day carers are supervised by child development officers from council. Regular playgroups are held for carers and children.
Organisations Managing Child Care Centres
- Kindergarten Union children's services provide over 100 childcare centres including pre-schools, long day care and occasional care. Very often support staff are available for children with special needs. All centres are staffed by appropriately trained staff and services are generally considered to be of a high standard. Kindergarten Unions Services provide a team of consultants to support staff.
- The Sydney Day Nursery Schools (SDN) is also an organisation that has been operating in centres for children since the early 1900s. The association runs long day care centres. Staff have appropriate qualifications, group sizes and all aspects of care are in excess of the licensing requirements. SDN has a consultancy team to support staff in meeting the additional needs of children.
- Many municipal councils operate pre-school and long day care centres employing trained staff and meeting all licensing requirements. These centres are listed under individual municipal councils in the White Pages of the telephone book.
- Community based centres are those pre-schools and long day care centres that are often sponsored by local government or a church. The centres are managed by a Committee comprising parents and professionally interested people. The staff are qualified and the centres meet all licensing requirements. Communicare and the Uniting Church are examples of organisation sponsoring community based centres. There are approximately 75 Uniting Church community based centres in NSW. These have support staff available to provide services to children with additional needs.
- Work-based childcare centres are set up to meet the needs of parents who work for an organisation and children in the local community. TAFE colleges, hospitals, etc often operate these centres.
- The Department of Education and Training offers a few pre-schools within the grounds of primary schools. They are not located at every local school. The pre-schools have a teacher and a teacher's aide managing a group of approximately 20 children.
- Private Centres are owner run pre-schools or long day care centres which operate usually at a profit unlike the agencies listed previously. Some centres do not have sufficiently qualified staff, correct child-staff ratios nor offer a program of a high standard.
Choosing the right centre for your child
Before choosing the best centre for your child:
- Make a list of the centres in your area or ask your child's service provider for a list
- Decide how far you are willing to travel
- If you do not have a car, find out which centres on the list are accessible by public transport
Having decided these factors phone several centres in your area, ask to speak with the director and arrange a convenient time to visit each centre to speak with the director. Your child's service provider is happy to assist you if needed.
On arrival at each centre think about the following factors as you observe and speak with staff. The centre should leave you with positive feelings as you walk away.
General information
- The children should be in groups of 20 when the children are aged between 3-5 years. Some centres will have groups for 2-3 years, 3-4 years and 4-5 years. Some will have small "family" groups.
- There should be a ratio of:
- 1 adult to 10 children aged 3-5 years
- 1 adult to 8 children aged 2 to 3 years
- 1 adult to 5 children aged 0 to 2 years.
- Some of the staff employed in the centre should be trained in the area of early childhood education. Others will be untrained. All must adhere to Department of Community Services (DOCS) regulations.
- The Long Day Centre should be funded by the government. This means parents may be eligible to apply for a subsidy in paying the child care fees. It also means the centre must adhere to licensing requirements relating to the size of the building, the facilities available, qualifications of staff, safety and hygiene procedures, staff/child ratios, supply of educational equipment, programming and records kept by staff.
- Preschools do not receive Commonwealth Government funds. They receive a specific amount of funding each year from the State Government to assist a small percentage of lower income families. This assistance is generally on a first come first served basis.
- If the centre includes children with special needs often there is a support worker available to assist. This person is very often an experienced teacher and may also have a special education qualification.
- Long Day Care Centres should have an accreditation rating. All services get accredited every 2½ years. They must display their current accreditation rating graph on their wall.
Programs
During your visit discuss with the director how activities and experiences are planned for the children. You should learn that:
- The program caters to the individual needs of children in all areas of their development (physically, socially, emotionally and intellectually).
- Opportunities to learn through play are provided in an interesting and challenging way and that the children are not regimented into doing activities in exactly the same way.
- Provision is made each day for the children to have music and movement experiences as well as stories and discussion group times.
- There is a balance between active outdoor play and quiet indoor play occurring during the day.
- A range of activities are available each day, eg construction activities, book area, art and craft activities, manipulative activities, eg puzzles, pegboards, etc and sensory activities (fingerpaint, clay, dough).
- There is a daily plan of the day's routines for parents to read.
- There are notices on display about coming events and activities the children have been involved in.
- Each child has a checklist, observations, or individual records noting areas of focus for that child. Ask the staff about planning for individual children and if the staff have "focus children" to plan for and how this is organised. A lot of centres now have individual portfolios for each child. Parents can access these at any time.
Children
- The staff should be happy to explain what they are doing with the children and why.
- Look to see how the staff relate to the children
- Do they comfort distressed children?
- Do they set limits for the children?
- How do they manage disputes between children?
- Are the staff talking, listening and guiding the children?
- The children should be happy and busy in play.
- Is there sufficient good quality equipment for all the children to share?
Staff
- Ask the director if the staff are trained in early childhood education.
- Observe to see if the staff relate well with each other.
- There should always be staff present and involved where children are playing.
- The staff should be courteous to you as a visitor and offer assistance.
- Do you leave feeling the staff have a genuine interest in the children and enjoy their work?
- In addition to these general factors to be aware of, consideration must also be given to the specific needs of the child with reduced vision.
Considerations for the child with a vision impairment
Indoors
- The indoor area should be spacious and organised so the child can move easily around the room.
- Does the room seem too cluttered and visually distracting due to the displays on the windows, wall, ceiling etc.?
- Consider lighting. Is it too bright or too dimly lit? Can adjustments be made? Are the staff happy to make minor adjustments eg using lamps, drawing curtains, moving furniture?
- Are there stairs within the centre? If so, how many and are they manageable for your child?
Outdoors
- Are there flat areas in the playground?
- Is the playground well set up so children have busy and quiet areas well separated?
- Is there provision for balance, climbing, ball skills etc.?
- Are there shaded areas? This is especially important for glare sensitive children.
- Do stairs have a support rail?
- Make a note of the different surfaces available eg tiles, grass, dirt, tanbark, etc.
- Is there a bike track or bike area allocated or can children ride anywhere?
- Are all the children encouraged to use hats and suncream outside? Does the centre have a Sun Safe Policy? Centres are required to have shaded areas and all children must have sunscreen applied.
A centre may seem appropriate when judged on the child's needs in terms of vision, however, if the centre does not have a happy relaxed atmosphere with caring, committed staff it is probably not the best place for your child.
The interview for enrolment/being placed on a waiting list
Most centres have lengthy waiting lists as there is not currently enough care provided for children in NSW. It is important to put a child's name on waiting lists at least a year before the child is to attend. Even when placing a child on a list, phone the centre and arrange a time to visit and talk with the Director.
Before talking to the director make a list of concerns to discuss. It is very important in the interview to be honest and frank about the child's needs and any concerns that exist.
The Director will gain a comprehensive understanding of the child and may also alleviate many worries a parent may have. The earlier the Director is made aware of your child's needs, the sooner they can begin to collate the resources to meet those needs.
This is also an appropriate time to mention that if the child is to attend the centre, Vision Australia will be available to provide support in helping staff to understand the child's specific needs.
Leave the name of the service co-ordinator and the Vision Australia phone number for the Director to contact.
Who can help me choose?
Parents often find the process of choosing an early childhood centre confusing and overwhelming. Speak with your service coordinator to discuss how Vision Australia can assist with understanding your child's individual vision needs and how to choose the best centre for your child.
Contact us
Call: 1300 84 74 66
TTY: 02 9334 3260
Fax: 02 9747 5993
Website: www.visionaustralia.org
Street Address (State Head Offices)
NSW and ACT: 4 Mitchell Street, Enfield NSW 2136
Queensland: 373 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo Qld 4151
Victoria: 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong Vic 3144
Vision Australia is a living partnership between people who are blind, sighted or have low vision. We are united by our passion that in the future people who are blind or have low vision will have access to and fully participate in every part of life they choose.
This page last updated: 20 February 2007