1

Acorn Kindergarten Prospectus

140 Bargara Road & 10a Branyan Street

Bundaberg QLD 4670

Phone: 41530333

Website: https://www.acornchildcare.com.au

Find us on Facebook: Acorn East or Acorn on Branyan Street

2

Contents ................................................................................................................................................................ 1

Welcome to Acorn .................................................................................................................................. 3

What makes Acorn’s Kindergarten Program? ........................................................................................ 3

Importance of Kindergarten Curriculum - Goals ..................................................................................... 4

Play Base Learning .................................................................................................................................. 5

Kindergarten Learning and Development ............................................................................................... 6

Identity ................................................................................................................................................ 6

Connectedness .................................................................................................................................... 6

Wellbeing ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Active learning .................................................................................................................................... 7

Communicating ................................................................................................................................... 7

Kindergarten Fees ................................................................................................................................... 8

Centre hours ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Kindergarten Session Times From .......................................................................................................... 8

Enrolments .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Subsidies available under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme (QKFS) ................................ 9

Standard subsidy ................................................................................................................................. 9

QKFS Plus Kindy Support ......................................................................................................................... 9

Health Care Card holders ...................................................................................................................... 10

Families who identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ..................................................... 10

Families with multiple births................................................................................................................. 10

Family Involvement ............................................................................................................................... 11

Story Park .............................................................................................................................................. 12

Flexible Daily Routine ............................................................................................................................ 12

Parent TV ............................................................................................................................................... 13

My Family Lounge / Enrol: .................................................................................................................... 14

Excursions and Incursions ..................................................................................................................... 15

Junior Turtle Ranger Program ............................................................................................................... 16

Library Visits .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Gymfinity ............................................................................................................................................... 18

3

Welcome to Acorn We would like to welcome all families to our Kindergarten program. For those of you who

have a child entering Kindergarten for the first time, get ready! You will be amazed at the

amount of learning that takes place.

We are excited about our team at Acorn, we have a great combination of talented teachers

with qualities that complement and bring out the best in each other. We enjoy working

together, sharing ideas and helping children become learners for life.

We know from experience that parent involvement is essential to maximize the benefits the

child gets from his or her Kindergarten experience. We urge you to become involved by

volunteering in the classroom, talking with your child about his or her experiences and

participating in their education daily. We believe that parents are the child’s primary

educators and therefore it is important for parents and teachers to work collaboratively

together for the benefit for the child.

We look forward to working together as a team – student, teacher, and parent – to have a

successful year in Kindergarten.

What makes Acorn’s Kindergarten Program? ✓ Our staff are dedicated professionals in early childhood education.

✓ Healthy Meals: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

✓ Uniform for Pre students: 2 kindergarten shirts will be provided for minimum of 2 days per

week children.

✓ Hats provided for all children.

✓ Sleep sheets provided.

✓ Recognised Government Approved Kindergarten Program.

✓ Educational leader at the centre providing support and guidance to educators and teachers

✓ Professional development for all educators, so that they can be provided with ongoing

development.

✓ NO additional cost: Excursions and incursions to allow the children to understand that the

world is bigger than their classroom e.g: farm visits, planting trees with Landcare, Fire

Department. visits, etc.

✓ Qualified music teacher providing in class music sessions regularly.

✓ Exceeding National Quality Standards.

✓ Allowing your child to explore, discover, and play more freely and connect with nature.

✓ Regular visits to the town library.

✓ Junior Turtle Ranger Program

✓ Gymfinity

✓ Able to use long day care hours 6:30am to 6:30pm, inclusive of Kindergarten

✓ Own Kindergarten yard and room.

✓ School visits with a number of schools in the surrounding areas.

4

Importance of Kindergarten Curriculum - Goals Our kindergarten program can help your

child get ready for school in a play-based

learning environment. We run a program

that is designed to meet government

guidelines to support your child’s

participation in quality early childhood

education. All approved kindergarten

programs are based on the Queensland

Kindergarten Learning Guideline. The

guideline gives us advice on how to deliver

our program that meets national and state quality standards and regulations.

The play-based learning of our kindergarten program helps children prepare for

school, develop a love of learning with teachers who have a love for teaching. Your

child will develop great friendships and develop skills for life. They will have

opportunities to learn how to use language to communicate ideas, feelings and

needs, make friends and cooperate with other children, become more independent

and confident in their abilities, develop self-regulation, creatively express ideas and

feelings through art, dance and dramatic play, identify, explore and solve problems,

develop language and numeracy skills.

Our room routine involves a combination of indoor and outdoor play, group and

individual activities, morning and afternoon tea, lunch break and a rest. Your child

will take part in individual and group activities such as block play, painting, games,

puzzles, storytelling, dress-ups, dancing and singing. Children can take part in

outdoor physical activities and engage with the natural environment. Through these

experiences your child will build on their knowledge, explore and express new ideas,

learn to cooperate with others and make friends.

Your children will participate in teacher-led and child-initiated activities that follow

our general routine. Our group time focus is for language, literacy, literature

development, early mathematical development, stories, books, rules and social skills.

5

Play Base Learning The aim of a play based program is to promote a sense of wonder, exploration,

investigation and interest in a rich range of materials, resources and opportunities in

which the child can engage. The child is viewed as being instrumental to the way in

which materials and equipment are selected and organised within the environment.

Such environments are often described as child focused as children are constantly

engaged in meaningful learning experiences.

While children’s interests form the basis of the program, the environment needs to

be carefully planned and presented in ways that are inviting to young children. All

experiences are based on supporting a balance of child and adult initiated ideas.

Investigations utilise the indoor and outdoor areas equally. Specific play spaces or

areas may be arranged within the environment to engage children in different areas

of learning such as art, literacy, and construction. Within each area children should

be offered a range of open-ended and loose materials that can be used by all

differing abilities and diverse interests.

As these aspects can differ greatly between children, an effective play based

program actively supports and includes all children. A key element of the play based

program is the opportunity for children to pursue their interests for extended

periods of time.

This enables children to fully explore materials and master new skills through

repeated practice. When guided by children, the teacher will soon become aware

when experiences and materials need to be changed, extended or removed from the

program. It is also important to consider aspects such as storage and how children’s

play and learning will be displayed and shared with families. As children becoming

increasingly competent, it is essential to offer more opportunities for self-selection

and independent play.

Children are free to move equipment and select materials from open shelving and

storage areas. These opportunities empower children to construct their own learning

and scaffold the learning of others. An effective program also supports self-

regulation and encourages children to become more responsible for their own play

and learning.

6

Kindergarten Learning and Development

Identity Related EYLF learning outcome: Children have a strong sense of identity

• A sense of being safe, accepted and supported

• A sense of belonging and confidence in others

• Organising self and belongings and managing routines

• Making choices

• Willingness to keep trying

• Pride and confidence in who they are, their family and culture

• Pride and confidence in their strengths and abilities

• Confidence in themselves as learners

Connectedness Related EYLF learning outcome: Children are connected with and contribute to their world

• Skills for connecting with and relating to others

• Awareness of own and others’ rights and responsibilities

• Understandings about fairness

• Ways to respond to others with respect

• Interest in their own and others’ cultures and heritages

• Exploring aspects of culture and similarities and differences among people

• An awareness of bias and stereotyping

• Caring for and respecting environments

• Ways to investigate and understand natural and built environments

• Exploring interactions between people and environments

Wellbeing Related EYLF learning outcome: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing

• Delight in making decisions and choices (agency)

• Courage and resilience to manage change and challenges

• Ways to understand and regulate emotions

• Interest in and desire to interact with others

• Considering and empathising with others

• Ways to manage personal hygiene and self-care

• Ways to stay healthy and safe

• Control and strength for manipulating objects, tools and equipment

• Large movement skills, movement control, coordination and strength

• Confidence to engage in movement challenges

7

Active learning Related EYLF learning outcome: Children are confident and involved learners

• Enthusiasm for learning and curiosity

• Problem solving and investigating

• Applying and reflecting on learning

• Increasing confidence and involvement in learning

• Making choices and organising resources for learning

• Ways to contribute to learning conversations

• A sense of wonder, imagination and creativity

• Ways to creatively represent ideas, feelings and experiences

• Using tools and technologies in play and active learning

• Using information and communication technologies for a range of purposes

Communicating Related EYLF learning outcome: Children are effective communicators

• Spoken and nonverbal communication

• Age-appropriate speech patterns, vocabulary and sentence structures

• Using language for a range of purposes

• Skills for listening and taking turns in conversations

• Positive engagement with a variety of print and multimedia texts and the arts

• Exploring symbols and patterns in language

• Exploring text purposes and meanings

• Confidence and interest in exploring reading and writing behaviours

• Exploring number symbols and their purposes

• Confidence and interest in counting and exploring patterns and relationships

• Exploring mathematical thinking, concepts and language

8

Kindergarten Fees

This total fee incorporate all of the following:

✓ Kindergarten shirts and hat

✓ Meals

✓ Music program

✓ Excursions and Incursions

✓ Sleep sheets

✓ Access to government approved Kindergarten Program

Centre hours Monday to Friday 6:30am to 6:30pm

Kindergarten Session Times

From Kindergarten programs are provided daily for 7.5hrs. Each centres hours differ slightly. Please

contact your centre director for specific hours.

Enrolments To be eligible for the kindergarten program all children must be a least 4 by 30 June in the year they

are enrolled.

Child born Child can attend Kindergarten

1 July 2014 to June 2015

1 July 2015 to June 2016

2019

2020

1 July 2016 to June 2017 2021

Session Hours Session Cost

9am-3pm 6 hour session

* Kindergarten age $83 per session

8am-5pm 9 hour session * Kindergarten age $88 per session

7:30-5:30 10 hours or more

* Kindergarten age $92 per session

9

Subsidies available under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding

Scheme (QKFS)

Standard subsidy

Services that meet the eligibility criteria will receive a standard subsidy for every eligible child enrolled. Eligible children must be at least 4 by 30 June in the year they are enrolled.

In order to be an approved Kindergarten provider, we must offer a learning program:

✓ For children in the year prior to Prep (aged at least 4 years old by 31st June in the year the participate)

✓ For 15 hours per week, for at least 40 weeks per year ✓ That is delivered by a qualified early childhood education teacher or a registered

teacher with early childhood qualification, or hold a Diploma qualification and have completed at least 50% of the ECT course.

✓ The program aligns with the national “Early Years Learning Framework” and the “Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline”

QKFS Plus Kindy Support

All services, no matter where they are located, can claim QKFS Plus Kindy Support where a family meets certain criteria. Subsidies are provided directly to services to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for eligible families.

Subsidies up to $3,034.00* per child per year for families attending Kindergarten services or up to $1,218.00* per child per year for families attending long day care services are provided directly to services to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for eligible families.

Services eligible to receive Australian Government child care benefit and child care rebate on behalf of families should conform with the Australian Government Department of Education's guidelines for applying fee subsidies.

*adjusted to take into account each service's Low Socio-Economic subsidy entitlement.

For more information:

10

https://det.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/service/Documents/pdf/qkfs-plus-kindy-support.pdf

Health Care Card holders

You can claim QKFS Plus Kindy Support if a family, including a foster carer, of a kindy-aged child presents one of the following:

✓ Their current Health Care Card ✓ A Veterans Affairs Card ✓ An Australian Government Pension Concession card with automatic Health Care Card

entitlements ✓ Formal communication, such as a letter, from the relevant agency stating the intent

to issue a Health Care Card.

Families must give a copy of this card to the center upon enrollment for subsidies to be applied to parent accounts weekly.

.

Families who identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

You can also claim QKFS Plus Kindy Support if a family identifies as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or has a child who does, and this is recorded on their enrolment form.

Families with multiple births

QKFS Plus Kindy Support is also available to families with multiple births of 3 or more kindy-aged children. They need to provide proof of date of birth for the children and you should keep a copy as a record.

11

Family Involvement The best experiences for children happen when there is a strong relationship between educators and the child’s family that is evident in daily practice. The relationship with each family will be unique in many ways, but all partnerships will share some features:

✓ Mutual trust ✓ Open, respectful communication ✓ Empathy ✓ Openness to others’ views, values and perspectives ✓ Shared decision making ✓ Clarity about roles and responsibilities ✓ Appreciation of each other’s knowledge and

experience ✓ Willingness to negotiate and compromise ✓ Commitment to resolve tensions and conflicts ✓ Shared aims or goals—what is best for the child. As the Early Years Learning Framework makes clear, partnerships between educators and families matter because: ✓ Knowing that educators respect their family strengthens a child’s identity and sense

of belonging and enhances their learning ✓ Knowing children well also includes knowing the family and the cultural and

community contexts of their lives. ✓ Families bring insights that offer a richer picture about their child.

To support this Acorn kindergarten would like to encourage you to:

✓ Visit and observe the program in operation and speak with the teaching team about any queries or concerns you may have. Spending time at the service helps you connect to a deeper understanding of the learning environment.

✓ Volunteer in the rooms; some ways you might be able to assist: o Interact with children , talk to them about what they might be doing o Help with morning tea o Join in with music sessions o Read a story o Sing songs o Help with excursions and incursion

To help with communication when you are not at the service, Acorn has a parent portal called Educa. This is available either through the internet or an app for your phone. Through this you will receive daily updates of what your child is learning. You will also have access to their learning stories, photos, and centre information including newsletters, policies and forms.

12

Story Park

Curriculum planning for all children in our care is a major component of our teachers and senior educator’s role here at Acorn. This is achieved through an online programming platform which allows educators to plan, prepare activities and experiences based on observations of the children in their care. The parent portal is called “Story Park” and provides access for parents and family members to view published observations, photos, stories and a whole lot more. Parents from the comfort of their home or office have the ability to view each child’s portfolio with their own secure login from any internet connected device. You are also able to download an app for your phone to receive instant notifications of your child’s learning and discovery’s. Families can also reply or publish own photos and events for us to share with their child’s classroom.

Flexible Daily Routine 8:30 Meet and welcome all families’

Small group activities outside

9:30am Group Time

9:50am Morning Tea

10:15am Intentional teaching experiences and emergent play opportunities

11:00am Outside play and group activities

11:30am Group Time / Music

12:00pm Lunch

12:30pm Rest / small group activities

2:00pm Group Time

2:30pm Afternoon Tea

3:00pm Outdoor Play

13

Parent TV

Parent TV is an on-demand video streaming website for parents delivering the help they need from

trusted experts anytime of the day or night. Experts include a paediatrician, occupational therapist,

psychiatrist, psychologist, accredited practising dietitian, autism consultant, behaviour therapist,

sleep consultant, technology expert, social worker, health and wellness expert, counsellor with new

experts coming on every month. Each parent will be able to create their own personal account which

allows them to create profiles for each of their children with their age, gender and any specific

concerns you may have. The website then shows you the content most relevant to each of your

children based on your preferences and their profile.

Once enrolled Acorn will give you an access code, to get FREE access.

Feel more confident and connected with access to

reliable and relevant advice

✓ Gain certainty in your parenting skills and decisions

✓ Reduce unnecessary panic and worry about the future

✓ Better support your chid to cope with the challenges they face

✓ Discover simple and effective strategies for dealing with difficult behaviours

✓ Get reliable advice relevant to your family and your specific challenges

✓ Do away with information overload and confusing contradictory advice

✓ Join an inspiring community of like-minded parents to share your journey and get support

✓ Feel more deeply connected you your child every single day

14

My Family Lounge / Enrol:

What can I do in My Family Lounge?

• You can easily register your child’s details and manage your account information

• You can submit a waitlist request for your child to secure a permanent spot

• Request change of the days your child is currently booked in for when required

• You can easily provide detailed information about your child to our service such as medical

information, diet requirements, emergency contact details and more! All this information is simply

added into the online enrolment form and submitted to the service

What can I do in My Family Lounge App?

• Book in casual days for your child straight from your phone

• Access an online calendar where you can see live availability within our centre

• Manage bookings for one or more children from a single log in

• Record your child as ‘absent’ in advance for a permanent session

• Cancel a ‘casual day’ where the session is no longer required

• A cancellation Fee will apply if cancelled within a NO REFUND period

• Activate notification Alerts!

How do I log in?

You will now have received a Welcome email from the My Family Lounge. It is important that you

validate your account by setting up your password. If your account has expired, simply enter in your

email address and select ’forgotten password’ to recover your account. If you are experiencing issues

accessing your account or have not received your welcome email please contact the service for

assistance.

Your My Family Lounge log in details will travel with you for life as you move childcare services that

that use the My Family Lounge. You are able to log in anywhere, anytime as long as you have access

to the internet.

To log into the My Family Lounge account CLICK HERE

For a better understanding of how My Family Lounge works, please visit www.myfamilylounge.com.au

We are thrilled to be able to provide you with an easier and more efficient way of managing your child’s bookings at our service.

15

Excursions and Incursions

Throughout the year Kindergarten children will attend

excursions. Through these excursions the children can engage

with the culture of the local community via visual arts, craft,

literature, dance and music. By attending excursions, children

develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an

understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community

participation.

Kindergarten children will do regular excursion to the library. This is to help the children’s language

and literacy skills.

We will also do other excursions throughout the year depending on the children’s interests. Over the

past few years we have been to:

✓ Library

✓ Art gallery

✓ Botanical Gardens

✓ Beach

✓ Farms

✓ Planting trees with Landcare

✓ Tri Care

Visits from:

✓ Ambulance

✓ Rural Fire Brigade

✓ Dentist

✓ Phoenix House : Child Protection

✓ Old MacDonald’s Farm

✓ Police

✓ Mon Repo

16

Junior Turtle Ranger Program During the non-turtle season, our kindergarten children visit the Turtle Centre at Mon Repo.

Topics to cover

• Introduction to Mon Repos and turtles – turtle biology

• Threats to marine turtles – Cut the Glow, fox enclosures, shade cloths – beach walk

• Threats to marine life – boats/nets/rubbish plastic

• Rubbish pick up a long beach (for a short period, every visit. The children look at the

different rubbish that washes up, where does it come from?)

• Nature play – get a nature play passport and do a couple of the activities from the website.

• Mon Repos Research – junior ranger (measure turtle, dig up a ‘nest’ of ping pong balls and

relocate them), they can pretend they are a turtle and dig an egg chamber.

• Mon Repos – nature walk – look for tracks, scats and animals.

• Turtle sand sculptures on the beach

17

Library Visits First 5 Together Program – Bundaberg Library

Is it time for a story? Story time can be any place and any time! Sharing stories is fun for you

and your child, and really good for little brains as well. Watch to find out why sharing stories

with your child is such a big part of First 5 Forever.

https://vimeo.com/140748290

Why it’s important Did you know that that up to 90% of a child’s brain development happens in the first 5 years?

Research is now telling us that when babies and children get what they need – it can have a lasting

effect on their future.

Sharing stories, rhymes, singing, talking and playing with your child from birth builds a foundation

for your child’s future development that can last a lifetime.

Why is First 5 Forever important for Queensland families?

We all want Queensland children to have the best opportunities in life and have the greatest chance

to succeed. Current research shows the valuable role parents and caregivers’ have in supporting

their child’s early development.

First 5 Forever aims to provide strong emergent literacy foundations and life-long learning

capabilities for all Queensland children 0-5 years, by directly supporting parents and primary

caregivers as their child’s first and most important educator.

Let’s work together as a community to support each other and build on the endless opportunities

families have daily to interact with their children and provide opportunities for learning. This means

spending time in the early years talking, playing and reading with our children so their growing

brains get what they need!

About parents’ and caregivers’ valuable role

Babies and young children learn best by listening and interacting with the important adults in their

lives during everyday activities – whether that’s talking about what you can see on the way to the

park, singing nursery rhymes, pointing out something you both view out the window, or learning

new words while shopping for groceries.

That’s why First 5 Forever connects parents to a range of resources and ideas for you to try, and links

you to your local library for more ideas and information you can use any place, any time.

What research tells us

• Shared activities at home and out and about in the early years are important in the

development of language skills later on, and research highlights the significant role that

parents play in helping their babies build a strong foundation for future learning¹.

• In the first few years of life approximately 700 new neural connections in the brain are

formed every second. These connections are created partly though genetics and partly

through a baby’s environment and experiences².

• Children are born ready to learn and some of the best learning comes from nurturing

relationships³.

18

Gymfinity

Children at this age are at an important stage in their growth and

development of balance, hand eye coordination, and muscle

control. Gymnastics provides social experiences for your child to

make new friends and grow to be more independently self-

confident in their social ability.

This social setting in gymnastics classes stimulates appropriate

social manners like taking turns, respecting others, listening and following directions. Research

shows improved brain function, self-image and memory retention in kids who are involved in

gymnastics programs.

Research shows that gymnastics for 3+yrs programs tend to promote increased concentration, a

deeper understanding of important early developmental facets, and overall physical and mental

wellbeing.

Benefits Of Gymnastic Movements.

IMPROVES PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: spinning activities stimulate the inner ear and improve

physical balance, motor coordination and stabilization of images in vision. His studies verify that

certain spinning activities lead to alertness, attention and physical development.

ENHANCES NEUROLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: Exercise fuels the brain with neurotrophies and oxygen

that promote greater connections and growth between the neurons.

ACCELERATES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Student who spend an extra hour a day in gym classes far

outperformed those who do no exercise.

19

If you would like more information please contact Centre Director

on 41530333 or www.acornchildcare.com.au