FAQ

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Answers to common questions about enrolment, fees, routines, and more 

Enrolment & Waitlist 

  • You are welcome to add your child to our wait-list from 3 months of age. You will need to provide a copy of their birth certificate, a current immunisation history statement to complete your application online. A wait-list fee $47.00 plus payment fees is charged when you submit your application.

  • We follow the NSW education department priority of access guidelines. We give priority to low income families, children with an aboriginal and Torres Strait islander background and children with a disability and/or additional needs.

    Then, children who are eligible for primary school in the following year. Lastly we enrol children who are 3yo and not eligible for primary school next year.

  • A bond deposit of $300 is charged to confirm preschool enrolment. It is held on account until the last term/last year of enrolment, when it is transferred to your account and used towards preschool fees. The bond is usually payable within 7 days of accepting a preschool place, or as advised in your preschool offer.

  • We enrol children in classes for a calendar year. Vacancies can happen during the year if another child leaves. We refer to our wait-list to fill any vacancies. Join our wait-list to be considered for any class vacancies.

    We sometimes schedule a new class to commence in Term 2 or 3, if it has not already started. Subject to community need.

  • We can operate up to 6 class groups across our 3 classroom spaces.

    We usually start the year with 5 classes and start our 6th class in the middle of the year.

  • We generally start enrolling for next year around June of the current year.

    First, we re-enrol our current attending children.

    Then, we enrol our wait-listed children in the order of the wait-list priorities.

    Join our waitlist to be considered for a preschool class next year.

Fees & Financial Support 

  • Please refer to our fees and charges section on this website.

  • Yes, North Epping Kindergarten participates in the NSW government Fee Relief program. As a community based preschool the maximum fee relief funding per enrolled child is $3,565 per annum (or $4,456 for low income, NDIS eligible chidren). Families can receive a larger discount than any CCS long day care service.

  • Installment arrangements can be made by contacting the office.

  • No. North Epping Kindergarten is a community preschool funded by the NSW state government. We are not part of the federal CCS long daycare funding arrangements.

  • If you pay your preschool fees by direct debit, our software provider does charge transaction fees. Every direct debit processed has a $1.00 processing fee.

    If you select a credit or debit card they also charge a percentage of the transaction value between 1.8-3.6%.

    A fee free option is available if you pay fees directly to our bank account.

  • Yes. Payments made by bank transfer to our bank account do not incur any fees or charges.

Programs & Routine 

  • Children can start arriving at preschool from 8am. Indoor and outdoor activities are set up for the children to explore. Morning tea is available from around 9.30am, when the children are feeling hungry. Group time commences late morning, followed by lunch. After lunch we have a 30 minute indoor quiet/rest time. If a child is tired and asks for rest, a day-bed is provided. Indoor/Outdoor play resumes after quiet time for the rest of the day. All children are collected by 3.30pm.

    • Each day your child will need weather appropriate clothing & a spare set in-case of accidents or getting wet with water play.

    • Morning tea and lunch in separate containers.

    • A water bottle they can open and close.

    • If you think your will child need a sleep/rest at preschool, please also bring a set of cot sheets, in a drawstring bag to put on our day beds.

  • Yes. After lunch we have a quiet time for the children. They can read or play with lego or listen to music. Children who are tired can ask for a day-bed for a sleep. If an afternoon sleep is needed, please bring a set of cot sheets to put on our day beds.

  • Yes. We plan excursions and incursions for the children during the preschool year.

Staffing & Supervision 

  • We have at least 2 educators in each class group. 1:10

  • Each class group has a university trained teacher who works with a qualified educator.

  • Each class group has the same educators every week. The children will get to know other educators as they explore the preschool environment.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing 

  • If your child is unwell it is best they stay home to recover. Please refer to the preschool handbook for guidelines on when your child may return after illness.

    You can update your child’s attendance online up to the day before attendance. On the day, you can notify us of an absence by calling or emailing us on the day.

  • No. All morning tea/lunch food comes from home. We ask that you separate morning tea in one container and lunch in a different container. Lunches are refrigerated.

    We do not heat/re-heat any food items.

    • All staff are first aid emergency trained, including the use of Epipen/Anapen.

    • Children with allergies need to provide preschool with their medical management plans and any prescribed medicines.

    • Educators will discuss the child’s specific needs with the parents and agree on risk management strategies to manage risks at preschool.

    • We are a nut aware preschool and ask ALL families to not bring nuts or food items where nuts are an ingredient.

    • Other food allergies may also necessitate asking families to not bring those foods to preschool as well. We will advise families of any specific foods to avoid in a class group where necessary.

Parental Involvement 

  • Parents are welcome to visit during the preschool day.

    We also ask for parent help for various activities such as excursions, library book borrowing, book club.

    If you have a skill or talent you would like to share with the children at preschool, please talk to your class educators and we can look at options to include this in our preschool day.

    • At our annual general meeting (AGM), held in mid-late February, we ask for volunteers for our parent management committee.

    • Members in attendance at the AGM vote to elect the committee members.

    • If you are interested in joining our parent management committee, please let our office team know.

  • We ask all families to consider getting involved in something at preschool. It is a great way to meet other families in the community too.

    Activities on the parent roster include:

    • Helping out with general working bee type tasks.

    • End of term cleaning (during the preschool day)

    • Washing dress ups or other general preschool items .

    • Assisting with setup of craft materials.

General 

    • Children must have turned 3 yo before they can start at preschool with us.

    • By law, all children must be in compulsory schooling by their 6th birthday.

    • We may offer a child a class position before their 3rd birthday, but they are not able to start attending until they are 3 yo.

  • No. We are closed all NSW school holiday periods. We use the NSW education (Eastern) for our preschool term dates.

    Please refer to the preschool handbook for current preschool term dates.

  • You can login to your xap account at xap.rocks to edit and update you or your child’s contact details.

    You can also contact the office via email.

 Still have questions?

Contact us