Potiki

We accept enrollments for children (preferably) between the ages of three months and five years. You must complete an enrollment form to secure your child a place in our centre. You may be placed on a waiting list if there is no space available at the time of enrollment. We recommend that you take the time to visit the centre. Spend some time with your child at the centre. You can talk with the Centre Supervisor and team members to get a vibe of the centre before enrollment. Please be clear and specific on the times you wish your child to attend the centre. Our administrator will be available to assist with paperwork as needed.

We advise you to read through our centre policies and procedures prior to your child’s enrolment at the centre. We also recommend to read the centre’s ERO report to be able to know more about our centre.

Leaving your child in somebody else’s care can be an anxious time for children and parents. Most children will settle very quickly if families are positive and clear in what they are doing. However if a child feels that you are upset, they will become upset too. Parents should feel free to ring as many times as they wish to check on their child and are most welcome to come and visit. If you do wish to visit, please check with us on your arrival. Often children who see their parents in the middle of the day, immediately believe it is time to go home. Under these circumstances, it is wise to look discreetly and talk to a teacher to ease your mind.

Please bring your child inside the Centre to ensure their safety. Come through the door with them as we may need to speak to you. If someone else will be collecting your child, please remember to notify us. We will not hand over your child to anyone other than the agreed person stated on the enrolment form. This is for the safety of your child. SIGNING IN AND OUT is a regulatory requirement. Whânau members must ensure that they sign the signing in and out forms daily. After signing in, place your child’s nappies, made-up bottles and bag in the assigned places. It is essential to ensure that your child is settled in before you leave.

Any changes to your child’s enrolment records need to be verified at reception, e.g. change of address, change of telephone numbers, people not authorized to collect your child, illnesses, diseases, allergies, etc.

All staff employed at the centre are committed to the well-being of the children and possess the knowledge and skills essential for the children in their care. We pride ourselves on the quality of the staff in our centre which is vital in offering high quality care. Our staff attends workshops to stay abreast with new research in early childhood educations. If you want to know more about our staff, please stop to look at the notice board in the foyer. There you will find photos and information on our staff.

We enrol children from 3 months to 6 years of age.

It is important that children arrive at the centre before 9.00am. The day begins with a karakia (blessing) at 9am. It also ends with a karakia at 3.15pm.

We offer 20 hours Free ECE to 3 and 4 year olds. Children must attend a minimum of 4 hours per day. Free 20 hours – 8.00 till 12.00 or 12.30 – 4.30

Subsidies may be available through WINZ. Please look under the eligibility section in the enrollment application form. An automatic payment system is available for parents.

On application to income support services, funding can be made available to the centre for assistance with a child’s fees. Application forms are available from the administrator. Information explaining the Childcare Subsidy is available from WINZ

It is essential that whânau notify the Centre whenever their tamariki will be absent from the Centre and if possible the duration of his/her absence. This enables the Centre to monitor children’s attendance more accurately. If your child has an unexplained absence of more than three weeks, they will be exited from our roll.

If a child sustains a minor accident while at Potiki Early Childhood Centre the child will be attended to by a staff member qualified in first aid. However, if the child requires a doctor’s attention, they will be taken as quickly as possible to the child’s family doctor or the nearest medical centre by a staff member while the administrator contacts the parents. The staff member will remain with the child until the parent takes responsibility. All accidents will be recorded in the accident register book.

You will need to provide names and telephone numbers of relatives or friends we can contact in case the parent cannot be reached in the event of an emergency. We require details in advance if your child is to be released to anyone other than the people nominated on the enrolment form.

The Supervisor may, at her own discretion, refuse to accept any child suffering from a contagious or infectious disease. Children with illnesses, severe colds or coughs, rashes, high temperatures, diarrhea, vomiting or infectious diseases of any nature must be kept at home to avoid the spread of infection to other children and staff.

Change of clothes must be included in your child’s labeled bag in case of mishaps. PLEASE LABEL EACH CLOTHING ITEM CLEARLY. Potiki Early Childhood Centre regrets we are not able to take responsibility for unnamed items.

The Centre provides lunch as well as morning and afternoon tea. Our menu planning is based on HEALTHY HEART PROGRAMME. Food exceptions cannot be made for individual children, except in the case of allergies and special diets. Children doing 20 free hours need to bring lunch pack from home. Infant and toddler parent’s need to prepare formula milk at home, label bottles to be stored in centre fridge.

If you have access to anything that could be of use to our Centre, we would appreciate it. Examples of these things include: paper, plastic bags, newspaper, cardboard, wood off-cuts, ice cream containers with lids, stickers, fabric etc. Any other suggestions, just let us know, it is amazing what we can recycle creatively!

Potiki Early Childhood Centre believes children need to rest during the day and all children will be given that opportunity. Infants under one are assigned individual cots, over one year old children sleep or rest in quiet, supervised surroundings on their stretcher beds.

When a child is on medication prescribed by a doctor it is essential that the medicine be handed to a member of staff and NOT left in the child’s bag. You will be required to fill in and sign the medicine register authorizing staff to administer the medication. Medication is to be taken back home each day.

Centre provides cloth nappies for children to be used during the day. Please provide two to three disposable nappies for your child (to be used for home time), as well as wet wipes for regular use each day. Remember to label both items.

Please watch for notices, parent/adult training information, health notices, upcoming trips, curriculum programs and income support notices etc.

As a parent, you know your child best. You have a great deal of knowledge and understanding of your child that nobody else has. Please share this information with us to enable us to know your child better. In return, we will share what we learn about your child with you. Any time you wish to have a chat with the staff or simply spend time at the Centre, please feel free to do so. We have open door policy. Centre Supervisor is available to discuss any concerns at any time of centre operational hours.

If an individual child has special needs, a hui will be held between whânau and Supervisor to determine how best to cater for the child’s learning needs.

If your child has a cuddly toy or blanket that helps them to settle, you are most welcome to bring this along. The centre has a range of toys for children to play with, thus we suggest to keep your special toys at home. The centre will not be responsible for any damage to toys brought from home.

Visits to new, familiar and exciting places are a natural part of childhood curriculum. As well as field trips we also incorporate into the program local community visits e.g. recreation centres, swimming pools, shops, parks, the library and the zoo etc.

When a child is enrolled we would like you to sign up for STORYPARK. This is an online portfolio for children. This allows teachers, parents and wider family to engage and contribute positively towards a child’s learning through online documentation.

We encourage the whânau to communicate freely with the staff as we believe your input is very important. We also appreciate parent help. You can contribute in the centre program at any time. This will assist with giving an insight into the activities of the centre and the routines/rituals of the day. This also offers opportunity to see the centre philosophy in action. We have regular parent-teacher-child sessions for our TPU parents on a fortnightly basis.

Taonga Whānau Ora Rōpu team includes Social workers and Registered Nurse on-site who continue to offer their support for children and families from TPU as well as the community.

Plunket nurse visits onsite to support young teen mums with regular check-ups for the children.