The benefits of a childcare centre can never be overstated. Perhaps, that is the reason behind their tremendous popularity in Australia. The latest data predicts growth of about 2.1% in 2022, with the number of childcare workers expected to increase to 182,300.
Finding local child care in Australia is hardly difficult since the country has more than 13,370 services spread across the states. They are the first option for parents to provide early learning opportunities to their children because of the several advantages.
The friendly environment in these centres is conducive to your child’s mental, physical, and cognitive growth. They learn social skills like caring, empathy, sharing, discipline and cooperation, and motor skills like reading, writing and following instructions.
They are certainly a better option than teaching your child at home, which, while it has its benefits, often falls short on several counts. For example, you might lack the time, infrastructure or the energy to train your child at the end of a long, hard day.
But before you admit your child into one of these early learning services, it is advisable to keep these things in mind.
Disclosure: This is a partnered post
Finding Local Child Care In Australia
#1: What Is Their Curriculum Like?
The curriculum plays a vital role in your child’s development and should be one that caters to their requirements and interests. A good service will usually divide the curriculum into four levels which are nursery, toddler, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten.
The programs should be flexible and responsive, designed to build qualities in your children like resilience, mindfulness, connectedness, adaptation, and creativity. It must follow the National Quality Framework and the National Rules and Regulations, determined by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.
#2: Will They Provide You With Regular Updates?
According to Quality Area 1, Element 1.3.3, of the National Quality Standard in Australia, the educators should provide regular updates regarding your child’s development and progress in the learning programs. They might use an app to inform you about your child’s progress through videos and photos.
#3: Do They Have A Proper Nutritional Policy?
All the meals provided by the centre must adhere to the guidelines set by Nutrition Australia, a body that ensures that children receive the necessary nutrition for growth and development. You should ask them if their food policies are governed by Food Safety Programs and overseen by Food Safety Supervisors.
Before you bring any food items into the service, you might have to get the approval of the Service Manager. If you want to bring a birthday cake for their birthdays, you should inform the Manager about its ingredients to ensure it does not contain items that trigger allergic reactions in children with allergies.
#4: What Safety Measures Do They Have In Place?
You should consider asking them if they have good safety practices according to Quality Area 2 of the NQS in Australia. All the equipment, premises, outdoor and indoor facilities should be clean, without any defective parts.
If a child is accidentally injured, what is the procedure they follow? In most cases, if your child requires external treatment (treatment outside the care’s premises), the services inform the ACECQA online portal. You should inquire if they do the same.
Since Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world because of overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun, you might consider asking them about their sun safety practices.
The centre should have sufficient shaded areas for outdoor play while using age-appropriate teaching tools for sun-safe habits.
You should consider these questions while finding local child care in Australia. It will provide your child with an excellent early learning opportunity in a safe, comfortable and relaxed environment while being assisted and supervised by qualified educators.
