Due to all the confusion and uncertainly over the past three weeks, all Non Notification Charges have been waived effective from Monday 23rd March 2020 -> Thursday 9th April 2020.

Effective from Term 2 however, this policy WILL again apply as it is essential we are aware of absences prior to sessions commencing for those families still with children attending.  We need to ensure we are accounting for every child that is noted as attending.

If you have previously arranged for your child to attend the service and they will be absent, please ensure you mark them absent via your “My Family Lounge” app on your smart phone.  Refer to our website under FAQ on hos to do this if you are unsure.

By knowing absences in advance as well, this will greatly assist with staffing levels and projections for activities etc

We have been obligated to create a COVID-19 “Priority of Access Centre Policy” whilst the government have released the temporary child care scheme effective from Monday 6th April 2020 to Sunday 28th June 2020.

This policy is to ensure as a centre we are prioritising families requiring care as well as maintaining education:child ratios and space available in each centre to maintain distancing measures where practical.

Please click on the link below to view the COVID-19 “Priority of Access Policy”

Priority of Access Policy

For those families that have tried calling Head Office our phone system has been turned over to record a message instead.  The best form of communication is via your centre email.

KT OOSH – Ironbark Ridge Public School irps@ktoosh.com.au

KT OOSH – Rouse Hill Anglican College rhac@ktoosh.com.au

KT OOSH – Our Lady of the Angels Primary School ola@ktoosh.com.au

Our Head Office Staff, Nominated Supervisors and Educational Leaders have all been working remotely since Tuesday 17th March 2020 when we could see the COVID-19 Virus escalating and will continue to do so until further notice.

Please be aware however that they will be working limited office hours.

As KT OOSH Services is a licensed Childcare, we are obligated to ensure any infectious diseases that relates to an employee or child enrolled with the service are reported to NSW Health as well as our Regulatory Authority.

In regards to the current pandemic being COVID-19 Virus, this requirement extends to any immediate family member or if the child/family has been in contact with a person known to have contracted the COVID-19 Virus.

Any positive cases MUST be reported to KT OOSH Services as well as your School immediately and a doctors clearance is required prior to the employee or child/family returning to the centre.

Additional COVID-19 cleaning processes have been implemented into our services to ensure it is a safe and healthy environment for all to attend.

All deductions last week for care effective Monday 6th April 2020 onward will be credited back to your accounts.

If your account was up to date prior to the deduction on Wednesday 1st April 2020 then this amount will be reflected as a credit on your account.

If there has been any Centrelink adjustments been made Wednesday 1st April 2020 or you had money owing on your account then the credit placed back on your account will go towards the outstanding debt first and the remainder appearing as a credit on your account.

Credits will remain on accounts to go towards future fees when school returns to normal unless you have cancelled and closed your account in full with KT OOSH Services.

All families will receive their fortnightly statement of entitlement next week as normal showing where their accounts are up to so you are aware of your account balance.  Please refer to the back transaction pages for detailed reference should you need clarity on your account balance.

Firstly a huge thank you to the families that are helping to “flatten the curve” by keeping their children at home.  We ask that for Term 2 you continue to do this to help “keep that curve flatten” unless we are instructed otherwise by NSW Health.

Whether you attend KT OOSH or not during Term 2, your permanent days/sessions will remain secure and no Child Care Fee will apply for both attendees and non attendees.

Effective from Monday 6th April 2020 child care fees have been removed and not payable for all current families with a permanent/confirmed placement for either BSC, ASC & Vacation Care.  If you are still enrolled with the service and maintaining your permanent schedule then childcare fees will not be payable up to and including 28th June 2020 at this point.

For any families that moved their permanent bookings to casual the government has allowed us to make these families a priority so you can email us to advise you would like to move back onto your previous schedule noting the days/sessions you would like to re-instate.  Any family Bonds deducted also due to moving to casual will be credited back to your account.  Please, do not ask to have your previous bookings re-instated if you will not be needing them when school resumes to normal. Be mindful of families that desperately need care.

Please Note: Additional days/sessions will not be approved unless you meet the “Priority of Access Centre Policy” and will be using the service Term 2 2020 as we are now working on reduced staffing numbers and must maintain our educator:child ratios as well as ensure adequate space is available for distancing measures where practical.  All wait-list parents will be contacted and assessed over the coming month to advise of placement or movement within the wait-list.

Please note in line with the waiving of childcare fees for the families your absences will not come into play as no fees are currently payable.

In Point Form:

• No Childcare Fees payable for Term 2 2020 (at this point)
• The allowable absent count has now been raised to 62 allowable absences however anything past 62 up to and including 30th June 2020 will be covered and noted as additional allowable absences due to the COVID-19 Virus situation.
• If you have cancelled or moved to a casual placement and do require your days/sessions back when school returns to normal then email your centre email to advise.
• All children will be marked absent for each scheduled/permanent session Term 2 2020 unless you can attend under the “Priority of Access Centre Policy” attached.
• If you have been utilising the service over the past two weeks then your child/ren may continue utilising the service and we will be in contact to determine your attendance requirements for Term 2 2020.
• Additional attendance requests will be considered based on the “Priority of Access Centre Policy”, the ability to maintain educator:child ratios, space available in each centre to maintain distancing measures where practical.
• To assist families with all the confusion over the past three weeks, all Non Notification charges have been waived since Monday 23rd March 2020 however for families that will continue to attend under the “Priority of Access Centre Policy” non notification fees will apply from the commencement of Term 2 2020 if your child is marked as attending but does not attend and they have not been marked absent via your “My Family Lounge” app on your smartphone.

Currently as schools are open and operational then KT OOSH Services is required to be open and remain operational whilst continuing to follow the current CCS Entitlement guidelines and the centre Policy and Procedures.

This being the case the two weeks notification period would apply if you wish to cancel any permanent care.  The Casual  Care and Last Minute Care policy will remain as is also that once booked is payable regardless of attendance.  Staffing, catering and programming has already been taken into consideration for the child/rens attendance.

Please note that future placements cannot be guaranteed once cancelled as they are dependent on centres current wait lists which is based on availability at the time of the request.

In the event that KT OOSH Services is forced to shut down for reasons out of their control then all child care fees from that date until reopening will not be charged.

Absences: As per the current CCS entitlement payments, it states that Centrelink will only pay CCS Entitlements up to and including a child’s last physical attendance and any absences after this point will not be entitled to CCS benefits.  If you mark the children absent you will still receive your CCS entitlements provided there is not a gap of 8 or more weeks from their last date/session of attendance until their next one.  Please note each session is classed separately ie BSC and ASC.  I have re-checked this with the applicable government body this week and this rule is not being waived due to the COVID-19 virus.  Please refer to the Absences post in this news on how to ensure your child is marked absent correctly or take the opportunity to beat the madness at school drop off since the booking still applies.

Drop Off/Pick Ups – In effort to comply with the 1.5m social distance recommendation, Sign In/Out areas are as close as practical to the entrances of our centres.  An Educator will be in that area to call your child/ren on the walkie talkie.  It is important that we continue to follow our Policy to wash hands on arrival and departure of the centre.  Please note a bottle of hand sanitisier is located near the iPad for your use.  We will also continue to wipe down the iPad with Germex during the session.

Children’s hand washing – Children are directed to wait their turn and wash their hands individually to avoid any crowding in the bathroom areas.  We will also be supporting the same practices within the school.

Afternoon tea – To avoid crowding around food areas we will continue to offer the children packaged foods that they can open themselves.  As you can appreciate we are having difficulties with stock levels due to the quantity restrictions but are working closely with Coles and other suppliers to overcome this.  So far so good….

AM & PM Year Group Meetings – When children arrive/depart from KT OOSH the year group meeting have been cancelled.  Children instead separated into their roll year groups to be signed in/out.  Throughout all sessions we have eliminated group/assembly type gatherings.

Play/Activity Programming – KT OOSH have temporarily removed any sensory type activities from the program such as play dough, slime and cooking.  All resources/equipment are also being constantly cleaned throughout all sessions.

If your child is going to be absent for any reason please continue to mark your child absent via the ‘My Family Lounge” app on your smart phone to avoid any non notification fees being applied.  If you are unsure on how to do this, please refer to the FAQ tab on our website www.ktoosh.com.au

Whilst the Centre is open, if you decide to cancel your booking for any reason, please keep in mind our 2 weeks’ notice policy will apply.

Please note that should you be placing your child in self quarantine due to traveling overseas or you have been in contact with someone where potentially the COVID-19 virus may have been transmitted then we will require a Doctors Medical Clearance before their return.

As has been impressed by our Prime Minister and NSW State Premier it is imperative that if your child becomes unwell or sick that you keep them at home.

Children who appear unwell at the Service will be closely monitored and if any symptoms are noticed or the child is not well enough to participate in normal activities, parents or an emergency contact person will be contacted to collect.  Please note that our policy does require collection of children that are unwell within 30 minutes.  It is important that someone on your emergency contact pick up list is available to do this.

If your need to add an additional emergency contact person to meet this requirement you can do so via the “My Family Lounge” portal on a PC or via the web link on our website home page www.ktoosh.com.au