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Gymea Community Preschool
OPENING HOURS & FEES
When we operate
Our preschool hours are:
8am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday.
Extended care from 3:30-4:00pm is available for an additional fee. Priority is given to working families.
Children come in 2 or 3 day sessions as follows:
Monday Tuesday
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Thursday, Friday
We are closed during school holidays.
Fees
As Gymea Preschool is a Not for Profit Community Based Preschool, Federal Government Child Care Subsidy is not available. We do however, receive an annual State Government Grant which significantly reduces Fee Rates.
A further fee subsidy is available to Equity Groups: Low Income families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and Families of children with a Diagnosed Disability.
Fees are determined by the funding made available to us by the NSW Department of Education each year.
After School care is $10 per session.
Please contact the Preschool for our current daily fee rate.
Please note: Due to Free Preschool Covid-19 Funding from the NSW Department of Education, there are currently no fees for 2 days of each child's attendance.
However, families are still required to provide relevant documentation to be eligible for Equity Fees (low income health care card). Families of children with disabilities or developmental delays will be required to provide documentation from relevant health professionals to be eligible for lower fees.
FAQ
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Does your preschool provide meals?Children are required to bring their own water bottle and healthy morning tea and lunch each day. Food must not contain nuts such as noted on regular brands of packaged food. Lunches are stored in the fridge throughout the day until meal time.
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Are you a nut or egg free centre?We have a no nut product policy and egg is permitted. Our families are requested to pack nutritious lunches that do not contain nuts nor traces of nuts. We know that this excludes many supermarket brands and apologise for the inconvenience as we do our best to ensure the safety of all children attending our preschool. We provide families with suggestions for packing a nutritious lunch box in our enrolment pack. Currently egg is permitted. If we have a child with a life threatening allergen such as egg attending, all our families will be notified. *Please note that while we do our best to ensure adherence to our policy, as children bring their own lunchboxes we cannot guarantee that no traces of nuts will ever make their way into the centre.
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What should my child bring to preschool?1. A plastic drink bottle with a covered lid for hygiene. 2. A healthy morning tea and lunch. (Lunches are stored in the fridge.) 3. A sheet and sheet bag if your child needs to sleep. 4. A change of underwear and shorts/pants is recommended in case of accidents. We provide a wide brimmed hat for each child in class colours. They are laundered regularly at preschool.
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Do you provide sunscreen?We recommend children wear sunscreen to preschool in the warmer months. We also provide and apply Cancer Council sunscreen as required and where authorised by families.
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Do you have a school readiness program?Preparation for school entry is our specialty. From the first day that your child enters our Preschool, we begin the learning journey towards School. "Play-based preschool programs delivered by qualified early childhood educators improve children's learning and developmental outcomes and are particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds." Understanding how each child learns is critical to our success. Sharing the learning journey with our families is the other key element to a successful learning experience. We focus on: problem solving, sharing, resilience, creativity, communication and building joy and surprise of discovering new things together. Our educators are always available to families to discuss their children. Once a year we also schedule a Parent/Teacher Meeting for each child.
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What areas does your preschool service? Can I come from out of area?Yes, you are welcome to enrol from out of the area. We do, however, encourage families to take their child to a Preschool close to home. Many life long friendships have started in the early years. We recommend the Sutherland Shire Preschool Alliance to find a Quality Preschool near your home.
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Does my child need to be toilet trained to start preschool?Ideally, yes. We will support any children with additional needs working towards toilet training.
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Does my child need to be fully immunised to start preschool?To enrol your child in childcare, you must provide either an up-to-date Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) Immunisation History Statement (for a child that is up to date or can't be immunised for medical reasons) or an AIR Immunisation HIstory Form (for a child on a catch-up schedule.)
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Do you operate during school holidays?Our preschool is closed throughout school holidays.
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How do you decide who gets a position?In accordance with Government Policy, when a position becomes available, we must abide by the rules of the Department of Education. This means that we must offer the next available position to children on our waiting list, who are turning either 4 or 5 years before 31st July each year, or whose families hold a current Low Income Health Care Card in the family name where the child is a named dependant on the card, or who are from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent or who are at risk of harm or children with a diagnosed disability. After this, applications are prioritised by shareholders (typically families with older children previously attending) and then by application date. You may like to put your child’s name down on our waiting list for subsequent years or for any position that may become available throughout this year.