Monash Community Family Co-operative

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Frequently Asked Questions

• How do parents get informed about the Centre's daily operations and children's progress?

  There are several ways in which MCFC staff communicates with parents:

  • Parent Information Pocket - each room has a woven basket with the parents’ folders where the staff puts various notification regarding fees, input into children’s observations etc. – please check this folder often.

  • The Centre’s Newsletters - the co-ordinator sends occasional newsletters with information regarding events and issues important for the centre.

  • Individual Child Portfolios – are placed in the blue display folders. For babies and toddlers, carers keep daily notes on food intake, nappy changes and similar daily observations. For all rooms this is also where child’s enrolment forms are kept, together with accident and medical record forms.

  • The Children’s Folders – are placed in coloured ring binders for documenting your child’s development. This is where we keep documentation of your child’s learning stories, photographs, artwork, and parent input sheets (carers ask parents to record child’s interests outside the centre).

  • Daily Journal – in each room there is an A3 notebook used to record the children’s daily activities. It is displayed next to the sign in/out book for parents to read through and add comments and ideas.

  • Learning Story board - in each room carers display a picture portfolio, where children’s group activities and pictures are displayed and described over a period of a week.

  • Group emails - carers from each room prepare occasional newsletter with photos and various information about children’s activities and achievements and send them to parents by email.

  Our website is also one of the main ways we communicate with parents, where you can find all the documents, forms, informations about upcoming events, etc.

• How do I know if my child is too sick to go to daycare?

  Refer to the health related information available on our "Links" page compiled by the Committee of Management that has a check list for symptoms, and other guidelines.

• What do the children eat? Do you cater for dietery requirements?

  The children are given a balanced diet through nutritious hot lunches and snacks prepared daily in our kitchen from fresh produce. Breakfast is given to a child on parents request. The Centre is catering for different dietary requirements. For more information, refer to the "Food Provision" section on our Info page.

• What are the channels of resolving a possible problem/issue that parents can have?

  Parents are strongly encouraged to talk to the carers about any issues they have about centres operation or daily procedures, ask questions or give suggestions. Our carers take pride in their work and are happy to discuss issues with parents. If this is not satisfactory, the parents can contact the Co-ordinator, and then the Committee, as per our policy.

• What are the channels of giving suggestion or comments that parents can have?

  The Centre and the Committee of Management welcome input from parents. Parents can talk or send email to the playroom staff, talk or email the Co-ordinator, talk to Committee members or send an email to committee@mcfco.org.au.

• Can my fees be waived or reduced if I give notice well in advance about my child's absence?

  MCFC is a not-for-profit organization and employs carers based on the number of permanent places, and we are not able to waive or reduced fees under any circumstances. Our fee policy (available on-line or in the foyer) states that fees are payable for all the days the child is booked to attend the care, regardless of absence. As parents of children in the Centre we are all affected by this policy at various times during the year. However, there is no other way to ensure the financial viability of the Centre without markedly increasing the fees.

• I would like to cancel or change my days. What do I need to do?

  You need to inform the Co-ordinator in writing two weeks in advance of any changes in your permanent bookings.

• Can I bring a cake or a party bag for my child's birthday?

  From 2011 the Centre has adopted "no outside food" policy for birthdays and other celebratory events because the number of children in the Centre with serious allergies increased as the Centre expanded, and because many parents struggled to find dairy-free egg-free cakes to make or buy. The parents can purchase cakes (which are part of our fundraising) for birthdays and other celebratory events from the Centre. Please talk to our cook a week in advance to select between a couple of different cake shapes we are offering and download the cake order form from our "Forms" section. We have also decided to stop the practice of bringing party bags because it was difficult to define what are acceptable items for pre-school children - ie some party goodies can be dropped on the floor without noticing and younger child for which this was not intended could pick it up etc. Also, we wanted to discourage distribution of the party bags so that parents don't feel financial pressure to provide these gifts.

• I have been charged "miscellaneous fees" on my childcare bill. What are does fees stand for?

  The miscellaneous fees refer to the extra fees, in addition to the basic daily fees. They can be: dancing classes fees, security fob fee, late payment fee, maintenance levy, activity levy. See "Info" page for the exact amount of various fees.