Katoomba Leura Preschool

• It is preschool policy that all accounts are paid two weeks in advance. The easiest way to settle your account is by direct debit. Credit card payments in the office incur a 2% fee.  Our bank account details for direct debit are as follows:
• BSB 112 879 A/c No: 043523215
• Should you be unable to settle your account, please call our office asap to arrange a payment plan. Our preferred method of payment is for families to pay their term account in full at the beginning of term allowing you to not concern yourself with fortnightly accounts.  Please email Dianne on dianne.katoombaleurapreschool@gmail.com to request your account for the full term.

A reminder to families that all children need to  be signed in upon arrival and out upon departure from the centre.  Drop off is anytime after 8.30am and pickup is prior to 4pm.  Please ensure you arrive in the afternoons with enough time to have departed the centre by 4pm as all children need to have left preschool by this time

Remember: While every reasonable effort is taken to minimise the spread of illness, it is not possible to prevent the spread of all illnesses or diseases at preschool.  At some point you may need to keep your child away from preschool due to illness.

It can be difficult for families to know when their child is sick enough to need to stay at home. Taking time off work or study to care for an ill child at home can sometimes be challenging, so it is important to plan and identify care options in the event that your child is not well enough to attend preschool. 

We are required to maintain a focus not only on the wellbeing of your child, but also on the wellbeing of other children and the staff. Having some options identified and a plan about how your family will care for ill children will minimise the difficulties, especially for working families. It is important staff follow preschool’s policy for the exclusion of ill children, in the interests of all children’s health.

Children are more susceptible to picking up illnesses when they first start preschool because they come into contact with more people than they do in their own homes and are exposed to a range of infections they may not yet be immune to.

To promote children’s healthy growth, learning and development, staff nurture children and encourage them to play and explore their environment. Through play, nurture and exploration, children at preschool have close physical contact with others and their environment. Therefore children can be exposed to infectious illnesses through physical contact with other children, adults, toys and surfaces or through airborne illness such as coughing or sneezing.

Health and regulating authorities recommend, and in some cases require us to exclude ill children from the service. We work to prevent the spread of illness by minimising the transmission of infectious disease from one person to another.  To reduce the likelihood of illnesses spreading, services have specific hygiene procedures in place such as hand washing, cleaning toys and sanitising surfaces.

All children, staff and families at preschool benefit from the practice of excluding ill children. Unwell children need additional individual comfort and attention that is difficult to provide in a preschool environment. Ill children can also recover more quickly if they can rest and be cared for at home, ensuring the infection is less likely to spread to other children, families and staff.

Immunisation is the most effective way to prevent some serious childhood illness. We require children to be fully immunised in order to enrol - unless this is not possible due to medical reasons. If a vaccine preventable disease occurs at preschool, families will be asked to exclude non-immunised children from care. This protects the non-immunised child and helps to prevents the further spread of infection.

How do I know if my child is not well enough to go?

A child should not attend preschool if they have an infectious illness. As a general rule children should also not attend if they have an illness that prevents them from comfortably participating in activities at the service.

Sometimes children have ongoing medical needs that can be taken care of such as asthma or anaphylaxis. In these situations, we document the child’s general health and behaviour status at enrolment, in consultation with the family. This helps staff to know what is ‘normal’ health and behaviour for children with additional health needs.

Educators are not medical practitioners and are not able to diagnose whether or not a child has an infectious illness.

However, if an infectious illness is suspected, we may ask the family to come and collect their child as soon as possible or not to bring the child in at all. Sometimes we will request the family seek medical advice and get a medical certificate confirming the child is no longer infectious, before allowing the child to return to preschool.

Some children will need to take medication on an ongoing basis to treat an illness or condition, such as asthma. When children are ill they may also need medication to help manage symptoms or promote recovery. Sometimes over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol can hide the symptoms of an infectious illness; however children who have an infectious illness may need medical attention and additional care and should not attend preschool.

It is important to talk to staff about the our policies on medication and to discuss your child’s medical needs. It is important to also note that we have a policy not to administer over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol, without a doctor’s instructions.