Term 1, Week 1
Welcome back, everyone, and welcome to all our new families, to our Engadine Preschool family. We are expecting a very warm start to the term. The children will be able to enjoy the outdoor learning environment, with plenty of water play and fun activities in the mornings when UV levels are lower.
This is a very long newsletter, and I don’t expect them all to be this long, but please take the time to read it all, as it contains very important information for you. Please also share relevant information with family members who may be dropping off or picking up your child each day your child attends.
Bilby Room staff for the year are as follows:
Class Teachers
- Renee (Full-time) Mon, Tue, Wed in the room, Thu and Fri in the office
- Nicole Sheath (Part-time) Thu and Fri only
Educators
- Jackie Forbes (Part-time) Mon, Tue, Wed – Term 1 only
- Danielle (Part-time) Thu and Fri
- Jess, Brad and Stevka (all Full-time)
Brad is new to our team at Engadine Preschool. He has come to us from the long-day care sector and looks forward to working with our team, the children, and their families. Brad has many years of experience and holds a Diploma in Early Childhood Education.
Gumnut Room staff for the year are as follows:
Class Teacher
- Emma (Full-time)
Educators
- Jacqui and Tahne (Full-time)
- Dani (Part-time) Mon, Tue
- Rachel (Part-time) Wed, Thu and Fri
- RFF support worker Cassie (Part-time) Wed, Thu and Fri
Allergies
This year, we have one child enrolled with ANAPHYLAXIS. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction.
It is important to remember to wash your child’s hands on arrival at the service each day they attend to minimize the spread of allergens.
This year, we need to be allergy-aware of the following food.
WHOLE EGGS – no egg sandwiches or boiled eggs please (eggs in cooked foods such as cake, biscuits and other baked goods are okay for other children at the service to consume)
What to expect in the first weeks of preschool:
We expect a very busy time over the next few weeks as we grapple with a new way of transitioning our new children, delivering our educational program, funding arrangements, writing new policies and procedures, and keeping everyone informed of the constant, sometimes daily, changes. It has been so lovely to welcome our families back for both the morning drop-off and the afternoon pick-up.
We believe it is extremely important that each child can settle into preschool with the support and security of a parent or a familiar adult. Adults are asked to sign in using the OWNA app on the foyer iPad, supervise their child/ren washing their hands with soap and water, then hand their child over to a staff member from their child’s room. We will make every effort to work with you and your child to ensure this is a positive, comfortable experience as they become familiar with us. We will start the day outside, per our sun-safe policy. Please ensure your child applies sunscreen before arriving at preschool as sunscreen takes 20 minutes to activate.
During this time, please inform a staff member from your child’s room of any important information that may affect their day with us, and help them settle into play. If you feel they may need extra support when you leave, please ask a staff member to assist you.
Please ensure you say goodbye to your child before leaving and assure them you will be back to collect them at the end of the day. Some of our little Gumnut and Bilby children may have some settling-in issues, but they will soon settle once they receive a reassuring cuddle from a staff member. We would like to remind you that if your child remains unsettled after you leave, we will call you and arrange a meeting to discuss how we can best support your child’s transition when they arrive at preschool. Familiar cuddly toys from home are both welcome and a great asset to your child if they need something extra to help them feel safe and secure.
You are, of course, welcome to ring during the day to see how they are going.
At the end of the day, you can come into your child’s room to pick them up. Remember to sign them out on the iPad in the foyer and tell a staff member you have taken your child home.
Once a week, the OWNA app will feature a conversation starter for both rooms that highlights what your child and their class have done during their preschool years. There will also be many photos for you to review.
Please remember that new laws prohibit taking photos of children inside the building by anyone other than staff on service-issued devices. These service-issued devices must be registered only with the service, and the register must be maintained in accordance with the law. These laws have been enacted to protect all children. I will be sending a separate newsletter shortly to explain how we keep your children safe whilst they are in our care. There are harsh fines in place, imposed by the NSW Early Learning Commission. Parents are also asked to keep their mobile phones in their pockets or bags whilst on the premises.
Please remember that if you are using before-and-after care, you need to book it. This year, it is especially important, as we are at capacity on some days and cannot accept any additional children during these times. We still need to maintain staff-to-child ratios during these times, and we have had to adjust staff shifts to accommodate the large number of children attending before- and after-care this year. This service is for working parents only. We must restrict it to working parents only, as we are limited by the number of staff on duty and must strictly adhere to regulations and ratios.
When leaving, please do not allow your children to stand or swing on the front gate. This puts the gate out of alignment, and the gate will not self-close if this happens, which puts all the children at risk with such a busy car park in front of the preschool.
Please also observe the one-way only rule in the carpark. Heavy fines have been imposed in the past for failing to comply with this road rule in the car park, so please be careful. Also, be very careful where you park. The car park has restricted, timed parking spaces marked by yellow lines on the ground, and fines are very heavy.
If your child is not well, please be considerate to both your child and other children and keep them home with you until they are symptom-free. There is a significant risk to everyone if illness is introduced into the service. Please have a plan in place to care for your child on short notice if your child is unwell and you are still required to work outside your home. If your child or any member of your household contracts COVID-19, please contact the preschool as soon as possible. You will need to isolate at home for a week to break the chain of infection and reduce the risk of an outbreak. Remember, our children cannot be vaccinated, and we have vulnerable people attending the service and working here.
Annual General Meeting for 2026 & Parent Meeting for Term 1
This year’s AGM will be held on MONDAY, 23rd FEBRUARY 2026, commencing at 7 PM.
ALL PARENTS ARE WELCOME & ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. We will also discuss at the parent meeting how to use the OWNA app and answer any questions about its use for communication, invoicing, and your child’s observations and assessments.
If you would like to join our Management Committee this year, please add your name to the nomination sheet in the foyer. Further information will be going out shortly. We are looking for new members this year as we farewell previous members as they move their children to primary schools.
If you have any requests for guest speakers for our parent meeting, please see Renee, Emma, or Eve. We are happy to arrange a topic of interest to you.
Gentle Reminders
Gentle reminder to all parents to please ensure that you pack enough spare clothes for your child to accommodate for any little accidents that may happen whilst they are distracted with new toys and friends or experimenting with water activities. You can use the new wet bags provided at enrollment for this purpose.
Gentle reminder……. Sometimes, little pieces of equipment from preschool find their way home to your houses when they are forgotten in pockets during play or popped into a backpack for “safekeeping.” If you find such equipment, please return it to the preschool. Little people sometimes forget they have them squirrelled away. There will be no questions asked or judgment.
Dates for your diary will come out in the next newsletter. Please mark all dates in your diaries.
As always, if you have any questions, please ask me.
Every day for parents is a new day with a new twist and turn, but always a silver lining to be found.
Warm regards
Eve Hawkes
Early Childhood Education and Care Service Director
Engadine Preschool Kindergarten Inc.