Welcome to The Family Centre Playgroup
The Family Centre Playgroups are an opportunity for young children to learn and develop valuable life skills through play. Parents can connect and make friends with other families living in the local area.
How to make the most out of playgroup
Welcoming new members
New members are important to ensure our playgroup continues to grow and thrive. Arriving at playgroup for the first time can be a very daunting experience. Many families will feel uneasy or shy in this situation and find it hard to introduce themselves to others. Please help us to make new family feel welcome, by greeting them, having a chat and helping them settle their child into playgroup.
Transition
Transitions happen whenever we move from place to place, or change from one activity to another. At playgroup, we purposely have transition times to support your child in readiness for successful outcomes, particularly when moving to kindy or preschool. At times your child may need your help to navigate through these transitions.
Group time
Group time is a way to have quality time with your child. We ask all parents to sit on the mat and encourage your child to sit with you. Role modeling good behaviours in group settings will help your child in their future attendance at school. If this is a challenging area for your child, please talk with a playgroup worker who can provide you with strategies and ideas to help enjoy group time.
Help and pitch in
At playgroup we foster the importance of working together and we ask everyone to help with the setting up and packing down.
Be an active participant
If you notice your child is becoming particularly interested in certain types of activities or you have learnt a new song that you love singing, or you have a skill you want to share please let a playgroup worker know so we can incorporate it into playgroup.
What to bring
Sun safe clothes and hat. Please apply sun screen prior to attending outdoor playgroups.
Change of clothes (in case your child gets wet/dirty)
Water bottle.
Morning tea (please be aware of allergies of other children attending. Your playgroup facilitator will provide information on food that is not allowed)
Nature Based Playgroup Settings
Some of The Family Centre Playgroups are run in nature-based settings. Involving nature in play settings is a great way to get children take more notice of their natural surroundings, and encourages imaginative play.
The Family Centre takes all care in planning and running Nature Based Playgroups. However, these playgroups are not controlled environments and may present additional challenges and risks for parents/carers and their children. These include:
- Travelling to and from the location of the nature-based playgroup
- Navigating car parks, roads or waterways in the vicinity of the location of the nature- based playgroup
- Naturally occurring trip hazards
- Bites and stings from flora or fauna
- Falls due to uneven ground or climbing obstacles
- Exposure to the extreme weather conditions
At Nature Based Playgroups parents/carers are responsible for the supervision of their children at all times and must follow the directions of the playgroup workers.
Playgroup Guidelines
Please read our playgroup guidelines and complete form below before attending playgroup.
PHOTOS
No photos to be taken during playgroup.
The Family Centre is committed to protecting and upholding the right to privacy of service users, taking photographs of other playgroup participants can jeopardise this right.
Note: You will see playgroup workers taking photos of the playgroup activities. Children will not be represented in these photos.
If you have any questions or concerns about this please see a playgroup worker for clarification
PRIVACY
Please respect the privacy of playgroup parents/carers and children. If someone discloses personal information, please do not share it with others.
SAFETY
Each parent/carer is responsible for their own child’s supervision, behaviour and safety. Playgroup is an inviting space for parents/carers to share and connect. Please be respectful of other adults, including the playgroup workers. If at any point you feel uncomfortable about the interactions with other members of the playgroup please discuss the issue with the playgroup workers.
Failure to abide by playgroup safety rules may result in playgroup workers having to ask you to leave playgroup.
When participating in Nature Based Playgroups parents/carers and children will be exposed to risks as outlined in the Nature Based Playgroup Settings.
The Family Centre is a mandatory reporter and will Risk of Significant Harm in accordance with The Family Centre Child Protection Policy
VACCINATION
It is important to note that it is not mandatory to have your child vaccinated in order to attend playgroup. There may be parents/carers and children who are not vaccinated and may be at an increased risk of developing particular conditions.
Our policies surrounding COVID-19 vaccination will continue to be informed by any applicable laws, enforceable government directions and advice issued by Commonwealth and State Government. Please speak to a playgroup worker for further clarification.
SICK CHILDREN OR PARENT/
CARERS
If you or your child are unwell, please do not attend playgroup so we can minimise the chance of cross infection. If you become unwell after attending playgroup, please let us know so we can make other families aware (we will not disclose the identity of the sick child or parent, only the type of disease and symptoms to look out for). Please refer to our Playgroup Illness policy for more information.
Failure to abide by playgroup safety rules may result in playgroup workers having to ask you to leave playgroup.
ATTENDANCE
Please sign in/out each week on the attendance sheet.
SUPERVISION
Our playgroups provide a safe environment and we take all the necessary steps to ensure the safety of children. All parents/carers are responsible for the supervision of their own child and are required to participate in playgroup activities with their child.
Children from birth to 5 years attend playgroups. Please be aware that some toys that are made available for older children may present a hazard for younger children. While we try our best to reduce this risk by providing a designated babies area, we ask that you be aware of toys being brought into the babies area by older children.
When participating in Nature Based Playgroups, parents/carers are responsible for the supervision of their own child and must to follow the directions of playgroup workers.
RUBBISH DISPOSAL
Please make sure all rubbish is picked up and taken to the available bins (this includes dirty nappies)
MEDICATION
Parents/carers are responsible for all health and medication management for their own children and to have any required medications on hand.
FOOD SAFETY
Due to the nature of food allergies we request that parents/carers do no share food with other families.
HOT DRINKS
Please be aware of children and keep hot drinks at the back of the table/bench and out of reach of the children. For extra safety measures we welcome you to bring a cup with a lid.
Information for Participants
How The Family Centre protects your privacy
Anything you tell our staff is strictly private and confidential. We will only disclose personal information if you give permission or if required or authorised to by law, for example to protect someone from harm.
Please see The Family Centre Privacy Statement for further details of how we manage your personal information and how to access your records, or to make a complaint about how we have handled your information.
Concerns, complaints, compliments and suggestions
We are committed to improving our services and invite you to provide feedback, or participate in service design discussions. You can visit, telephone, us our feedback form or write to us, to tell us what you think.
If you have a concern or want to make a complaint, in the first instance please raise the matter with the staff member you have been dealing with. If you are not satisfied with the result or you do not feel comfortable raising the matter with the staff member directly, you should raise the matter with:
Director People and Quality
- by phone: (07) 5524 8711
- by using our feedback form
- letter: PO Box 6301 Tweed Heads South
If you are not satisfied with the response provided by The Family Centre, there are agencies who can help.