FAQs

Health and safety are a top priority at our centre, and our policies are continuously reinforced by our staff. These include (but are not limited to) regular safety checks of all equipment, identification of and mitigation of any hazards,  the storage of chemicals and hazardous items in locked cupboards, and educating children on personal safety matters such as walking inside, staying seated while eating, not throwing equipment and encouraging respectful caring behaviour at all times.

At our centre we have at least one first aid trained staff member per 50 children onsite at all times.

To make the transition as stress-free as possible, we recommend at least 3 short visits prior to the start date, where you stay with your child as they familiarise themselves with the new environment. We also offer an independent visit where you can trial a drop off and leave your child with us for 30-45 minutes to gauge how this will go on their first day.

Our teachers will work with you to ensure your child has a great experience right from the start. Each child is assigned a key teacher who is responsible for their settling in, parent induction, routines, development updates and individual discovery projects. We find that having a key teacher as a familiar point of contact helps to reduce stress and increases trust and excitement about starting at Active Explorers.

Once your child starts with us, feel free to visit or phone the centre at any time to find out how they are getting on.

We have learnt from experience that it is best to devise a regular routine for saying goodbye and discuss it with your child before arriving at the centre. Some tips to make it a bit easier include:

• Talk to your child about what activity you are going to do with them before saying goodbye (such as staying to complete a puzzle or reading a story)
• Keep the goodbye process short to minimise stress
• Always let your child know you are going to leave but will be back later to pick them up. If your child gets upset at this point, we recommend sticking to your routine
• Leave them with one of the teachers or some other children rather than just on their own
• Always leave as soon as you have said your goodbyes
• Crying is normal when you leave, however rest assured this usually stops soon afterwards as they get on with their day!
• Children will pick up on your emotions about coming to the centre. Make sure you have positive conversations about the centre and always ask them how their day was when you pick them up

The children at our centre are very busy which means there is often a need for parents to pack a few extra things. We recommend packing the following named items:

• Two or three complete changes of clothes, including underwear and socks
• Sunhat and togs in summer
• Warm hat and rain jacket in winter
• Appropriate footwear

Our children love meal times thanks to our awesome in-house cook who creates healthy, delicious meals on a daily basis. We like to eat ‘family style’ so that the children learn to eat at a table and can perfect their table manners. Our menu runs on a monthly cycle - lunches are a cooked hot meal of red meat, fish, chicken or vegetarian with rice, pasta or potatoes. Morning and afternoon teas include pikelets, toast or crackers with cheese, scones, cheese rolls, biscuits, fresh vegetable sticks with hummus and are always served with a generous helping of fruit.

We love to build close relationships with all our families and use an online tool called Storypark to share your child’s learning with you. We also have communication books available in the under 2s classrooms that have a record of your child’s food intake, bottles, nappy changes, sleep times and a comment about their day.

Staff and management are always available to discuss any matter regarding your child. We recommend that you make an appointment so that teachers can be available without interruption.

Yes, we do! Under this scheme if your child is aged 3, 4 or 5 they can receive fully subsidised care, up to 6 hours per day for a total of 20 hours per week. For more information, please get in touch.

Please phone the centre and let us know (you can just leave a message if no one picks up the phone) - 03 214 1312. Alternatively, you can email admin.invercargill@activeexplorers.co.nz

We will phone you and/or your child’s caregiver and, if required, seek the appropriate medical assistance. We will continue to care for your child until you arrive.

We respect parent/caregiver choice around immunisation.  If your child is immunised, please provide their Plunket book on enrolment so that we can photocopy their immunisation chart.  If you have chosen not to immunise your child, please let us know on enrolment, so that you can be notified if there is ever an infectious disease/illness in the centre.