Administration
The best way to get a feel for our services is to come in for a visit and a chat...we would love that!! However, we know you are busy, so until then, here's some information we find families regularly ask
Fee Structure
Toddlers $147/day
Pre-Kindy $136/ day
Kindy $132/ day
Ages
We welcome and work alongside little people from 18 months to 5 years.
Parents of little ones younger than two will be invited to observe and talk with our educational team about how they feel and see their little people interacting in our play space. Some younger children may not be ready for the challenges of our outdoor play space design, or may find our shared play spaces overwhelming. We will do our very best to accomodate your little one the best we can, but families are always involved in this process.
Lunch Box Centres
There are a few reasons we have decided to adopt a lunch box culture here as part of our day.
Firstly, incorporating a commercial kitchen into our design space would have meant a loss of play space for children and educators. We loved the idea of children cooking in this kitchen even more.
Secondly, every family has their own food culture, and our food culture is another way of sharing part of who we are and our heritage with others. Food evokes conversations and helps to connect people.
Lachlans, Nonna might make the best pasta dish for his lunch, and Lily's spiral zuccini pasta might spark some interest and wonder in how this is created. Zac's Dad might make the best star sandwiches in the world and Ko Ko's banana might get into the Guinness book of records for its size.
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Thirdly, children living in the world today are experiencing more intolerance to food. Families know their children best when it comes to accommodating the dietary needs of their little ones.
So what does lunch box centre mean? Well exactly that. This means that parents are asked to supply a healthy, nutritionally balanced lunch for their children on the days they attend. Green Beginnings orders a weekly fruit and vegetable delivery that is stored in each rooms fridge. We know that children often become a bit peckish throughout the day and these healthy snack is available for them to freely get at any time.
Whilst families are asked to pack a lunch box, children will be involved in cooking and gardening experiences regularly. Produce from our vegetable gardens are often used in our cooking and children are encouraged to have a taste.
We recommend the use of whole foods and fresh seasonal produce. We also ask that parents limit foods that are highly processed or high in refined sugars. We include fresh recipe ideas in our newsletter and can provide parenting lunch box seminars throughout the year if you are stuck for ideas.
Allergies and Food Intolerances
We are an ALLERGY AWARE SERVICE and take food allergies very, very seriously, as they can be life threatening to some children. As children are enrolled into our service requiring a “management Plan” of some sort (food intolerance, asthma, anaphylaxis etc) a shared responsibility is taken on board between our Green Beginnings community to minimise risks to keep everyone safe here.
We will notify you throughout our service of any " Allergy Alerts" in the form of an email, notice in your child's pocket and a sign up at reception. Sometimes (and this has happened before) we will have no enrolled children at our service with life threatening allergies to nuts and we will allow them to be a part of your lunch box choices. Always ask an educator if you are unsure. During times where a child has a life threatening anaphylaxis to a certain food we ask that you help us support and minimise the risks, and exposure to the triggers in our environment, by being mindful in your lunch box choices.