The Kindy Day

The First Day

Arrive at Kindy ready for the school’s start time of 8:30am. Classroom doors open at 8:20am.

Children and parents will be greeted by the teacher and shown around the centre. Important features such as bag placement, bathroom facilities and the layout of the classroom will be pointed out.

You are welcome to stay for a short time while your child settles in to an activity.

Reassure your child that you will collect them at 2:45pm and say goodbye before you leave. Say goodbye confidently and quickly and with a minimum of fuss. It’s not unusual for children to cry when you leave, but most will settle down quite happily, and staff will always respond to a distressed child in a sensitive and caring manner.

If you have a positive attitude and look forward to the first day of school, your child will often do the same.

What to wear

• Millen Kindy kids wear the same uniform as the older students. School shirts and hats need to be purchased from the school uniform shop. Other items, such as shorts, jackets, jumpers can be purchased from either the uniform shop or basic navy blue school supplies from the department stores.
• We use aprons for art/craft activities.
• Shoes:sneakers (preferably with velcro fastenings if your child can’t tie their own laces), or sturdy sandals.  The children are permitted to remove their shoes for outdoor play. If there is any reason why your child should not remove his or her shoes, please inform the teacher.
• All children must have a wide brimmed hat for outdoor activities. The school policy is ‘NO HAT = PLAY IN THE SHADE’

Please ensure that all clothing and other personal items are labelled with your child’s name.

What to bring:

• Large backpack (needs to be big enough to put lunch, fruit and spare clothes)
• Library bag – either the one available from the uniform shop, or a cloth drawstring bag.
• Crunch’n’Sip(fruit and/or vegetables plus water to drink)
• Packed lunch (something that does not require re-heating)
• Drink bottle (preferably water) – named
• Hat—named
• A change of clothes in case of toileting accidents and water play during summer
• School bag – Please ensure bags / backpacks are of a suitable size to accommodate hats, fruit, lunch boxes, drink bottles, spare clothing, jumpers and library books, and are clearly labelled with child’s name.
• Donations of boxes of tissues and liquid soap are always appreciated by the classes should you wish to bring some with you.
• Please do not let children bring their own toys and personal belongings, as these can often be lost or broken.
• Within their first week, please provide items from the Kindy Personal Items list.

Drop off and pick up

An adult must accompany all children until the teacher has admitted them into the Kindy room every day.

All children must be picked up by an adult. The teacher will only allow children to leave the room with nominated adults. The teacher must be notified by parents – preferably in writing – of any changes or special arrangements.

Parents are welcome to stay with their child for the first 10 minutes of each day while the children are settling in.

Please collect your child promptly in the afternoons to avoid unnecessary stress.

Celebrating a child’s birthday

Birthdays are important as they are a sharing time with the whole group. Parents are most welcome to send along cake to help celebrate.

For ease of handling, a cupcake for each child is preferable. Please avoid nut products.

If your child suffers with food allergies, we suggest you provide your own supply of cupcakes which can be kept in the classroom freezer.

Toys

Please keep all toys at home. These are difficult to share and easily broken or lost.

When your child is unwell

If your child is not well, please keep him/her at home. A child who is not well can become very distressed when in a group situation. Also, staying at home will help prevent the spread of infections to staff and other children.

If your child is on medication and you wish to request staff to administer it, please note the following points.

• Only medicine which has been prescribed by a doctor can be administered by staff
• All medication provided should be properly labelled with the name of the student and the appropriate dose and frequency. (The means to administer the appropriate, accurate dose must also be included).

Should your child require any medication while at Kindergarten please visit the school office to fill out the appropriate form.

If your child becomes ill at Kindergarten, we will phone you to request he/she is collected.