Page Last Updated: December 1, 2020
In light of recent concerns regarding the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have put together this information page to keep our families informed.
This page will be updated regularly with the latest information. If you do have any questions, please contact your Sunkids Centre Manager or email us at reception@sunkids.com.au
Sunkids Management are closely monitoring the current Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation as well as adhering to all advice provided by the Australian Government and Health Authorities. We are remaining in regular contact with the Queensland Government Health Department for updates and will be providing regular communication to our families and team members.
December 1, 2020: Proactive COVID-Safe Measures
As we continue to monitor the current COVID-19 situation, as well as through regular consultation with the Queensland Government Health Department, Sunkids has continued to implement and maintain a number of proactive COVID-Safe Measures throughout each of our centres. Including;
Increased Cleaning Requirements.
High touchpoints throughout each centre are regularly cleaned and disinfected. This includes all door handles, entry keypads, and sign-in kiosks. All other surfaces throughout the centre are cleaned a minimum of twice daily. Additionally, at the closure of each centre, a thorough clean is conducted throughout to ensure hygienic environments are presented for each following morning.
Hand Sanitiser Throughout all Centres.
Hand Sanitiser has been made available at all entryways, and throughout each centre. Hand Sanitiser is to be used by all staff, children, parents and visitors upon entry into the centre, after going to the toilet, when coming into contact with high touch surfaces, and regularly throughout the day.
Increased Hand Washing.
We’ve increased the requirement for all children and staff to wash their hands throughout the day, including upon entry, after playing outside, after going to the toilet, and prior to eating.
Increased PPE & Cleaning Supplies.
Sunkids have committed to the procurement of additional quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE), and hygiene and cleaning supplies. Such supplies are available for Educator, Child, Parent and Visitor use.
Staggered Times.
Sunkids provides sessional care for children, supporting the operation of staggered arrival and departure times. Sunkids Children’s Centres are implementing staggered mealtimes for children to encourage appropriate social distancing in group settings.
COVID-Safe Plans for Events.
Sunkids are committed to ensuring any future events held within a centre will meet all of the latest requirements by Queensland Health. This includes ensuring a COVID Safe Site-Specific Plan is implemented for each event at each venue, attendance is kept to a minimum of essential attendees, social distancing is adhered to, and ensuring relevant cleaning and hygiene measures are in place.
Monitoring of Requirements.
Sunkids are regularly monitoring the COVID-19 situation within Queensland and is in regular consultation with the Queensland Government Health Department. If any current requirements or guidelines change, Sunkids is prepared for, and committed to, ensuring all relevant operational requirements or changes are implemented immediately.
For further information about this plan, please contact your Centre Manager or Sunkids Management.
June 23, 2020: CCS Returning, Relief Package Ending.
As announced by Minister for Education, Dan Tehan on 8 June 2020, the arrangements under the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package are now scheduled to conclude at midnight 12 July 2020. This means we will see the return of the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) program from 13 July 2020.
In preparation for its return, we’ve put together a Child Care Subsidy Info hub to provide families with a single source of information relating to CCS, helping all families understand their eligibility and entitlements.
April 24, 2020: 6 Point COVID-19 Plan
From Monday 27th April 2020, all Sunkids Centres will be implementing the 6 Point COVID-19 Plan for Early Childhood Education Centres.
1. Pre-Entry Screening.
Upon entry to Sunkids Centres, all Educator’s, Children’s, Parent’s and Visitor’s temperatures will be checked. If anyone records a temperature higher than 38 degrees, they will be asked to leave the Centre and seek urgent medical assistance.
2. Adequate PPE & Supplies.
Prior to opening each morning, Educators will check there are adequate quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene and cleaning supplies, and that all supplies are stocked and available for Educators, Children, Parents and Visitors use.
3. Adequate Cleaning.
Sanitary cleaning of door handles, entry keypads and sign in kiosks will occur after each use, and thorough cleans of all surfaces and resources will occur a minimum of twice daily, including at the very end of the day to ensure hygienic environments are presented each morning.
4. Adequate Staffing.
Additional Educators will be present to assist with maintaining our high standard of hygiene and cleanliness and performing additional tasks throughout each day.
5. Hygiene.
Upon entry to Sunkids Centres, all Educators, Children, Parents and Visitors will be required to sanitise their hands. Hygiene practices will be closely monitored, and Educators will encourage the use of sanitiser and thorough hand washing regularly for all Children, Parents and Visitors.
6. Staggering Times.
Sunkids provides sessional care for children, supporting the operation of staggered arrival and departure times. Sunkids Children’s Centres are implementing staggered mealtimes for children to encourage appropriate social distancing in group settings.
For further information about this plan, please contact your Centre Manager.
April 3, 2020: Childcare Relief Package
On 2 April 2020, the Australian Government announced the new Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package, which means parents across the country are eligible to place their children into childcare whilst they work, or to secure their future spot at childcare without any out of pocket expenses.
This new Relief Package is a payment to support Childcare Service Providers so they can remain open amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. As many centres have seen a significant decline in attendances of late, these payments will ensure services can remain open, and all families who need it can access care.
Although this announcement has been met with open arms from many parents out there, there has also been some confusion around how it will work, and who is eligible. Therefore, we’ve taken the time to put together this simple guide to explain what this Childcare Relief Package means for you.
Click here to access our guide on the Childcare Relief Package.
March 27, 2020: Update
We know that the health and safety of your family remain the number one priority, and many families are understandably nervous about their children attending their normal care during such uncertain times.
Sunkids wanted to take this opportunity to reassure all parents of the measures we have in place within each of our centres to ensure the health and safety of all children, staff and families.
Throughout this time, each Sunkids Centre remains open to provide the very best care and education for your children. We will continue to do all we can to ensure your child’s safety remains the priority.
Hygiene.
We are continuing to enhance our hygiene practices at each of our centres through a number of measures including:
- Increased handwashing requirements for all children and adults,
- Increased use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser for children and adults,
- Increased availability of hand sanitiser at entry points, and throughout our centres,
- Educating all children on proper sneeze & cough hygiene, and handwashing techniques.
Cleaning.
Each Centre has increased their cleaning and disinfecting procedures, including:
- Increased cleaning and disinfecting of high traffic areas and surfaces including door handles, entrances and foyers,
- Increased cleaning and disinfecting of all toys and play equipment.
Sunkids continue to use hospital-grade cleaning and disinfecting products.
Social Distancing.
We’ve implemented age-appropriate social distancing practices for children where possible, including staggering of meal & play
times amongst different age groups, and temporarily stopping children from serving their own food, or food to other children.
We’re also enforcing social distancing practices amongst adults in line with Government guidelines.
External contractors & visitors.
We have stopped any external contractors or visitors from entering our centres. This includes contractors who run incursions or extra-curricular activities within our centres.
Events & Gatherings.
We have cancelled or postponed any events or gatherings planned to occur within any of our centres.
Training.
All Sunkids Centre Managers have recently completed the Infection Control Training – COVID 19 online training course through the Australian
Government Department of Health.
All Sunkids educators and staff have recently completed refresher training programs on hygiene practices and handwashing techniques for
themselves, young children and infants.
Exclusions & Isolations.
We are enforcing centre exclusions of staff and children who;
- Have been overseas in the last 14 days,
- Are currently unwell or showing flu-like symptoms,
- Displaying symptoms of COVID-19,
- Undergoing testing for COVID-19,
- Have had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19
We also have procedures in place to isolate children or staff who may display symptoms whilst at our centres.
Normal Policies & Procedures.
We are continuing to practice our normal policies and procedures around health, safety, hygiene, illnesses, and infectious diseases control.
Let us reassure you further.
If you do have any questions or concerns, we encourage you all to contact your Sunkids Centre directly, or feel free to contact Sunkids Management directly on 07 3172 6686 or by emailing reception@sunkids.com.au
March 24, 2020: Additional Support for Families.
Has your working circumstances changed, or your family’s income reduced?
You may be eligible to receive increased or additional Child Care Subsidy. Here’s how…
1) Update your family income with Centrelink in order to claim a higher Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
The subsidy amount you currently receive is dependent on your family income amount. Let Centrelink know it’s changed so they can reevaluate the amount you’re eligible for.
Follow this link on how to update your income… https://bit.ly/CCSUpdateIncome
2) Apply for Additional Childcare Subsidy (ACCS) – Temporary Financial Hardship.
Additional Childcare Subsidy is available to support families during this difficult time.
For more information on how to apply for the ACCS follow… https://bit.ly/ACCSHowToApply
If you need any assistance with the above processes, please speak to your Centre Manager, or call us on 07 3172 6686.
March 23, 2020: We’re here to help.
As we all learn to cope with the current Coronavirus pandemic, Sunkids would like to remind all within our greater community that we’re here to help you. We’ll continue to do all we can to assist our families, children and staff throughout this difficult and uncertain time, and continue to share helpful advice along the way.
March 13, 2020: Communication to Families.
We have been and will continue to work closely with the Queensland Health Department as they communicate new information and provide updates. We strictly follow all advice and recommendations made by the Department, as we believe that they have the best interests of our communities at heart.
Sunkids Children’s Centres have stringent hygiene and cleaning processes which will continue to be enforced within our Centres. We have implemented and enforced 14-day self-isolation periods for children and educators that are returning from overseas travel and will continue to do so until advised differently from smartraveller.gov.au.
It is imperative we all work together during this troubling time to ensure that the health and safety of all children, families and educators is maintained.
If your child develops flu-like symptoms, please: –
- Keep your child at home
- See a Doctor or contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) immediately and/or
- Seek medical advice if your child has other underlying medical conditions.
It is also important to continue to encourage your children to: –
- Wash their hands regularly with soap and water, particularly before and after eating, and after going to the toilet,
- Use hand sanitiser if soap is unavailable,
- Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of elbow, and
- Dispose of tissues in a bin immediately.
We also ask that if you child or anyone in your family has contact with a person who is confirmed to have Coronavirus, please either see a doctor as soon as possible and/or practice a self-isolation period of 14 days.
We would like to thank you for working with us to manage this event whilst supporting the children, families and educator’s wellness.
Further information regarding Coronavirus.
For additional information regarding Novel Coronavirus (COID-19), we encourage you to only visit trusted sources.
Queensland Department of Health
https://conditions.health.qld.gov.au/HealthCondition/condition/14/217/838/novel-coronavirus
Australian Government Department of Health
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
You can also call the National Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080.
It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you require translating or interpreting services, call 131 450.
If you have concerns about your or your child’s health, speak to your doctor.
If you are displaying symptoms of Coronavirus, call ahead first.
If you are having a medical emergency, please call 000