LATEST UPDATESCOVID-19 Precautionary Measures

What a life-changing few weeks this has been! A pandemic of this magnitude renders our comfortable everyday routines meaningless and calls into question what we regard as truly important. For each of us, the answer is different, but as parents and carers, there is one common theme – the welfare of our children.

All of us – parents, teachers and Champs – have been caught up in changes beyond our control, and we have had to work out a way to smile through it all; to control what we can and adjust to the new (and constantly-changing) reality.

Your children (our children) are the most important factor in the current equation, and we must do everything we can to ensure that this critical period in their development is catered for in the optimal manner, considering the unique circumstances.

Luckily, at MindChamps, we have spent over 20 years developing – and teaching – effective strategies for parents and educators. They are based on our philosophy of Champion Mindset – which includes the principle of turning ‘setbacks into setups’. With this in mind, we are developing plans to turn this current challenge into an opportunity to help all our parents create a more learning-friendly home environment for all our children – both during the current situation and into the future.

New Procedures

As of this week, there will be a number of government-mandated changes to the way we operate.

Fees

The good news is that from today, Monday 6th April 2020, there will no longer be a Gap fee charged to parents & CCS will be replaced by the new payment system.

What does it mean for you?

All direct debits for accounts up to date have been stopped. For those on payment plans, or who have a debt outstanding – this will continue for you until the account is up to date.

As of today, Monday 6th April 2020, and for however long the Government decides, you will no longer be charged for fees.

What does it mean for us?

For the foreseeable future, the government has changed the way we receive revenue. Every service will receive 50% of its previous Fee Revenue (calculated at a certain point in February).

We will be allotted this amount fortnightly.

This means that we can remain open to look after any or all of our existing children, many of whom need to attend, due to parents’ work or other commitments. All existing parents can bring their children (subject to existing health checks and isolation procedures), though there may be small changes to staff rosters and allocations.

We are determined, as a team, that the most important thing is that your children (whether they attend MindChamps or remain at home) continue to enjoy experiences and activities which promote and nurture their healthy development in mind and body.

If your enrolment is currently on hold and you are choosing to self-isolate, it is very important that we understand your attendance requirements, so please contact your Centre Director informing us when you wish to resume attendance. This will enable us to staff accordingly.

What does it mean for our staff?

Our staff members have been amazing during this period and just as they support us, we must do all we can to support them.

Like all of us, they are feeling the impact of this, but their passion keeps them going each and every day. Please, when you see them, tell them how much you appreciate them; what you admire about them – why you choose to bring your child to be in their care. Right now, every positive comment they hear is going to help silence the noise out there in the world.

We are all in this together.

Our Service

Many of you have chosen to keep your children at home through this ongoing health emergency and we appreciate the care that you are taking. This also helps us maintain the physical distancing measures we have put into place at the service. If for whatever reason, you cannot keep your child at home, most experts agree that the school is the second safest place they can be outside of the home.

In collaboration with the curriculum team, our Dean of Research and Programme-Development, Mr Brian Caswell, is developing a series of video-blogs, which will offer some advice on activities and strategies you can use at home to create a play-based learning environment for your children. In this way, we hope to help you maximise the opportunity to share fun and engaging learning moments with your child and to better cater to their individual needs.

We will also be providing a complimentary e-copy of one of our best-selling published works on parenting, The Art of Communicating with Your Child.

Looking Forward

Everybody is doing the best they can under difficult circumstances. We all have questions and, as we have seen, even the government is adjusting and updating on a daily basis. We will work closely with you and keep you up to date with any changes that may occur.

In this complex world we live in, we must always remember what it’s really about – and ensure that our children learn to cope with the world in all its complexity. The skills they need to do this begin in the home – and in the early childhood learning centre.

In the worst of times, we look for the light on the horizon – but we can also shine a light where we are, to make the darkness a little less frightening.

We will see this through together. Despite this setback, together let us create an environment for our children which will set them up for future success. It is our duty and our unique opportunity. Our children depend on it – and aren’t they the reason we do all we do?

If you have any further enrolment enquiries please contact us on:

Warmest Greetings from all of us at MindChamps and thank you for your support during these trying times. Together, let’s continue to ensure that our Champs can continue their development in a healthy and meaningful environment!

Following the recent announcements by the government in response to the COVID-19 situation, we would like to highlight several key points:

1) The government regards Early Learning Centres as essential services. The following is taken from the latest NSW Government message to Early Learning Centre operators:

Early Childhood Education services should also continue to operate to support families who need care.
The State is working closely with the Commonwealth on the implications of the current situation on funding for the sector.

2) Based on the announcements, our MindChamps Early Learning Centres will continue to maintain full services, with a host of additional measures to ensure that our centres are hygienically clean and safe for our Champs and staff. Our enrolment terms and conditions continue to apply, as our services are fully operational.

3) The measures at the Centres include:

• Declaration forms for Champs, staff and visitors.
• Drop off and pick up of Champs at the lobby area, with hand sanitization.
• Stepped up cleaning of rooms especially of commonly touched surfaces.
• Ensuring that Champs and staff who are unwell remain at home, see a doctor and return only when they are certified well.
• Regular hand washing and educating Champs about good hygiene practices (e.g cover nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or a flexed elbow.
• Cancellation of excursions and incursions.

(These measures were put in place on 16 March and communicated to parents on 13 March)

4) Please note that our Centres will continue with our MindChamps programming and curriculum so that our Champs will not have their education disrupted.

5) MindChamps HQ continues to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates (e.g. with regard to subsidies and funding) when there are further announcements.

6) We understand that these are challenging times for some of our Champs and parents. We continue to provide our services to support our families and communities. For parents who are currently facing financial hardships but would like to continue with our service, parents can turn to the Additional Child Care Subsidy provision by the Department of Education. For more information, please click here.

The Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) site offers additional support to families under the category of ‘temporary financial hardship’ and strongly encourage families who require additional financial support to explore this option.

7) We also understand that parents will have many questions pertaining to their subsidies (CCS and ACCS) and status of their Champ’s place in the centre. Hence, we have dedicated assistance to parents to address their questions and help them with any necessary applications. Our parents can call: 1300 646 324 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm) or email: [email protected]

We assure parents that all information will be kept with the strictest confidentiality and we believe this helpline with provide you with the necessary support during these times.

We thank you for choosing our MindChamps Early Learning Centres and we encourage all parents to continue to send your Champs to our Centres. As the situation evolves, our Centres continue to stay highly responsive with various precautionary measures to keep our Champs safe and healthy in our learning environment.

Warmest Greetings from MindChamps! At our MindChamps Early Learning Centres, the health and wellbeing of our Champs remain our highest priority.

In view of the developing COVID-19 situation in Australia and globally, our Centres will implement key measures to safeguard the health and wellbeing of Champs and staff. These measures will give parents assurance, ensuring our Champs remain safe while still experiencing the purposeful MindChamps curriculum and programming.

The measures to be implemented are:

1. Declarations for ALL Champs and Staff in every MindChamps Early Learning Centre.
2. Drop off and Pick up of Champs only at the lobby area to minimize non-essential gatherings in our Champs’ rooms. This will start Monday 16 March 2020. An educator will attend to your Champ to bring him/her to his/her room.
3. Sanitizing your hands and your Champ’s hands upon arrival at the Centre’s lobby. ALL our MindChamps Early Learning Centres will have hand sanitizers at the lobby area.
4. All rooms and commonly used surfaces will be cleaned more regularly.
5. Stepped up measures to educate Champs and remind Staff on regular hand washing. MindChamps will use this situation as an opportunity for our Champs to learn about personal hygiene.
6. All Centre excursions and incursions will be put on hold till further notice.

Declarations

As of 12 March 2020, any Champ or staff member who has been in, departed from, or transited through the following countries is excluded from child care services, school or work for 14 days from the date they left the country:

1. mainland China – since 1 February
2. Iran – since 1 March
3. the Republic of Korea (South Korea) – since 5 March
4. Italy – since 11 March

• Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded until they are medically cleared to return.
• Close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case.
• Champs and staff who have returned to Australia and have shown no symptoms during the 14-day home-isolation period are able to return to school or work.

NSW Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. A close contact is a person who has spent significant time either face to face (15 minutes) or in an enclosed space (2 hours or more) as someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. It is advising these close contacts about not attending work, school or early childhood and childcare services.

All Champion Parents please note:

An online Declaration will be sent to you via email and sms link. Please complete the declaration for your Champ(s). We seek the co-operation of ALL parents to have this Declaration completed. This is a MindChamps HQ measure to ensure we have the most updated information about our Champs and Staff.

How Can Champion Parents and Caregivers Support our Efforts?

This is the most important time for Parent-Centre partnerships! There is much we can do together! ALL parents must complete the Declaration for their Champ(s).

Please click here to complete the travel declaration for your each individual Champ.

Consistent with current guidelines, Champs and Staff who are unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve. We thank our Champion parents and caregivers in advance for exercising this social responsibility.

Maintaining good hygiene standards is an important way to reduce the risk of acquiring and spreading respiratory infections. Parents and caregivers are asked to promote good hygiene, including handwashing with soap as handwashing is the single most effective way to reduce the spread of germs that cause respiratory disease.

Champion Mindset!

At MindChamps we are committed to the best environment for our Champs to learn and grow. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we will upgrade our measures accordingly to provide the best response. We recognize that many of these measures require us to adjust our practices and habits, and we thank our Champion Parents for your on-going support and co-operation. Together, we will keep our Champs happy and healthy!