Frequently Asked Questions

If you would like an enrolment pack posted to your nominated address, please complete our online Enrolment Interest Form (under the enrolment tab). Alternatively, enrolment packs can be collected from our collection box located next to our front gate.

Once we have received your completed Enrolment Form, and you have provided a mandatory Immunisation History Statement and other relevant documents such as health care card and medical action plans, your child may be offered a place.

We will then confirm your child’s days of enrolment and arrange a time for you and your child to attend an enrolment meeting.

Your child must be three years of age or older to attend Preschool. Priority of Access Guidelines determine if children are eligible to attend Preschool.

You are welcome to request an enrolment pack prior to your child turning three so that we can complete the enrolment process and if space permits, your child can start as soon as they turn three.

As part of our Funding Agreement with the NSW Department of Education, we are required to give equal priority of access to children:

• who are at least four years old on or before the 31 July in that preschool year and not enrolled or registered at a school

• who are at least three years old on or before 31 July in that preschool year and from low income and/or Aboriginal families or have a diagnosed disability

• children with English language needs

• children who are at risk of significant harm (from a child protection perspective).

There is no order of priority assigned to the criteria above, but priority must be given to children from these groups before any other groups, such as three year old children who do not meet the criteria above.

Yes, it is a legal requirement that all children attending early childhood education and care services be fully immunised or on an approved catch up schedule.

We cannot enrol any child who is not immunised or cannot provide the required documentation as proof of immunisation. Please give us a call to discuss your child’s immunisation status if you are unsure.

Preschool is free for 2026 for those families who choose to access fee relief at Tumut community Preschool. If you choose to access fee relief at another service, please contact us for our current fees.

There is a $25 membership fee required under our registered Cooperative Rules that will be free if you choose to access fee relief at Tumut Community Preschool.

Preschool is open for children to attend from 8.30am until 4.00pm. You are welcome to bring your child any time between those hours. To fully prepare your child for a school routine, we recommend making the most of the day and arriving by 9am and staying until 3pm.

We have strict requirements around arrival and collection times so that we can ensure effective supervision and staff ratios.

Child safety is a priority at our service. We have processes in place to make sure your child is safe and one of those is that we expect you to accompany your child into Preschool, hand them over to a staff member and sign them in at the sign in station located outside your child’s classroom. Staff will meet you and take your child into the building to wash their hands, hang up their bag and start their day.

Anyone that is going to collect your child needs to be authorised in writing. At the end of the day, you or someone you authorise must come to preschool and collect your child and sign them out. Staff will get your child ready and bring them out to you. Staff will ask for photo of ID of people they do not know.

Please don’t leave children unattended in cars during drop off and pick up. If you need to bring other children with you to collect your child from preschool, please ensure that they remain with you and be supervised at all times.

You can authorise people to collect your child and make decisions about emergency care on the Enrolment Form. Please request an additional form if you need to add further people. In the event of an emergency, you are able to phone us to discuss options, however we must have authorisations in writing.

Your child can attend on the days that they have been allocated. We currently allocate two days to each child.

Casual days may be available if we have children away and spaces are available, however these must be booked in advance and a fee is payable.

Tumut Community Preschool operates in alignment with the NSW schools calendar and is only open during school terms. we are also closed on Public Holidays or any Pupil Free Days gazetted in NSW. We are unable to offer before or after school care or vacation care.

Generally children need to be toilet trained to attend preschool. However if toilet training your child is difficult, please speak to staff so we can support your child to achieve this milestone so that it does not prevent enrolment at Preschool.

Sometimes children may feel a little anxious when you leave. Strategies to assist your child’s transition from home to preschool can be discussed at the enrolment meeting. We recommend that if your child is upset, please let them know that you will be back to pick them up at the end of the day, offer a hug and leave. Educators are kind and caring and well qualified to support your child.

Children normally settle very quickly and you are welcome to call at any time during the day to see how your child is going. If your child is upset and we cannot settle them, we will call you to let you know. Upset children are never left to self settle, they are always comforted by staff and made to feel safe.

Please be assured that a child experiencing separation anxiety is going through a normal developmental stage and it usually passes quickly. We will work with you and your child to put strategies into place that help your child through this phase.

Yes. Preschool helps children to learn many self-help skills that will support their transition to school. Learning to manage their own belongings and to negotiate their school lunch box and bag are some of those skills.

You will need to pack your child’s morning and afternoon tea and lunch. We encourage healthy eating at Preschool, and provide some resources in our handbook that may assist you with ideas of foods to pack and avoid.

Tumut Community Preschool is Egg and Nut free as we have children with allergies attending our service. We ask families to avoid packing anything containing nuts or eggs in your child’s lunchbox. Children are also encouraged to drink lots of water whilst at preschool so your child will need to bring a drink bottle for this purpose.

• A drink bottle filled with water (no cordial, juice, soft drinks or flavoured milk)

• Morning snack

• Lunch

• Afternoon snack

• Spare clothes (even if your child is toilet trained, accidents sometimes happen and your child may also get messy at Preschool)

• Any medications that need to be administered during the preschool day (needs to be handed to staff)

• Weather appropriate clothing - for example in summer, clothes that offer sun protection and in winter, clothes that protect from the elements. At preschool we play outside nearly every day.

• Comfortable clothing - please don’t send your child in ‘good’ clothes. We suggest investing in some ‘preschool’ only clothes that are durable and can withstand the rigors of painting, running, rolling and playing hard.

• A hat is provided by us for your child and is kept at Preschool. In winter a beanie might be useful that fits under your child’s sun protection hat.

• Sturdy footwear. No thongs, crocs or strappy sandals.

We really appreciate it when you tell us your child will be away. You can phone us directly or you can log any absences through our OWA app. If your child is unwell then we request you let us know so that we can ensure other children are not put at risk.

We can administer medication to your child whilst they are at preschool if the medication has been prescribed by a doctor and has the pharmaceutical label with your child’s name, prescribed dosage and expiry date. We will require you to fill in a medication form authorising staff to administer medication.

We take the safety of all children in our care very seriously. Children at preschool love to play, run, jump and climb and whilst we diligently supervise and assess risks, sometimes injuries can occur. All of our staff are First Aid, CPR, Asthma and Anaphylaxis trained.

If your child hurts themselves at preschool they will be comforted and cared for and when required, first aid will be administered. We will phone you and communicate the incident report to OWNA for you to review and sign. In the event that you cannot be contacted by phone, we will contact the next person you have authorised.

Play based learning provides opportunities for children to develop a sense of the world around them. In play, children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, resilience, concentration, inquiry, exploration, problem solving, creativity and imagination. The intellectual and cognitive benefits have been well researched and documented, children who engage in quality play experiences are more likely to have well-developed memory skills, language development, are more able to regulate their emotions and leads to enhanced school readiness and academic learning.

Learning through play is an essential practice of the ‘Early Years Learning Framework’ (EYLF). Our educators enhance play-based learning by creating environments in which rich play experiences are available and educators become facilitators of child led learning.

Rest and relaxation is important and we support the individual needs of each child. We don’t have designated “sleep time” at preschool. If a child falls asleep while at preschool, they will be protected and moved to a quiet area with comfortable bedding. They will be supervised and monitored at all times whilst asleep.

Blended age grouping is a well-researched model that encourages children to be grouped according to different age ranges. The goal is to build confidence in younger children as well as enhance their language and behavioural skills alongside maximizing learning potential as they learn from older peers.

Meanwhile, older children benefit from multi-age grouping because it allows them to “mentor” younger children, developing empathy and leadership skills which builds on their sense of responsibility and citizenship.

Just as our communities consist of people with different backgrounds and different ages so too should the early childhood learning environment. We understand that same-aged classrooms don’t always promote a child’s learning or development. However, bringing children of different ages together through blended age preschool grouping aims to do just that.

One of our goals at preschool is to support the transition to school for children and families. The way we provide information is very similar to what you can expect when your child attends school.

The majority of information will be provided via our Preschool OWNA App. Your child’s educators will also communicate with you directly either face to face or over the phone, depending on the situation.

We value feedback from our families and encourage families to raise any concerns directly with us. Staff can be contacted at the Preschool either by phone or in person at arrival and pickup times. We can arrange meetings to discuss private concerns or we can talk with you over the phone.

We don’t encourage any conversations of a delicate nature with your child present. It is best to make an appointment to speak to staff.

We respect a child’s need to bring something from home that provides comfort and reassurance for them especially as they transition to preschool.

We try to discourage bringing much loved special toys to preschool because we don’t want your child to become upset should their toy get broken or misplaced.