Dear Families,
Thank you for your patience while we await communication from the Department of Education and Training (DET) regarding further restrictions (these were received after 10pm last night).
Based on advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, early childhood education and care (ECEC) services (kindergarten, LDC and FDC) in Victoria are only open for children of authorised workers and vulnerable children. The intention of the stage 4 restrictions is to minimise movement in the community, for the safety of everyone.
To be eligible to access onsite education and care:
1. A child in a two parent/carer family or a one parent/carer family, where one parent is an authorised worker (working on site or from home) and there is no appropriate alternative care available in the home. If there is another adult in the household, authorised workers can still access onsite if the other adult is not able to supervise the child/ren (including due to work or personal circumstances such as illness or disability).
2. Children experiencing vulnerability, include those:
- in out-of-home care
- deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home; or
- identified by a childcare or early childhood service as vulnerable, including but not limited to referrals from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service.
Previously issued Authorised Worker Permits will need to be reissued for authorised workers eligible to use early childhood education and care, with the childcare/kindergarten section completed. A parent or carer must demonstrate their eligibility by producing a valid Authorised Workers Permit. A permit is not required for accessing on-site education and care for children experiencing vulnerability.
If you believe you met the eligibility criteria, as stated above, you will need to show your permit to educators on arrival, from Tuesday 24 August 2021.
In some circumstances a parent/carer does not need an Authorised Worker Permit. This includes law enforcement, emergency services or health care workers who carry employer-issued photographic identification. For more information view the permit exemptions list.
Authorised workers must carry their Authorised Worker Permit and photo identification when travelling to and from our service.
Visit Authorised provider and authorised worker permit for more information.
The two most important actions you can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, is to stay home if you can, during stage 4 restrictions and to ensure that unwell child/ren, even with the mildest of symptoms, remain at home and get tested.
We have been advised that if a child has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the child should still be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms. Families will be required to provide a medical certificate from their treating general practitioner (GP) to confirm that it is safe for their child to attend the service.
For those children who will not be attending our service under these new restrictions, our service has commenced planning on how we can best support your children’s learning from home and will be in touch with information about this soon.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
A copy of the Victorian State Government Table of Restrictions can be found in the link below: