We are committed to supporting our families and people. Our families are supported by our centre management teams, our committed Family Support Consultants, and our COVID-19 Response Team. We endeavour to communicate accurate, timely updates as the situation evolves. Our centres practice the highest quality health and hygiene practices, aligned with State Government recommendations and requirements.

All families enrolled at our centres also have access to free confidential counselling and support through Lifeworks. Lifeworks have caring counsellors available 24/7 for support – call 1300 361 008 and state you are an enrolled family at a centre owned and operated by Affinity Education Group.

Our people are supported with ongoing training, additional resources, clear communication and support from our COVID-19 Response Team, and access to counsellors and confidential support. By supporting our teams, we allow them to focus on their main objective: providing high-quality early education and care for your children.

Below is an overview of some of the health and safety measures we are implementing in our centres across Australia. Please note that not all of these measures are mandatory in all centres at all times. We amend mandatory health and safety measures in centres depending on directives from State Governments.
-Mandatory QR code check-in using State Government issued QR codes for anyone who remains in the centre for 15 minutes or more.
-Adult visitors, including families, are to wear masks, complete the visitor declaration, practice social distancing and practice good hand hygiene when entering centres.
-Face masks for staff in communal areas if 1.5m2 cannot be maintained (offices, foyers, bathrooms, kitchens, etc).
-Drop-off and pick-up zones.
-Temperature checks for children, parents, employees, and other visitors.
-Additional family tour options including contactless tours or virtual tours.
-Visitors or contractors to the centre limited to necessary visitors only.
-Social distancing for visitors of one person per 2m2.
-Enhanced handwashing and hygiene procedures.

We want to reassure families that we are committed to healthy and hygienic centres year-round. You can help keep our communities healthy by: -Keeping your child at home if showing signs of illness, or high temperature.
-Maintain open communication with your Centre Manager about illnesses.
-Incorporating key hygiene practices into your home life, such as regular handwashing.
-If in doubt, or if anyone in your family is showing symptoms, we ask that you get a COVID test before bringing your child back to care.
-While our COVID-19 Response Team will continue to monitor and communicate local alerts, we ask that you please monitor yourself, your child and any location alerts in your area.
-Stay up to date with messaging from the Centre around any state based COVID communication.
-Contacting us immediately if you or a member of your household has tested positive to COVID-19, is classified a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case and/or is awaiting a COVID-19 test result.

Unless otherwise advised, all our centres remain open and operating as normal. Our proactive policies and procedures remain effective in ensuring our centres are safe, hygienic places for your children to learn and play. As required, we are adjusting and updating our practices in centres in response to local and state directions.

We are committed to supporting the children and families in our community by ensuring access to high-quality early learning and care.

State and National Governments have confirmed childcare is an essential service and as a result our long day care, out of school hours care, kindergarten and preschool programs are all operating as normal.

In some COVID-19 hotspots, Government restrictions may limit in-centre attendance to children of essential workers only. Each family is responsible for ensuring they are complying with local government or state government classifications of essential workers.

Yes, our centres remain safe and hygienic environments for your child’s early learning. Please be assured that we are taking all proper measures and precautions to ensure the health and safety of the children, families and educators of our community.

Yes. In line with Government guidance, we are prioritising care for children of parents who are essential workers, vulnerable children, and currently enrolled children.

We are committed to providing clear and open communications with our community. In the event of a positive diagnosis or close contact, we’ll communicate quickly and clearly with our families through email, SMS and StoryPark communications, and follow the directions of the relevant health authorities.

Before reopening our centre, it is our process to perform a deep clean and ensure all staff, families and children have received a negative test result and are symptom-free.

We’ll support our educators, children and families by keeping them updated as we complete all steps required so we can return to normal services as quickly as possible.

If we are directed by authorities to close for any reason, we will do so, and aim to reopen as soon as possible. This will be communicated to families as clearly and effectively as possible.

Our centres remain open for tours when safe to do so. In the event of a lockdown or when State Government regulations advise against unnecessary visitors, we may still offer contactless tours, or offer the alternative of virtual tours.

Family tours are a wonderful opportunity to meet our centre teams, discover our beautiful learning environments, and discover if our centre is right for you. You can book a tour online quickly and easily here.

Please advise of any planned absences via KindyNow or directly to our centre. This will allow us to roster accurately. Our standard absence policies apply in relation to fees, as our centres are operating as normal.
In line with national recommendations, we request that you keep your child at home if you, your child or anyone in your household is unwell or experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19. Our educators and staff are following this same advice to help keep our childcare centre community healthy and safe.
Symptoms to be aware of include but are not limited to:
-Fever
-Respiratory symptoms
-Coughing
-Sore throat
-Shortness of breath
-Runny or blocked nose (congestion)
-Headache
-Muscle or joint pain
-Nausea, diarrhoea or vomiting
-Fatigue

Yes, if we have availability. Please call 1800 CHILD CARE or email enrolments@affinityeducation.com.au and we will endeavour to secure your child’s enrolment.

Regardless of ongoing lockdowns and the changing landscape of COVID-19 in our community, we remain committed to supporting every child’s early learning journey so they can reach their full potential. Whether you’re isolating at home or supplementing your child’s early learning with at-home activities, we have plenty of free resources and activities available on our News & Resources page.

For additional suggestions, please reach out to your Centre Manager.

Your Centre Manager is the best point of contact. Our Family Support Team is also available on 1800 CHILD CARE.

You can also contact our dedicated COVID-19 support email at covid-12support@affinityeducation.com.au.

Current state guidelines across Australia are available to view here. You can also view the latest updates and hotline contact number for each state below:

Federal Government Department of Health - 1800 020 080

Queensland Government - 13 43 25 84

New South Wales Government - 1300 066 055

ACT Government - 02 5124 9213

Victorian Government - 1300 651 160

Western Australia Government - 13 26843

Northern Territory Government - 1800 490 484

Our centre community is following a 3-stage step down plan to ensure the wellbeing of our educators and children as they return to care.

You can contact the national COVID-19 Hotline 1800 020 080, or visit their website at https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert