Frequently asked questions

We’re open Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 5:45pm, 50 weeks a year. We close on public holidays and for a short period over Christmas and New Year, and we let families know those dates well in advance.

Children aged 2 to 5 years. We’re licensed for around 32 children a day across three mixed-age family groups: Pre-Kindy (2–3), Junior Kindy (3–4) and our kindy-approved Kindergarten (4–5).

$160.80 per child, per day, before subsidy. There’s a one-off $100 enrolment fee per child when you accept a place, and no fee to join the waiting list. Full detail is on our fees page.

Yes — Rachel’s Place is fully approved for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). The subsidy is paid directly to us by the Australian Government and reduces the amount we invoice you. Complete your assessment through myGov, give us your child’s CRN and date of birth, and confirm the enrolment in myGov.

CCS replaced the old Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate, so if you’ve been out of the system for a while, CCS is the only payment you need to look for now.

Booked days are charged whether or not your child attends, including public holidays. Under CCS, each child can be paid subsidy for up to 42 absence days per financial year without you providing any documentation. Beyond 42 days, subsidy can continue in some circumstances if you supply evidence — we’ll tell you what’s needed.

Yes. Our kindergarten program is kindy approved and taught by a qualified early childhood teacher, so eligible children in their kindy year can access Queensland kindergarten funding. We’ll help you check eligibility and apply it to your account.

No — please pack lunch and snacks. Children bring a lunch box with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, plus a water bottle. We supply the table, the company and the reminders to actually eat. We’re nut-aware and will let you know if there are allergies in your child’s group.

A lunch box, a water bottle, a hat, a complete change of clothes (two if they’re toilet learning), and a small comfort item if it helps. On Forest School days, closed-in shoes that can get dirty and clothes you don’t mind losing to mud. Sunscreen, nappies and wipes are provided.

Yes — and they’re also genuinely challenged, which is the point. Every site is risk-assessed before the season and again on the day, educator ratios are maintained or improved for excursions, and staff hold current first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis training. Children use tools and climb under supervision. We use a risk-benefit approach: we ask what a child gains, then make it safe enough rather than risk-free.

Two or three short orientation visits before the first day, so your child arrives somewhere already a little familiar. On the first days we ask you to say a clear, calm goodbye and go — then we message you once your child has settled. Most children settle within two weeks. There’s more in our blog post on settling in.

We meet or better the National Quality Framework ratios: 1 educator to 5 children for children under three, and 1 to 11 for children over three. In practice our small size means there is usually more than the minimum on the floor, and every group has a consistent lead educator.

Please keep your child home if they have a fever, are vomiting, have diarrhoea, or have an unexplained rash, and follow the exclusion periods for infectious illnesses. If a child becomes unwell during the day we’ll call you to collect them. Medication can only be given with a completed authorisation and original labelled packaging.

Yes. Queensland’s ‘No Jab, No Play’ laws mean children need to be up to date with their vaccinations (or have an approved medical exemption) to attend. We’ll ask for an Immunisation History Statement at enrolment and when it’s updated.

Join the waiting list for free at any time — families often join a year ahead. We offer places based on your preferred start date and the days you need, with priority to siblings of current families and to children in the year before school. We’ll always call you before offering a place elsewhere.

Please do. Tours run during session times so you can see the centre as it really is. Book a tour and Rachel or Kate will show you around. Bring your child — watching how educators respond to them tells you more than anything we could say.

A conversation at pick-up, plus learning stories and photos through the year and a quarterly learning e-book for each child. And because we’re small, the person handing over is usually the person who was beside your child all morning.

Yes, and we’d love to talk early. Tell us what your child needs, who’s already involved — therapists, paediatricians, early intervention — and we’ll work out together what good support looks like here. We welcome therapists visiting the centre.

Through the kindy year we build the things that matter: persistence, self-help, managing belongings, using words to sort out problems, and confidence with a group. We prepare a transition statement, and with your permission we’ll talk directly with your child’s school.