Our Centre

Smileys Childcare endeavour to make the transition from home to childcare as smooth as possible. We are here to help with individual sleep times, nutrition, feeding, toilet training and can support your routines at home. Our learning environments are flexible and, as your child grows, more of their education is child initiated which is great for their independance and developing their own learning style.

Babies Room

The Baby Room is for children from 6 weeks to 18 months age. It is full of brightly coloured, developmentally appropriate equipment including carpet mats. There is a seperate sleep room for rest times with cots, baby monitor, soft music and mobiles. Our Parent Information board located in the Babies Room contains helpful information on babies health and development.

Toddlers Room

Our Toddlers Room is bright and colourfully decorated with areas that promote small group activities. The children love our book corner with cushions and mats at quiet times, and our home corner is great fun for role playing. Our children problem solve and explore with the block play and construction toys. Independence is encouraged in this age group with children learning to wash their own hands, apply sunscreen (with direction), put on their own hats, dress themselves, and an awareness of themselves in relation to others is a focus; many areas in our Toddlers room are directed to child initiated choices and play.

Pre-Kindy Room

Pre-Kindy is recognising and valuing children's involvement in learning. We provide opportunities for children to engage in tasks independently whislt supporting their choices in our emergent daily program. The environment in our Pre-Kindy Room is focused on fostering and developing play whether it is investigating in the science and construction area, trial and error experimentation in the puzzle corner or creating a sense of being in the home corner. By using open communication with our families we are able to work together with toilet training, sleep concerns, language development and ensure continuity is maintained between home and childcare.

Kindy Room

Our Kindy Room is child initiated and works with our emergent program where our children develop their own identity while building the foundations for learning. Children are encouraged to interact with one another and learn from their peers. The Kindy environment provides opportunities for continued independent skills acquired from the Toddler & Pre-Kindy rooms. Children are encouraged to express their feelings and interact with one another, explore and engage with social and physical environments through play and building relationships with their peers and educators. There are many areas that encourage children to explore, investigate and conquer within the Kindy room and surrounding environments. These include learning about the environment in our compost area and vegetable garden and gaining confidence with the news bag.

Out Of School Care

Out of School Care – Our exciting new Out of School Care centre is due to open for Term 3, 25th July 2011. Smileys Out of School Care will cater for school children from 4 years + within the Christ The King school campus at Beaconsfield. Our Before School care program begins at 7:00am and After School care runs until 6:00pm; we also offer a Vacation Care program during the school holidays. The centre will be open to children from Christ The King and other selected schools within the local area. Your child will enjoy our varied program including a choice to participate in outdoor sports, dramatic play, computers, exploratory activities, art and craft, music, construction, puzzles and of course time for them to complete their homework. We also provide a nutritious range of snacks and light meals while your child is with us with a healthy menu that changes each day. For more information on our centre, please call 9335 7630 or email osc@smileyschildcare.com.au .

The Kitchen

All of our foods are prepared and cooked fresh at Smiley’s each day by our Tracey who is a trained Chef with over five years experience. We endeavour to provide at least 50% of your childs daily RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake) of nutrients. Our menus are varied and we provide a variety of foods including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, lean red meat, chicken, fish, lean pork and legumes. We have different menu's for Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer.

Breakfast is served for children who arrive before 7.30am and a late evening snack for children whose departure times are after 5.30pm. Your child will also enjoy our menu of morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea each day.

Tracey is on hand to discuss your child’s nutritional needs, food allergies or additional dietary requirements. We welcome any parent suggestions and input with our menu planning and we can share our recipes if your child has a favourite.

Outdoors at Smileys

Our outdoor areas are specifically designed with children’s play in mind. As you enter the centre, our Babies yard is located at the front (on the Samson Street side). This fully enclosed yard features plenty of age appropriate play equipment including a small sandpit.

The main yard has a focus on the natural environment with an open grassed area, trees, a herb and vegetable garden and compost bin. There are surprises for the senses with lavendar and jasmine planted throughout the playground. There are several shaded areas including the main climbing and play equipment, as well as a large sand pit for the children to explore and a musical garden made from recycled materials.