This document provides context and information about the decision for Bayside City Council regarding its two child care centers in Sandringham and Hampton. Council is seeking community input on options for the future of the centers. A community panel of 30 residents will meet five times to deliberate information and provide input to assist Council, and an online forum will allow broader community participation. The engagement activities will focus on identifying options, community views on the options, levels of support, and how Council could consider objections. Council will make the final decision regarding the future of the two centers.

1. Child Care Future
Options
An overview –The Context and the Decision that Council needs to
make

2. What decision does Council have to make?
What is the role of Council in the provision of child care centres?
In order to assist Council making an informed decision our community engagement activities will focus on:
1. Generating a number of possible options in response to this question
2. Highlighting the range of community views around the positives and negatives of each scenario
3. Indicate the varying levels of community support for each scenario
4. Summarising opportunities for how council may consider specific objections to particular scenarios
The final decision will be made by the Council and will only affect the Council run child care centres which
are at Sandringham and Hampton

3. What opportunities are there for the
community to have their say?
There are two main community engagement activities:
1. Child Care Future Options Community Panel
This is a group of 30 people who are demographically representative of the Bayside community
who will meet a total of five times from April to June to deliberate information and assist Council in
their decision making. This group has been recruited.
2. Online Engagement Forum
The information made available to the Community Panel will be available on the Online Forums, for
all interested community members to view. There will also opportunities to participate in short
surveys and discussions, similar to what’s happening in the community panel.
These activities will also be promoted at Council events and through social media and
communications over the engagement period to encourage people to get involved!

4. So when we say Child Care Centres, what
do we mean?
For this project, we are referring to Council’s two Long Day Care
Centres at Hampton and Sandringham.
Here’s the definition:
Long day care
Long day care services are centre-based education and care services.
Primarily aimed at 0-5 year olds, long day care centres typically
operate for at least 8 hours a day on normal working days providing
all-day or part-time care for children.The service may operate from
stand alone or shared premises, including those on school grounds.
Long day care services may also offer kindergarten programs.

5. Aren’t there other types of child care?
Yes, there are. But they aren’t the focus of this project. Here’s the
other types for your information:
Occasional care - This type of care is provided in a range of settings on either an hourly basis, or for short periods of time, or at irregular intervals
specifically for parents who need time to attend appointments, take care of personal matters, undertake casual or part-time employment, study or
have temporary respite from full-time parenting. These services provide developmental activities for children and are aimed primarily at 0–6 year olds.
Family day care - Family day care educators provide education and care for other people’s children in their own home. Family day care can be for
children from birth through to primary school age. This type of care may be available overnight or on weekends for families who are on-call or work
shifts.
In-home care - This service is a targeted form of care where an approved carer provides care in the child’s home. It is only available for families who do
not have access to an existing child care service, or where an existing service cannot meet their needs.
Kindergarten (also known as Preschool) - A kindergarten program is a structured, play-based learning program, delivered by a degree qualified
teacher, aimed at children in the year before they commence full-time schooling. To be eligible to enrol in a funded kindergarten program, a child must
be at least four years old by 30 April of the year they are starting kindergarten.Programs may be delivered in a variety of service settings including
separate kindergartens, long day care centres, or in association with a school. Some kindergartens run programs for three-year-old children, but this
program is charged at the full fee.
Outside school hours care - Outside school hours care (OSHC) programs are usually located at or close to primary schools, providing care for
primary school age children outside school hours and during school vacations. Care is also often provided on student free days. OSHC programs may
also be offered in locations such as community centres, halls, neighbourhood houses or recreation centres

6. Can you tell me more about the two
Council Centres?
Hampton Sandringham
35 licensed places (Currently operate at 31)
94% Current utilisation
12 Educators
45 licensed places (Currently operate at 41)
99% Current utilisation
14 Educators

7. What services are available at the two
centres?
▪ Across the two centres we provide an educational curriculum for children aged from 6 months to 5 years.
▪ Each centre has a 6 month – 2 year age group with 8 children
▪ Each centre has a 2-3 year age group with 8 children
▪ The Sandringham Centre has a 3-4 year age group with 25 children
▪ The Hampton Centre has a 4-5 year Kindergarten program for 15 children
▪ Across the week 87 children attend the Sandringham centre and 70 children attend the Hampton centre.
▪ The curriculum we provide complies with the National Quality Framework and is driven by the National EarlyYears
Learning Framework andVictorian EarlyYears Learning and Development Framework and includes planning and
programming for all the children both individually and as a group in each of the age groups.
▪ We also provide many opportunities for families to be involved in our programs.
▪ We are inclusive in all our practices and have several children and families attending our centre who have additional
needs and or are vulnerable.

8. We hope that gives you an overview of the current
situation and the decision to be made. Please look
around the site for more information and to get
involved in discussion!