Vacation Care
At Wilston Kids Care we believe our Vacation Care Program should be like a holiday for your child. We have a variety of activities, excursions and incursions to the Service to support an engaging and exciting holiday period. Vacation Care operates between 6.30am and 6.00pm during school holidays and on pupil free days.
To be eligible to use our Vacation Care at Wilston Kids Care, children must be of primary school age and attending primary school. Children from other schools are welcome to attend, however students from Wilston State School will be prioritised in instances where Vacation Care is booked out. Preps may attend Vacation Care from the 1st January of the year they begin school. You will need to be enrolled at Wilston Kids Care to book your child into a Vacation Care day.
Please click the orange buttons below to access the programs, menu, and Vacation Care permission form.
Vacation Care Fee Charges and Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
Vacation Care bookings open approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the upcoming school holiday period. Wilston Kids Care announces when the bookings open and the Program is released via email, message to Xplor Home app, and post to our Wilston Kids Care Facebook page. Booking requests sent through prior to this announcement will be automatically declined.
Please make sure you read all terms, conditions, and instructions below to find out how to book Vacation Care positions via our online booking system.
Vacation Care Fee Charges
The Vacation Care cancellation notice period is 14 days’ notice in writing (via email). No exceptions will be made as this forms part of the terms and conditions of (casual) bookings for Vacation Care. This also includes children who are away sick on the day and casual bookings made within the notice period.
By booking your child into Vacation Care you accept these terms and conditions. The daily fee charged includes Breakfast (6.30am-7.45am) and Lunch (12pm-1pm) which is prepared by our Chef Lyndall on site.
All Snacks (Morning and Afternoon Tea) must be supplied by the parent/guardian. Fruit is on offer to children throughout the day if needed.
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Cancellation can only occur when - more than 14 days’ notice is given and the parent has emailed wkc.admin@wilstonpandc.org.au to cancel booking free of charge.
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Booking to be marked absent when - it has been less than 14 days’ notice. The parent will need to mark absent through the Xplor Home app and the booking will be charged.
IMPORTANT VACATION CARE & PUPIL FREE DAY REMINDERS
Bookings for April 2024 Vacation Care are open now!
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Follow Wilston Kids Care on Facebook to find out when bookings open
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WKC method of payment is Direct Debit via Debit Success. Bookings will not be accepted unless direct debit has been activated.
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Morning and afternoon tea is not provided. As it is a long day, please pack extra food/snacks. Some fruit is provided.
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Children should bring an alternative lunch should the provided menu not be suitable.
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Children must wear closed in shoes. Children are NOT to wear sandals or thongs.
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Children must wear a board brimmed hat and are encouraged to wear sun safe clothing. Sunscreen provided by WKC.
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It is suggested that all children bring a spare set of clothes. Some activities may be messy and we recommend children bring in an old set of clothes as WKC can't guarantee that stains can be removed. All precautions are taken eg. Art smocks, however, some activities we aren’t able to use these (as advised on program).
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Activities: Please note that all activities are subject to availability and children’s choice. We can't guarantee that all children will get to participate in or take home all craft/games/activities. However, there will always be planned and spontaneous activities on offer to all children.
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Please note charges vary depending on the day and activity. To view the charges for each day, click the orange Vacation Care Program button. The charges will be applied to your account as per normal.
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Menu Options Available: GF: Gluten Free DF: Dairy Free VEG: Vegetarian NF: Nut Free
If my child does not attend Vacation Care, will I be charged?
If your child is unwell, please do not bring them to the Service during Vacation Care. We will unfortunately not be able to accept any sick child.
All notice periods apply. 14 days written notice of a cancellation is required. If less than 14 days’ notice is given you will need to mark your child absent on Xplor and this will be charged as per the terms and conditions of enrolment. No exceptions will be made.
Booking Capacity
Each day we can accommodate up to 130 children a day.
During Vacation Care we are open for 11.5 hours each day from 6.30am – 6.00pm (Monday to Friday), instead of 2 hrs in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon as per term time.
We have to halve the capacity from 260 per day to 130 per day during Vacation Care as we have to use double the number of staff (2x teams) to cover across the day from 6.30am -6.00pm.
Code of Conduct (Parents/Guardians)
Our goal is always to work in partnership with all our precious families to deal with any matters that arise in Vacation Care and act as promptly as we can. However, we deserve to be treated with respect and dignity as we are dealing with many children each day whilst running the Service. When we need to speak with families, we need you to work in partnership with us. Raising voices and threatening staff will not be tolerated and is not the way to manage any concerns or grievances you may have.
The Code of Conduct (Parent and Guardian) Policy establishes a standard of conduct and behaviour to be followed by the parents, visitors and volunteers at the Service and defines how individuals must behave towards each other, towards the children at the Service, and the staff and management, at Wilston Kids Care.
To review this policy please visit the Service Parent Hub or contact a member of our Administration Team for assistance.
Children’s Belongings
All items your child brings to Vacation Care must be named. They are also the responsibility of the child, just like at School. Educators will remind children to put hats, jumpers, etc away in their bags when not using them. However, it is not the Educator’s responsibility to look after children’s belongings. This is something that they manage independently as primary school children.
Smart watches must be on school mode when in attendance at Wilston Kids Care. Parents and guardians should not contact their child (or vice versa) on these devices as it causes angst and creates an uneven playing field for the rest of the children in attendance. This can also cause safety concerns if children hide, to contact their parents/guardians, as they know the school rules when at WSS or Wilston Kids Care, they are not allowed to use them.
If you need to check up on your child, please don't hesitate to call the WKC office on 07 3352 6753 or 0401 059 192.
Lost Property
Two baskets are located on the stage parent lounge area. At the end of every week if the items are not collected by parents/guardians, the contents are placed in D Block where the school has a larger space for lost property items.
Vacation Care lost property (casual clothes or unbranded school hats, etc) will be kept for an additional week. If no owners claim the items, they will be donated to charity.
How to Book Vacation Care
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Open the Xplor Home app
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Click on the bookings tab.
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Click on the relevant day on the calendar.
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To add a booking click "(+) New" in the top right-hand corner and select 'Booking' in the pop up.
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Available sessions will be viewable for that day. Select the session you wish to book (i.e., Vacation Care, do not click request a space on this screen)
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Swipe down to bring the calendar back up.
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For multiple bookings, repeat the process above until all the sessions are selected.
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Once selected, click the pram icon in the top right-hand corner to move to the summary screen.
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The summary screen will display the name of the child, the sessions being booked at their price, time, and room. If these are incorrect, click the back arrow to correct selections. Once happy with the selections, click 'Request'.
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If the sessions have been booked successfully, the next screen will show a 'confirmed' status for the booking.
If the day you want is at Capacity (full) – What to do
When trying to make a Vacation Care booking on a day that is full, the Xplor Home app will either not show Vacation Care as an option to select or will show a statement that says, “no space, a request will be sent”. In this instance you will not be able to book for this day, at this time.
We will not be accepting additional requests to sit on a waitlist during this Vacation Care period. You will need to check back on the app regularly to see if a space becomes available. This process will need to be managed by the parent/guardian making the booking. As we have a large number of bookings coming through our system Wilston Kids Care is unable to monitor this for you.
We will endeavour each morning to advertise any positions available that day so parents can snap them up if they require. We advertise on Xplor Home app and Facebook as this is the quickest way to offer. Sending emails daily only clogs up your inbox so jump on Facebook or check out your app to review.
Permission Forms
Any booked days that require permission forms (excursion or swimming days planned during Vacation Care) MUST be submitted the same time you make your booking.
If forms are not submitted, then children will not be able to attend this day and the booking will be rejected. Wilston Kid Care is unable to chase large numbers of outstanding permission forms if these are not submitted on time.
Please click the link below to access the permission form.
https://www.wilstonpandc.org.au/vacation-care-permission