Outdoor Sessions: Nature Crew

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Nature Crew Playgroups, Bush Kindy and Forest School are predominantly run outdoors, connecting children to the natural environment and their local community.  Our facilitators will run activities that are designed to encourage learning through all areas of early childhood development through nature play.

 

Please read our policies in detail before signing up for any program.  

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1. Clothing: Parents/ Guardians are responsible to provide appropriate clothing and closed-toe footwear.  They should ensure children are dressed according to weather conditions.

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2. Messy Play: By signing up for Nature Crew you agree and understand that the child will be exposed to mud, water or paint at different occasions. 

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3. Sun Smart Policy: Children should be dressed according to Sun Smart guidelines (sunscreen, hat, t-shirt etc). Its not Nature Crew staff's responsibility to provide sunscreen and constant reminders about that during the term.

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4. Snacks:  Parents/guardians are responsible for providing snacks and water bottles for their children and ensuring that children don't share food without parents' consent because some children might be unsupervised by parents and might have food preferences, allergies or intolerances. 

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5. Nature Walk: Bush playgroup nature hunts involve walks on uneven ground, over large rocks or running water.  With this, parents must understand that there is a level of risk associated with the activities and should only participate if they themselves or their children are capable of such activity. By enrolling your child/ren in Nature Crew, parents/guardians agree and understand that they are responsible for the safety and well-being of their child/ren during the entire duration of playgroup sessions and Nature Crew or its staff aren't responsible for any injury you or your child gets during the session.

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6. Risk Assessment: Each of our sessions is conducted after following stringent risk assessment protocols. Our facilitators will guide you about the snake, magpie, and general bush safety tips at the start of the term but by enrolling your child/ren you assume all responsibility in the event of (not limited to): falls, cuts, bruises, snake or insect bites or serious injury. 

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7. Medical Emergency:  In the event of any medical attention or costs, the parents/guardians are responsible for covering these costs (e.g., ambulance charges).

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8. Protocols for Extreme Weather Conditions: 

• At Nature Crew, we believe that all weather is good weather. We consider the weather extreme when it exceeds 35 degrees Celsius, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, hailstorms or winds above 30km/hr. 

• By enrolling your child, parents/guardians understand and accept that in above mentioned extreme weather conditions, Nature Crew may change the venue for that particular session indoors (within 10 minutes of the original location) or postpone the playgroup to school holidays. Parents/guardians will be informed of the change of venue via a WhatsApp group message in the morning. 

• In case the session is postponed due to extreme weather or lockdown, we will move it to the same day of the week during the school holidays. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to attend the rescheduled session. Refunds or makeups will not be issued if the child is unable to attend the makeup sessions within the given time limit (1 year for active members ONLY). 

• Note: The makeup sessions can only be made up by current/active members during the school holidays. You have up to one year to make up for the missed sessions as long as you are actively enrolled in one of our playgroups.

• You automatically lose eligibility for make-up sessions if you are not enrolled for the following term. 

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9. Cancelling The Session: If we need to cancel a session i.e. not able to make it up during the school holidays, parents/guardians will be offered a refund for that session. Refunds will only be issued if a session is canceled (i. e. not rescheduled) by Nature Crew. In that case, you will allow up to 2 weeks for the refunds to be issued before reaching out to Nature Crew administration. 

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10. Change Of Mind or Circumstances: Refunds will not be issued for a change of mind or change of circumstances. Nature Crew offers a trial session before joining the term to help parents make up their minds about the term. Refunds will also not be issued if parents fail to attend the playgroup session due to sickness or other commitments.

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11. Notifications Of Absences & Make-up sessions: 

• Please inform us of any absences by 6 PM the day before your scheduled session. Timely notification is crucial for us to manage our resources and potentially offer makeup sessions. Regrettably, we cannot accommodate makeup sessions for absences reported after this deadline.

• Make-up sessions are offered in place of missed sessions from throughout the paid term. Make-up sessions can only be used during the school holiday sessions or sessions run on other days/locations than regular sessions for active (currently enrolled) members only. 

• In case you missed a session due to sickness or other commitments, it's then your responsibility to make up that session at other locations during the term or school holidays. 

• You will not be able to make up the missed sessions the following term if you are not actively enrolled i.e. a paying member.

• Makeup sessions are not offered to casual enrolments and are only reserved for currently enrolled families.

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12. Transferring Your Enrolment:  Nature Crew sessions can't be transferred or used for a different child than the one they are booked for. 

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13. Destructive / Reckless Behaviour: Nature Crew staff have the right to cancel a child’s enrolment if the parent/child is unwilling to follow Nature Crew's terms and conditions. This includes destructive or reckless behavior. In this case, Nature Crew will refund the remainder of the term fees (if any).

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14. Attending Without A Child: No person is permitted to attend the playgroup without a child or for observation purposes.

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15. Walk-ins: You are not permitted to attend the playgroup without prior submission of the enrolment form and fees for the day or term in full. Failure to do so will authorize the Nature Crew facilitator to ask you to leave.

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16. Parent Involvement: Parent involvement is a critical part of playgroup and you are responsible for helping your child with different tasks and activities unless otherwise advised by the facilitator. You are however exempted from being involved in activities if your child is enrolled for bush kindy, forest school or a drop of school holiday workshop. 

 

17. Siblings: Siblings under 14 months of age are welcome to attend the playgroup for free under strict parental supervision. All siblings above that age are eligible for a sibling discount of 5% by using the code SIBLING. 

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18. Allergies: Nature Crew Playgroups organize all the activities keeping our allergy children in mind. If however, you haven't disclosed the allergies on the enrolment form then Nature Crew is not responsible if your child is not able to take part in that activity or any reaction to that allergen. All parents are obliged to follow the rules regarding allergies. If Nature Crew staff informs the parents/guardians to avoid a certain allergen in the form of food, it's their responsibility to adhere to that rule. Failure to do so might result in an action taken against the parent/ guardian to protect the child with allergies.  

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19. Sickness Protocol: In case of a child being sick and having a contagious sickness, Nature Crew facilitators have the authority to request the parent to take the child home to keep other children safe. No refund will be offered in such circumstances.

 

20. Public Holidays: If a scheduled session falls on a public holiday during the term, the session will not take place. Makeup sessions for public holidays will be offered in the week following the end of the term, held on the same day of the week as the missed session.

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Indoor Sessions: Little Big Learners

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Little Big Learners School Readiness Programs, Homeschooling sessions, Tutoring and Indoor Playgroups are conducted at our Airport West Venue. At Little Big Learners (LBL), we are committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming learning environment. The following policies are in place to ensure fairness, safety, and compliance with Victorian business rights and relevant legislation.

 

Please read our policies in detail before signing up for any program.  

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1. Clothing and Personal Care Requirements Parents and/ or guardians must provide their child with:

• Appropriate clothing suitable for the weather and activities.

• Closed-toe footwear for safety.

• A full change of clothes.

• Extra diapers/nappies and wipes (if applicable).

• A bag for soiled or wet clothing in case of spills or accidents.

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2. Snacks, Lunches and Water

• Parents/guardians must supply snacks and a filled water bottle for their child for each session.

• Please ensure all food provided complies with any allergy guidelines communicated by LBL.

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3. Session Cancellation and Refunds

• If LBL cancels a session due to unforeseen circumstances or emergency and a make-up session cannot be provided, parents/guardians will receive a refund for that session.

• Refunds will only be issued for sessions cancelled by LBL.

• No refunds will be issued if a child fails to attend a session for any reason (e.g. illness, personal commitments, change of mind).​

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4. Notifications Of Absences & Make-up sessions: 

• Please inform us of any absences by 6 PM the day before your scheduled session. Timely notification is crucial for us to manage our resources and potentially offer makeup sessions. Regrettably, we cannot accommodate makeup sessions for absences reported after this deadline.

• Make-up sessions are offered in place of missed sessions from throughout the paid term. Make-up sessions can only be used during the school holiday sessions or sessions run on other days than regular sessions for active (currently enrolled) members only. 

• In case you missed a session due to sickness or other commitments, it's then your responsibility to make up that session at another day during the term or school holidays.

• LBL/ NC is not responsible for reaching out to you to arrange a makeup session. It's the parents' responsibility to reach out to the admin team to organise a makeup on time. 

• LBL/ NC are not responsible for offering you extra time for makeups if you werent able to avail the makeup sessions in the designated period.

• You will not be able to make up the missed sessions the following term if you are not actively enrolled, i.e. a paying member.

• Makeup sessions are not offered to casual enrolments and are only reserved for currently enrolled families.

• Up to a maximum of three makeup sessions can be carried over to the following term if you are re-enrolling so its important to make up the missed sessions at your earliest convenience. The only exceptions to this particular policy are when a travel itinerary is provided or a Doctor's certificate is provided for extended sickness or leave. Travel leave or a Doctor's certificate can only be used once per term, and any further absences that term can not be claimed as a makeup. 

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5. Direct Debit Plan Terms: Families enrolled on a weekly/fortnightly direct debit plan must commit to completing the full term. Detailed policies for Direct Debit Payments are provided on the Direct Debit Payment Form. 

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6. Health and Illness: If a child is unwell or has a contagious illness, LBL educators have the authority to request that the child be taken home immediately for the safety of others. No refunds will be provided in these circumstances.

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7. Allergies

• LBL plans all activities with known allergies in mind.

• It is the parent’s/guardian’s responsibility to disclose any allergies on the enrolment form.

• LBL and its staff will not be held responsible for reactions arising from undisclosed allergies.

• Parents/guardians must comply with allergy-related requests issued by LBL (e.g. avoiding bringing specific allergens).

• Failure to comply may result in action being taken to safeguard the health of children with allergies.

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8. Public Holidays: If a scheduled session falls on a public holiday during the term, the session will not take place. Makeup sessions for public holidays will be offered in the week following the end of the term, held on the same day of the week as the missed session. Its parents responsibility to attend the makeup session and another makeup will not be offered for this makeup session if you are unable to make it to this session or have not organised an alternate date with the admin team in advance. 

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9. Change Of Mind or Circumstances: Refunds will not be issued for a change of mind or change of circumstances. Nature Crew/ Little Big Learners offer a trial session before joining the term to help parents make up their minds about the term. 

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10. Behaviour and Enrolment Rights: Our staff has the right to cancel a child’s enrolment if the parent/child is unwilling to follow Nature Crew/ Little Big Learners' terms and conditions. This includes destructive or reckless behaviour. Nature Crew and Little Big Learners also reserve the right to cancel a child’s enrolment if, after reasonable behaviour guidance strategies, multiple warnings, and opportunities for behaviour correction have been provided, the child continues to engage in:

• Excessive hitting, pushing, or other physical aggression

• Repeated use of obscene or offensive language

• Any other unsafe or inappropriate behaviour that compromises the safety and well-being of other children or staff

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FURTHER QUESTIONS

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions regarding our policies on the following email addresses.

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Email for outdoor sessions: info@naturecrewplaygroups.com 

Email for outdoor sessions: info@littlebiglearners.com.au

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