Childcare questions

**LionsandBears** · January 4th, 2013, 09:57 AM

FYI - I have a friend who lives in your suburb. It took 18 months to get a place for her son. I think she ended up getting a place in Black Rock. So get on waiting lists now.

**Marley&Me** · January 4th, 2013, 10:58 AM

Hmmm, this thread is interesting as I will be needing childcare at the end of the year. And I have no bloody clue either!

Unfortunately I will only be able to have 6 months off before going back to work, probably part time first. So it will have to be between childcare and mum I guess.

So I should probably go on a waiting list then hey?

**Taurean** · January 4th, 2013, 11:05 AM

Definitely get on the wait lists. All 5 we liked had wait lists and the two we got into are full for the following year by Xmas. I was talking to another mum at the open night at one of ours and she'd been on the wait list for a year

I'd certainly fluked it by getting the position the day before. But once again, being flexible and reiterating my interest (by phoning them) certainly helped.

**PumpkinZulu** · January 4th, 2013, 11:05 AM

Thanks guys. I called a centre earlier to come in and have a look, the director wasn't in so I was told to call on Monday, but the lady I spoke to said that I shouldn't have trouble getting a place

Definitely will be going in with a bunch of questions and trusting how I feel about it.

**Taurean** · January 4th, 2013, 11:13 AM

It may be different in WA but I'd almost be a bit suspicious of a centre that doesn't have a wait list. The good ones are hard to get into here and as there isn't much info online about WA centres, I used friends recommendations and wait lists as my guide.

**peanutter** · January 4th, 2013, 11:51 AM

wait lists aren't really an issue in my area because there's so many centres available. We literally went to about 12 places, and we didn't drive more than 10 minutes to get to any of them, and none of them said we'd need to wait (although 3 or 4 of them noted they'd shuffle things around so we could get full time) ... there's just heaps of DCC (and schools) where I live

**black_rose** · January 4th, 2013, 11:52 AM

At this time of year it can be easier to get in with people moving, going to kinders etc especially part time rather than full time. Good luck PZ just trust your instinct.

**wysiwyg** · January 4th, 2013, 12:02 PM

Some great advice already given - I would suspect your area may well have wait times.

Personally I would not worry if a center did not have a wait list though - different parents look for different things so it depends on your definition of 'good'. I know my two go to not a particularly popular one but I love it (I think may be unpopular because of a lot of non-English staff (someone did say to me oh that is the Indian one isn't it?) - but everyone there loves the children and to me that was the main thing I wanted (might be different when you start looking for a 3 year old but for me for a 12 month old at the time affection was very important) - and as someone else said there are places where staff don't actually appear to like children let alone feel affectionate towards them. It has low core staff turnover, which I think is a good reflection of center also as if staff happy children happy etc (Staff who looked after DD in baby room are still there and now looking after DS)

Another key factor for me was ability for either DH or I to do pick and drop off - which means had to be easy to walk to from home and public transport. When I was working this was particularly important but also when I was home with DS was great that I didn't have to get out to do pick up at the end of the day too.

I also only looked at two - selected because I knew people who were happy with them - I would have been happy with either (the one I got I liked the amount of light better - and is open all year round apart from public holidays - the other was the council one which is cheapest and 300 metres away but very hard to get a place at and is shut in January for holidays and some other times - as we have no other family around for childcare going there would have forced us into holidays at set times). I figured at end of day they would go where I could get a place and I wasn't bothered enough to go on the waiting list and pay to be on list (sometimes you have to pay to be on list say $20) at 5 places when at end of day I wouldn't get a choice because places are few and far between.

I didn't ask a lot of questions, do research or spend any real time deliberating - just went on gut feel at look round and the fact that friends children were happy there. Apparently it follows The Reggio Emilia approach a fact I only became aware of recently - (after DD being at center 2 years!) - but I am quite a hands off parent when children are not with me and as long as the children looked happy I wasn't really fussed about anything else.

Once you are on wait lists is definitely worth keeping ringing up to check where you are etc, as they seem to operate by some sort of black magic with little logic behind allocation of places (probably because most people are on wait lists at 5 centers so keeping them current is a big job)

**PumpkinZulu** · January 4th, 2013, 12:31 PM

The info in this thread is great, thanks everyone

There are quite a few centres in this area and surrounding suburbs. I never knew! But I guess it's one of those things you don't notice until you need to

**BlackCat** · January 4th, 2013, 12:49 PM

If you do end up wait listed remember to call them, our centre requires you to call no less than once every 6 months to remain current, check their policy.

**jackrose** · January 4th, 2013, 01:18 PM

I am in a high demand area and what I found interesting was that there was a long wait at lots of centres - the ones everyone talks about all the time but at others it might not always be the case.

I put DD2s name down on the Council wait list (a centralised list) as well as the highly regarded privately run ones in my suburb all within walking distance. I had no luck with those and was warned that the wait is excruciatingly long despite my flexibility. I then found out about another privately run one in the next suburb that looked fantastic and ticked all my boxes. Turns out they didn't have a wait list and I was right in! Since then, I have heard from some mums that they are amazed I managed to get in as the wait list was incredibly long a few years ago, so it seems that things can change over time and a wait list is not always an indicator of quality (or not) but could be an indicator of popularity or the convenience of a centre. I guess the lesson is look around a lot, check things out for yourself and give all the centres a go not necessarily the ones that everyone talks about.

**Marley&Me** · January 4th, 2013, 02:42 PM

I have about 4 in my town I think. Two are in walking distance to my work

That would be handy....lol

**Frangipani Lou** · January 4th, 2013, 03:19 PM

PZ,
Could you please empty out your inbox. I tried to PM you but your inbox is full.
Thanks :-)

**briggsy's girl** · January 4th, 2013, 03:58 PM

I think bg can explain rebates better than me so I won't attempt that.

I will let BG answer these things!

really? Moi?? but whyyyyyyyyyyyyy??

this thread might help

The rebate is is both parents are working or studying over 15 hours a week I think

not quite - the number of hours of ccb and ccr is determined by the number of hours you work/study etc. to qualify for ccr, you just have to be working or studying a couple of hours a week - this would qualify you for 24 hours of ccb/ccr - if you go over 15 hours for both parents, you'd qualify for 50hours per week

Hey PZ I was just looking up some info for myself and thought you might like to know - the CCR is NOT income tested. It is capped at $7500/ year / child (2012/2013 rates). If you get CCB that comes out of the $7500 first though, ITMS. So you can't get say $3000 in CCB plus $7500 in CCR, you would get up to $4500 in CCR.

the bolded bit is incorrect sorry hun - ccb and ccr are seperate payments. ccr is paid on top of ccb. so if you are entitled to 3000 annually for ccb, and you hit the maximum of ccr, you'd actually get 10500 in rebates...

**Mrs P** · January 4th, 2013, 04:03 PM

Thanks for that BG - I must have read the website wrong!
As an aside BG, I am about to finish work (3 days/week) and start maternity leave for about 12 months. We currently get DDs two days of daycare covered by CCR (50%) - will I still get that covered during my mat leave (keeping DD in her two days after bub arrives)?

**briggsy's girl** · January 4th, 2013, 04:48 PM

Yes, for the first twelve months of maternity leave you are assessed exactly the same as you would be if you were working

**Floweryfields** · January 4th, 2013, 05:05 PM

It may be different in WA but I'd almost be a bit suspicious of a centre that doesn't have a wait list. The good ones are hard to get into here and as there isn't much info online about WA centres, I used friends recommendations and wait lists as my guide.

We are the only centre in a rural town of about 2000 people with a high aged population, we don't have (and never have had) a waiting list in the 10 years of operation. There is a C&K here too and they have not ever either. We both are excellent centres, but in our township, we just don't have the numbers of families. So I wouldn't always take that as a reliable deciding factor.

**peanutter** · January 4th, 2013, 05:20 PM

Or just babywear both girls to work/class and if anyone asks you about them, you can say they are:-

1. your imaginary friends;
2. growths;
3. a figment of the other person's imagination;
4. your newfangled dictaphone;
5. the Doctor;
6. your contraceptive device;
7. spies;
8. a matter of national security;
9. your mastitis prevention strategy; and/or
10. your bad pick up line avoidance technique.

You could also say they are a parasite (according to House MD), lunch, abnormal growth (I wouldn't say cancer ... that's a bit harsh), your husband's sperm which stuck around, or a few other things, but the above are probably the more socially acceptable responses.

Go on.

I dare you.