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A new childcare service has opened on the Hibiscus Coast which will offer parents greater flexibility and an alternative to dropping their child at a centre.
Apples at Home is run by the programme coordinator Amy Thynne and supported by Apples Childcare Centre manager Kelly Warrington.
“Home based care can be a more flexible option” Amy says “and our new service can meet different needs for families in the community”.
Kelly adds that not all children can cope with centre life so home-based care with fewer children in care, less noise and in home environment suits them better.
Apples owner Steven Tan was fully supportive of the idea and the process of setting up the new service took eight months.
“Some parents are adopting half centre and half home-based care,” Kelly says. “It balances out and parents find it easier to have all the service under one roof.”
Amy has 20 years childcare experience including being head teacher at Apples and in a home-based coordinator for Barnados. “I have been very passionate about home-based care for a long time so bringing home-based care into Apples has been a dream project for me. Sometimes centres don’t suit all children so to have that balance and have that provision under a strong service that can be trusted, is paramount.”
Educators are supported with equipment, ongoing training and regular play groups. “I love the playgroups,” Amy says. “It’s great to see the children interacting and it is a chance for us to work with our educators.”
Educators enjoy the ratio of 1:4 children. Each child in care goes through the education curriculum and educators put together portfolios of their learning journey.
“The great thing about our home-based care is we can accommodate parents from further afield including Warkworth, Dairy Flat and the North Shore.”
