Latest update
Current Status: All centres open for business as usual.
As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation unfolds both globally and locally, we continue to monitor all government advice and will communicate updates as they become available.
We have implemented enhanced measures across Edge Early Learning to ensure a proactive response in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
As always the health and wellbeing of children, families and team members are of paramount importance to us.
Whilst we have always had strict hygiene practices and cleanliness standards in our centres, we would like to highlight some existing and new practices put in place:
- We insist on you and your children sanitising your hands before entering the centre each time.
- We will have hand hygiene stations at the entrances of all our centres.
- We have provided further resources to all team members and prepped them on increased hygiene standards.
- We have confirmed our ongoing supplies of hand sanitiser, soap, wipes, toilet paper and nappies for all centres.
- We want to continue keeping your family and team members, up to date on the information they need to help prevent exposure. Everyone’s health and safety is critical, so we have requested that if any team member meets any COVID-19 indicators that they self-isolate until they have been cleared by a doctor.
- We ask that if you or your child has flu-like symptoms, to please seek medical clearance before returning to the centre.
- We have significantly reduced the number of unessential visitors to each centre to prevent exposure.
- We are continuing to further educate children on healthy hygiene practices.
- We have established a dedicated team within the business to consider further steps we can take to ensure the health and safety of our families and team members come first.
Information & Resources
For more information or contact details relating to the Coronavirus, please refer to:
Superseded updates
Thursday 11th June 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Dear Families
Thanks again for your support over the last few months. It has certainly been a stressful time for everyone, but it feels like we are starting to come out the other side.
Edge feels very proud to have families that have been so respectful and appreciative of each team member working to continue your child’s education.
While there have been some slight variations to team members working across different rooms and even centres, the care and education for your child has continued to be our number one priority. We have supported families by continuing our full services, such as food, nappies, opening hours, and your booked days. We have also reinvented our educational program to allow a little bit of Edge into your homes with earlylearning@home.
Your support has allowed us to keep all our Edge team members employed and even bring on new ones…so thank you very much!
In the last few days the Government has announced further changes to the childcare funding package with the result that the current free childcare program will conclude on 12th July 2020.
While this means fee relief for you and your family will continue for another month, together we need to start planning for the return to normal.
Along with the funding changes, the Government has announced that it will also be changing the activity test and making it easier for families who have suffered a reduction in work, study or volunteering activities to continue to access subsidised care.
Our enrolments have continued to grow over the last few months with many of our centres nearing or at full capacity. To ensure we can meet your needs post 13th July we encourage you to discuss your ongoing requirements with your centre director as soon as possible.
We would like to you to be best prepared for when your fees are reinstated.
Here are a few things you should be aware of and action as soon as possible:
All families
- Now might be a great time to get ahead on your payments as your account must be 2 weeks in advance at all times;
Please work with your Centre Director to set a direct debit or reactivate your existing payments on a day that suits you best;
- Update your fortnightly activity statement in myGov to maximise your CCS hours;
- Update your estimated household income in myGov to maximise your CCS percentage;
- If you are experiencing temporary financial hardship click here to apply for Additional Child Care Subsidy or speak to your Centre Director for assistance;
- If you would like to pick up extra days in the coming weeks or months, please email your Centre Director as soon as possible to ensure they can do everything to help accommodate you;
- Did you know that your CCS could stop from 13 July if you haven’t done your tax return from 2018-19? If you are yet to do this tax return or complete an ‘Advise non-lodgement of tax return’ please do so before 30 June; and
- From 1 July allowable absences have been reset and you have 42 days for the financial year
New Families
- If you have recently joined Edge, please ensure you have confirmed your enrolment with Edge through myGov. This will ensure you get any CCS entitlements applied direct to your account.
Again, thank you so much for your continued support and we look forward to seeing your child continue to blossom with Edge.
Please contact your Centre Director if you have any queries.
Stay safe, happy and well
Annie
CEO
Wednesday 3 June 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Here at Edge we are very proud of the fact that during these uncertain and worrying times we have remained fully functional and very much “Open for business” for existing and new families. It has been amazing to see the teams have maintained relative normality within our centres when the world outside has been in turmoil.
We have tried hard to continue to bring stability and a sense of belonging to our families, children and teams. I have visited many of our centres over the last few weeks and it has been amazing to see so many happy children in, what will be looked back upon, as an unhappy time around the World.
We have heard so many stories of other providers turning people away or ceasing to provide food and nappies to save costs during this time when their income is fixed at a materially reduced level. Whilst that may make business sense, it just didn’t make heartfelt, honest sense to us as an organisation (neither for our dedicated team members who we have kept engaged, nor for you – our families who have needed us in the past, present and will do so into the future).
So, a big thank you goes to you for choosing Edge and we value your continued support.
We are all about fostering relationships and keeping communication channels open.
We instil that in the children we educate and we value our relationships with each family we welcome daily.
As many of you will be aware, there has yet to be an announcement from the Government about whether the free childcare regime will continue into July and beyond or when the child care subsidy system will be reimplemented and if any changes will be made.
We have tried hard to predict which way it will fall, but it is nearly impossible given there are so many stakeholders who have a voice and lobbying is occurring at differing political levels and forums.
We do want to reiterate that despite repeated requests to the Education Minister, we do not get any advance warning about any childcare sector related announcements before they are made public.
It’s hard to believe, I know, but we literally find out arrangements when you do through the media.
We understand that when any announcements are made you will no doubt have questions and so will many of our team members.
I can reassure you that we have a dedicated team at support office who will be working extremely hard to review and understand the impact of any changes and provide it to you in a manner that is understandable and relevant.
Whilst we believe an announcement will be made within the next few days please bear with us if that takes longer than you expect but we believe it is important to get it right and the think through any unintended or unexpected consequences.
Hope you are all staying safe and well.
Annie
CEO
Friday 1 May 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Hi everyone,
It feels like the weeks are flying by as we all try and manage the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Who would have expected that we would be living such restricted lives in 2020?
We are working hard to continue to seamlessly provide our care and support to you and your children. The recent changes to the government funding for childcare has materially impacted our revenue and forced us to make some (hopefully subtle) changes to the way we run our business.
Firstly – I was hoping you would join me in thanking our incredible team members.
Many are working unusual hours or have fewer shifts and yet they do so graciously because they are passionate about the children in their care and you their families. We have had to amend rosters to manage varying attendances and funding and many of you attending will have noticed that our team members’ hours may have changed. We are endeavouring to share shifts between our staff and centres to spread the load out as fairly as possible.
You will also notice that we are continuing to offer our full and usual service and hours and will continue to do so even though the revenue we are receiving is substantially lower than we need. We want every Edge family to know that we are here for you at this time.
To those that are staying at home, we were excited to recently launch earlylearning@home. Thank you for your feedback. It has been heart-warming to know that we are able to continue your child’s educational experiences from a distance. The team members have been so excited about the programme and are enjoying putting together the content.
If you have any ideas or things that you would like us to cover, we have a super in-house group of leaders in our centres and at support office who will adapt your ideas for earlylearning@home. If you would like to share ideas on content you would like to see, please contact your centre director who will pass the ideas on to our earlylearning@home team. When we share an earlylearning@home post we share it at every centre and so your ideas will reach all the children in the Edge family (including my own!).
I hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend. If ever we needed a long weekend, now is the perfect time for one. I’m lucky enough to have lots of LEGO to put back together with Sammy – it is helping me keep relaxed!
Stay safe and thank you once again. Your support of Edge as a business and all our amazing team members is not going unnoticed!
Annie Bryce
CEO
Saturday 11 April 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Dear Families
I hope you are coping ok, keeping healthy and enjoying some family time at home.
Our centres are closed over Easter which will allow our team members, who are working so tirelessly, in these weird Covid19 times a well-deserved break.
As you know, on 2 April 2020, the Australian Government announced the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package that gives families much-needed fee relief while aiming to support early learning centres to keep their doors open and as many employees in their jobs as possible.
I wish I could say the crisis is over, but I can’t. What I can say though is, we at Edge, are planning for that day so I want you to all be as informed as possible of steps you may need to take to ensure you’re ready too.
What do you need to know?
From 6 April to 28 June 2020, you won’t need to pay fees when you access Edge’s education and care. All our centres are open and care is available to you if you need it with no out-of-pocket cost. We are prioritising care for essential workers, vulnerable and disadvantaged children and previously enrolled children. For this period, the Government will provide direct funding to us albeit at a reduced rate. Because of this, Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy won’t be paid during this time. If you’ve recently submitted a claim for Additional Child Care Subsidy (Temporary Financial Hardship), and you are eligible, it will only be paid until 5 April 2020.
What do you need to do?
If your enrolment is still current, there’s nothing you need to do. Please keep attending as you need. If you are choosing to not attend it would be great if we could have as much advanced notice as possible (7 days would be best as we roster a week in advance) so that we can ensure we have the correct number of staff available however.
If you’ve stopped your child’s (or children’s) enrolment, you should contact us. Re-enrolling now doesn’t mean you need to start sending your child or children. Rather, it just means you are securing their place for when you would like to them to return. Under the Covid-19 funding arrangement there is no cost to you to maintain your enrolment. Any families who re-enrol will need to confirm their new enrolment with Services Australia in their Centrelink online account through myGov.
If you were previously eligible, the Department of Education has asked me to ask you to make sure you stay eligible for your Child Care Subsidy. This includes:
- continuing to care for your child at least 14% of the time
- meeting immunisation requirements
- telling Services Australia if you have a change in your circumstances.
The Department of Education has also informed us that on 29 June 2020, your Child Care Subsidy will start again but only if you stay eligible. There’s nothing you’ll need to do to start it again as long as you are still enrolled. You should continue to update your family income estimate with Services Australia as necessary, especially if you get Family Tax Benefit. You can do that online in your Centrelink online account through myGov.
Where can you find more information?
To find out more, visit servicesaustralia.gov.au.
Thank you for assisting us in keeping our valued team members safe by continuing to keep up good hand hygiene and abiding by the Government’s rules on social distancing. It’s understandably hard to practise effective social distancing when giving loving care to your little ones so I thank you for doing all you can to keep the Edge team safe.
I don’t really think Australia’s Early Learning Educators are getting much public thanks in the Prime Minister’s announcements. I have written to him to ask that he says a thank you to them directly. If you would like to do so too, please follow the link: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
Wishing you and your friends and families here in Australia and overseas a Happy Easter.
Kind regards
Annie Bryce
CEO
Friday 3 April 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Dear families
Firstly, from my family to yours, I hope you are all safe and healthy.
As you have probably already heard by now, on Thursday 2nd April 2020, the Australian Government introduced some new changes to the early learning sector, in the form of the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package.
The package was designed by the Australian Government:
- to help families to continue being able to access early learning services during the Coronavirus health/economic crisis over the coming months; AND
- to help service providers continue operating and providing high quality care to Australian families – particularly those working in essential services
Click here to read about the package
What does this actually mean for our families?
In summary:
- Our services are available at no charge from Monday 6th April 2020. This is because parents will no longer need to pay a gap fee from this date until further advised by the Federal Government.
- Absences will not ‘count’ – if you choose to keep your child or children at home then we respect your choice. There is no limit to absences from Monday 6th April 2020.
- Under the direction of the Australian Government, if there are more applications for places than our service can accommodate, we are required to prioritise care to essential workers, vulnerable and disadvantaged children and previously enrolled children.
While these new funding rules will have an impact on our early learning services, Edge Early Learning will continue to provide the best care and education for your children.
If you wish to keep your child/children at home, please continue to do so, and be comfortable knowing that we will be here for you when you choose to return. We will be engaging with all of our families over the coming weeks and months and it is our firm intention to stay connected with each and every one of you. It’s times like these, more than ever, that we need to be checking in on one another. We are here for you.
Under the new guidelines, we may not be able to offer our early learning services to everybody who has asked for it. Please understand that our priority is to offer it to those who need it through this time. If you have unenrolled, please contact your centre direct if you would like to re-enrol.
Our wonderful educators are the heart and soul of Edge Early Learning and we want to make sure we are offering them a safe and happy environment, along with all of the children.
In this context, please remember to keep your pick up and drop offs as short as possible, with only one person entering the centre to drop off or collect your child.
Please remember to sanitise your hands and your child’s hands upon arrival and departure. And of course, if you or your child is sick – COVID-19 related or not – you cannot attend the centre.
We would ask that all parents and guardians keep us informed about whether children will be attending, so we can make adequate staffing arrangements and give our team members some certainty as to their shifts.
If there is anything we can do to assist you, please let us know and we will do our best to assist you during these challenging times.
We thank you for your patience, understanding and support.
We will get through this.
Kind regards
Annie Bryce
CEO
Friday 27 March 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Dear families
As you may have heard today, the Queensland Premier announced schools will be ‘student-free’ from Monday next week. In this announcement she also said that long day care/early learning centres will remain open.
Edge will continue to provide care to families in our community that rely on and use our services. We would like to assure you that the safety and wellbeing of your child and our team members is our top priority. We are currently putting extra resources into cleaning and keeping your little ones safe.
We would like to reiterate that Edge Early Learning will remain open to provide care and education to all our families until further notice. If you decide to keep your child at home, please email your Centre Director to let them know as soon as possible.
This week the regulations for early learning have been amended to give families 62 allowable absence days (instead of 42). Early learning providers now also have the ability to mark any of your absences relating to COVID-19 as additional absences without providing further evidence such as a medical certificate. We encourage you to use these absences to continue supporting the early learning sector, Edge Early Learning, and our team members, as we navigate through these tough times.
We thank you for your trust and support in such uncertain times.
Feel free to contact your Centre Director if you have any queries.
Yours sincerely
Annie Bryce
CEO
Thursday 26 March 2020
Queensland Government Department of Education Update
The Queensland Government, led by Queensland Health, continues to work closely with the Australian Government and other agencies to manage the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Schools status
The Term 1 break will begin on Monday 30 March 2020 for all state school students.Five student free days have been declared for Monday 30 March – Friday 3 April 2020.Staff of state schools and community kindergartens will begin their Term 1 break on Monday, 6 April. Schools will reopen to students and staff on Monday, 20 April 2020 unless health authorities advise otherwise.During the period 30 March to 3 April, schools will continue to provide a program of care and supervision for children of essential workers.For students at home, teaching and learning resources are available through the department’s learning@home website.
Sunday 22 March 2020
Australian governments are focused on working together to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) to save lives.
Every extra bit of time allows us to better prepare our health system and put measures in place to protect Australian lives.
We will be living with this virus for at least six months, so social distancing measures to slow this virus down must be sustainable for at least that long to protect Australian lives, allow Australia to keep functioning and keep Australians in jobs.
The Prime Minister, state and territory Premiers and Chief Ministers met on 22 March 2020 as the National Cabinet. They agreed to further actions to support social distancing measures already put in place and protect the Australian community from the spread of coronavirus.
Practicing good hygiene and keeping a healthy physical distance between individuals is our most powerful weapon in fighting this virus and saving lives. The failure of some businesses and members of the public to do this puts people’s lives at risk.
We need every Australian to do their bit to save the lives of other Australians.
Leaders thank those members of the public who are adhering to social distancing measures. However, leaders expressed their disappointment at some members of the community who are disregarding social distancing measures and, by doing so, putting the lives of older and vulnerable Australians at risk.
If we want to slow the spread, everyone must implement appropriate social distancing in accordance with state and territory laws.
Places of social gathering
National Cabinet agreed to move to more widespread restrictions on social gatherings.
Premiers and Chief Ministers agreed to implement, through state and territory laws, new Stage 1 restrictions on social gatherings, to be reviewed on a monthly basis.
Australians should expect these measures to be in place for at least 6 months.
The following facilities will be restricted from opening from midday local time 23 March 2020:
- Pubs, registered and licenced clubs (excluding bottle shops attached to these venues), hotels (excluding accommodation)
- Gyms and indoor sporting venues
- Cinemas, entertainment venues, casinos, and night clubs
- Restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway and/or home delivery
- Religious gatherings, places of worship or funerals (in enclosed spaces and other than very small groups and where the 1 person per 4 square metre rule applies).
Isolated remote community hubs are not included in these restrictions.
Other facilities are not impacted, but will be considered under stage 2 restrictions, if necessary.
These measures also apply to outdoor spaces associated with the above venues.
Leaders noted that these enhanced measures build on existing measures to slow the virus and save lives:
- No non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people outside or more than 100 people inside.
- All non-essential indoor gatherings of less than 100 people must have no more than one person per 4sqm. All Australians should expect their local businesses to be following this rule.
- Where possible, keep 1.5 metres between yourself and others
- Avoid non essential travel
- Restrictions on entering aged care homes to protect older Australians
Leaders acknowledged that these new restrictions will change the way we live and expressed deep regret for those business owners and employees who will be impacted. The goal is to reduce the spread of the virus, to flatten the curve and to save the lives of fellow Australians.
State Premiers and Chief Ministers agreed they would give effect to these restrictions through their own legislative processes and make announcements accordingly.
Premiers and Chief Ministers will consider further Stage 2 restrictions if social distancing measures are not adhered to.
Statement on schools
All leaders agreed that children should go to school tomorrow. Leaders agreed that we cannot see children lose an entire year of their education as a result of school closures caused by COVID-19.
Leaders committed to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) advice that says that it is safe to keep schools open.
Leaders also thanked all teachers and school staff for their support.
State Premiers and Chief Ministers agreed that schools will remain open through to the end of the current school terms to support students whose parents choose to send their children to school. Victoria’s school break will commence on Tuesday 24 March 2020.
All Leaders have committed to re-open schools at the end of the school break, subject to the advice of the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee.
If parents choose to keep their children home from school, parents must be responsible for the conduct of the children and to ensure they adhere to the social distancing arrangements in place. Parents must be aware that while the majority of adults who contract COVID-19 have mild forms of the virus, the elderly or those with co-morbidities can have more significant symptoms.
Schools will be encouraged to provide access to online and distance learning.
Tuesday 17 March 2020
Family Notice from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Here at Edge, we’re focused on providing you and your family exceptional service and educational experiences, and that includes being mindful of the safety and health of our Edge community – that’s you, the children, as well as our team members.
Considering the ever-evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, we’ve been closely monitoring this in real-time based on the advice of the Government and reviewing our approach regularly.
Whilst we have always had strict hygiene practices and cleanliness standards in our centres, we would like to highlight some existing and new practices put in place:
- We insist on you and your children sanitising your hands before entering the centre each time.
- We will have hand hygiene stations at the entrances of all our centres.
- We have provided further resources to all team members and prepped them on increased hygiene standards.
- We have confirmed our ongoing supplies of hand sanitiser, soap, wipes, toilet paper and nappies for all centres.
- We want to continue keeping your family and team members, up to date on the information they need to help prevent exposure. Everyone’s health and safety is critical, so we have requested that if any team member meets any COVID-19 indicators that they self-isolate until they have been cleared by a doctor.
- We ask that if you or your child has flu-like symptoms, to please seek medical clearance before returning to the centre.
- We have significantly reduced the number of unessential visitors to each centre to prevent exposure.
- We are continuing to further educate children on healthy hygiene practices.
- We have established a dedicated team within the business to consider further steps we can take to ensure the health and safety of our families and team members come first.
We are currently following the advice from the government for any situations that are presented to us at any given time. Below is a useful link clarifying information about self-quarantine and how this may impact you and your family.
https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/take-action/selfquarantine
Assistance available for families
Access to Australian Government subsidies
Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) are a family’s entitlement, based on their individual circumstances, used for subsidising the cost of child care to help them undertake work-related activities. Importantly, the general application of CCS and ACCS is that it can only be paid where services are open and providing care, with the exception of public holidays or when a period of local emergency has been declared. Additional Child Care Subsidy (temporary financial hardship) ACCS (temporary financial hardship) is available to provide short-term support to families experiencing a significantly reduced ability to pay child care fees, such as if the parent lost income due to being unable to attend work. Eligible families will receive a subsidy equal to the actual fee charged by the child care service, up to 120 per cent of the CCS hourly rate cap. In most cases, the full cost of child care will be covered. It can be accessed for up to 13 weeks and eligible families are entitled to up to 100 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight. Families will be required to provide supporting evidence of a substantial reduction in their ability to pay child care fees, such as an email
from their employer.
Absences from Child Care
Where services are open, reporting of absences for families whose child/ren cannot attend child care due to COVID-19 is supported by the existing arrangements as outlined below
- Whether a child is actually ill or not, including where a child does not attend care as part of the family’s own precautionary measure against potential contact with COVID-19, CCS can be paid for up to 42 absence days per child, per financial year, without the need for families to provide documentation.
- Once a child’s 42 initial absences have been used, CCS can be paid for additional absences for a reason defined in the Family Assistance Law, including illness. Evidence is required to be kept by the provider for any additional absences claimed, e.g. a doctor’s certificate.
- If a child is not ill and does not attend care (as part of the family’s own precautionary measure against potential contact with COVID-19, some medical practitioners may support families by providing a medical certificate allowing them access to additional absences, if required.
In short, we want to be able to continue to offer care for your child or children now, and far into the future. Please don’t immediately unenroll, rather utilise your allowable absent days and additional sick days (if necessary). This maintains your enrolment and supports us to keep the centres open and care available and continuing. To check your year to date amount please see the first page of your statement.
I must also take this opportunity to thank our amazing staff for their dedication and efforts in very difficult circumstances. It would be great if you could acknowledge their efforts wherever possible as well.
We are continuing to monitor the situation and are working with government and health authorities as the position is changing daily. Should the centres be forced to close at some point we will update you on the position at the time regarding access and fee arrangements.
It goes without saying this is a tricky time for us all. We remain absolutely committed to doing everything we can to put the health and safety of our community first. Rest assured, our centres are open and operating as usual.
Yours sincerely
Annie Bryce
CEO
Monday 16 March 2020
The Australian Government has announced that all people who arrive in Australia from midnight 15 March 2020, or think may they have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, are required to self-isolate for 14 days.
For more information on what this means for you and your family please follow the Department of Health’s Isolation Guidance below:
English
Chinese
Korean
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Farsi
Monday 16 March 2020
Following the closure of our Bellbird Park centre on Friday, we are pleased to inform families that the Educator tested for COVID-19 has been cleared and did not test positive to the virus. Edge Early Learning Bellbird Park has today reopened for business and the team are remaining vigilant in taking necessary precautions throughout this time.
Friday 13 March 2020
Statement from Edge Early Learning CEO, Annie Bryce
Edge Early Learning took the proactive approach to close our Bellbird Park Centre today, after it was reported that one of the Centre’s Educators lives with a person who has had contact with another person that we understand may have been confirmed as having COVID-19.
While we were advised by the relevant health authorities that the Centre could remain open and function as normal, as we do not have a confirmed COVID-19 case, we acted as a preventative measure to await the outcome of the team member’s results.
In communicating the closure to parents, we advised that we would rather be overly cautious when it comes to the health and wellbeing of our children, families and team members at this time.
There is a high likelihood that our team member will deliver a negative test result and we will reopen the Centre on Monday 16 March and all childcare fees for the day were waived and government permitted ‘absent days’ were unaffected due to the closure.
As a company, we will remain vigilant regarding this issue; to do our part in protecting our children and the wider effort to stop the spread of the virus.
Thursday 12 March 2020
At Edge Early Learning, we are continuously monitoring the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation to ensure the health, safety & wellbeing for the children in our care, you their parents and guardians and all of our team members and their families.
We are members of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) and we are engaged with them on a daily basis. The ACA committee is in constant discussions with the Government to obtain guidance and to understand and share with us any implications for the early learning sector.
We can confirm that we know of no known COVID-19 cases in any of our early learning centres or amongst any of our team members.
We are displaying posters at each entrance as a reminder on how to know the signs and help stop the spread of COVID-19. We request people who attend our centres to abide by these guidelines so as to help protect all of our community.
On 9 March 2020, the Federal Government updated its information for families and for early learning services here based on the latest medical advice.
In line with this advice, children and adults can not attend an early learning centre if they have:
- left, or transited through mainland China or Iran in the last 14 days (they must isolate themselves for 14 days from leaving mainland China)
- left, or transited through Republic of Korea on or after 15 March (they must isolate themselves until 14 days after leaving Republic of Korea)
- been to Italy & been instructed to self-isolate for 14 days at the mandatory health screen at the Australian border
- been in close contact with a confirmed case of Coronavirus in the last 14 days (they must isolate themselves for 14 days after the date of last contact with the confirmed case)
Should this apply to you, your relevant Edge childcare centre must be notified immediately please.
Moderate risk
The Australian Government considers the following countries to be at moderate risk for COVID-19:
- Cambodia
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Singapore
- Thailand
People who have recently travelled to these countries should monitor their own health for 14 days after leaving that country. If they develop a fever or cough, they should seek medical advice urgently and self-isolate.
Please refer to the isolation guidelines that relate to each country on the Department of Health webpage here.
We are constantly monitoring our centres and their communities and will update you as appropriate should any new information come to hand.
We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing the care of your children
Should you have any questions or queries please talk to your Centre Director.
Friday 6 March 2020
Over the weekend, the Government announced updated restrictions which now include travel from Iran. This is consistent with the travel restrictions in place for Australians returning from mainland China.
Children or staff cannot attend their early childhood service if they have:
- left, or transited through mainland China in the last 14 days (they must isolate themselves for 14 days from leaving mainland China)
- left, or transited through Iran on or after 1 March (they must isolate themselves until 14 days after leaving Iran)
- been in close contact with a confirmed case of Coronavirus in the last 14 days (they must isolate themselves for 14 days after the date of last contact with the confirmed case).
These are important preventative measures that have been put in place in the interests of public health.
I do not expect these travel restrictions will significantly impact upon the day-to-day operation of our service and I want to reassure you that we will continue to work to ensure any disruption is minimised.
Anyone who has completed the self-quarantine period of 14 days and shows no symptoms of illness is eligible to return to their early childhood service.
If your children are unwell or show symptoms of illness, they should see their doctor.
As always, the health and wellbeing of your children, and our staff, remains our number one priority.
We continue to take advice from Queensland Health and the Queensland Department of Education (the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority) in relation to this matter and the latest information is available at Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Queensland Health website.
Again, thank you for your understanding and attention to this important matter.
