When it comes to finding the best childcare provider for your little ones, you want to make sure you’re asking the right questions to help you find the right service. While out of school hours care (OOSH) shares many similarities with other types of childcare, there are a few key differences that set it apart.
And with this in mind, it can be helpful to know what questions to ask when you’re specifically looking for out of school hours care.
Whether you choose to ask these questions over the phone or save them for a tour of the facility, finding out the answers to these key questions can help you when it comes time to make your final decision.
To help make things easy, we’ve divided the questions into a few key categories.
Questions to ask about the out of school hours care provider
Before getting to the nitty-gritty details, it can be helpful to ask a few general questions to get a feel for the out of school hours care facility. In some cases, asking these questions can help you to start culling your shortlisted providers.
Here are some questions worth asking if you haven’t already been able to find the information you’re after:
- What are your operating hours?
- How does the pick-up and drop-off process work at your service?
- What fees does your service charge? What’s included in the fees?
- Is there currently a place available for my child or do I need to join a waitlist?
- How far ahead do I need to book into your service?
- What is the cancellation process at your service?
- Do you charge late collection fees?
- Do you provide any meals? If so, do you cater to special dietary needs or allergies?
- Do you administer medication?
Questions to ask about out of school hours care regulations
Like other childcare services, out of school hours care must operate in line with the National Quality Standard (NQS), which set a national benchmark for childcare services.
Here are some questions that should help you to get a better understanding of how the facility supports out of school hours care regulations:
- Has the service been assessed by ACECQA under the National Quality Standard? If so, what was its overall rating?
- How does your service implement sun safety practices?
- Do you have a policy to promote healthy nutrition?
- What is the teacher-to-child ratio?
- How do you collaborate with families?
Questions to ask about the staff
Most parents find comfort in knowing that their children and well looked after when they’re in someone else’s care, so it can be helpful to find out a little more about the staff with these questions:
- What qualifications do your staff and educators hold?
- What training, development and mentoring do you provide for your staff?
- How many staff will you have supervising the children at any one time?
- How much childcare experience do your staff have?
Questions to ask about your child
Each child has their own interests, so it’s worth knowing how the out of school hours care provider will support your child’s wellbeing while they’re in their care.
These questions can help you to better understand if the service is a good fit for your little one:
- What kind of activities and experiences does your service offer?
- If my child doesn't want to join in with organised activities, what alternatives do you have on offer?
- Is homework supervised?
- How does your service support children to interact respectfully and solve problems effectively?
- How do you provide children with guidance strategies to help them regulate their own behaviour and navigate other children’s behaviour?
- How do you provide support for children to develop their self-esteem and confidence?
- Are there opportunities for children to start a new interest or hobby, learn a new sport and share their interests and skills with others?
General questions
Here are a few additional questions also worth asking so you’ve got all your bases covered before making your final decision:
- How do you communicate with families?
- Can I claim the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for this service?
- Can you tell me how much my fees are after I claim the CCS?
- What policies do you have in place for sick children?
Other considerations
Beyond the questions we’ve covered above, there are a few other factors worth considering when trying to find the best out of school hours care service for your child.
Location
Is the location of the service convenient for you to drop off and pick up your child from? As an out of school hours care service, is it also convenient for your little one to get to and from school?
Environment and resources
When it comes to finding the best childcare for your little one, it’s always worth taking a tour of your shortlisted facilities. This allows you to get a feel for the centre and inspect the resources and facilities available to your child.
Staff interaction
Taking a tour of a potential out of school hours care facility also provides you with a great opportunity to witness how staff interact with both the children and their colleagues. Does it look like the staff and caregivers have forged positive relationships with the children in their care? And do the staff look to communicate effectively with one another? It’s even worth taking note of how the children interact with each other too.
Trust your instincts
Last but not least, don’t discount your instincts. If you have a gut feeling about a facility, whether it’s good or bad, more often than not it’s guiding you in the right direction. So don’t be scared to trust your instincts when making the final call.
Use the Care for Kids childcare search tool to find, compare and connect with out of school hours care services in your area.
