Frequently Asked Questions
It is NEVER too early to start thinking about registration. There is a shortage of spaces in our community for after school care. Many programs carry very long waitlists. Contact us as soon as possible to get on our waitlist for your best chances to get a spot for your child when it is needed.
Younger siblings of children currently attending our programs take priority over other families on our waitlist. This is what sometimes creates a stagnant waitlist. We often will only have a few spaces open up for the new school year and we fill those spots with a younger sibling of one of our current participants. Similarly, any child registered with us that is changing schools takes priority the same as a younger sibling (i.e. transferring from Hammond Bay to Randerson Ridge).
We do!! Affordable Childcare Benefit (formally known as subsidy) can be a blessing when it comes to paying for your preschool or childcare fees. Our advice to you is to make sure your application is complete before you send it in. This will cut down on your wait time. It is important to note that the Affordable Childcare Benefit does not cover the entire amount of our fees and there will be a parent portion that you will be responsible to pay.
ECE stands for Early Childhood Educator, and no, not all of our staff are ECE. We have a variety of skill levels on our team. All staff have relevant education, training and experience. This could include Early Childhood Education, Child and Youth Care, Bachelor of Education, Recreation and Sport Management, etc. Our staff are carefully selected and undergo a probationary period to ensure they fit in with our team and our kids.
Unfortunately, this is not a registration option. We do require our families to register for a set grouping of days (i.e. Monday – Friday, or Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc). This makes for the simplest form of registration.
You should call the center and let the staff know. Most of our facilities have 2 closing staff working until 5:30pm. One staff can wait while the other goes home. A lot of our staff have other commitments in the evenings (i.e. University, other jobs or families of their own) so it is very important that you try to get to the center on time. We do have late pick up fees that apply.
No. We practice “Nut Safe” behaviour. This means that we do not serve the children snacks that contain nuts or that may contain nuts. We are very careful about this as we are with all of our children’s various allergies. Because we share our spaces with other user groups it is very difficult to guarantee there is no nut contamination. If a child has a nut product in their lunch or snack we ask them to sit away from any child with a known nut allergy and as soon as they are finished they are asked to wash their hands and the area they were sitting in is sanitized. We discourage families from sending their children with peanut butter or other nut products because this is a very common and life threatening allergy.
Yes we offer Pro-d day, Winter and Spring break camps, though these camps are only open to families who are already currently registered in one of our programs. We do open our Summer program to the community, however, our registered families take priority. These camps vary from year to year and are offered only at our Harbourisde location. We are not open for Statutory Holidays. It is best to contact us for more information.
NO!!!!!! Do not assume your child will be automatically registered for any school vacation camps including Pro-D day camps, Winter Break Camp, Spring Break Camp and Summer Camp. Registration for all school vacation camps (with the exception of Summer) will commence 3 weeks before the scheduled vacation. Families will receive a newsletter with information about the upcoming camp and will be given a registration date. Summer Camp information is sent out in mid to late March and registration for Summer Camp begins mid April. Families MUST contact us on (or following) the given registration date for Summer Camp, not a second before! It is important to read through the information sent home for school vacation camps thoroughly. Failure to do so may result in you missing a key piece of registration information. We are always available to answer your questions as well. Summer Camp fills up very quickly so it is important to be aware of the registration process and know it is done separate to before and after school care.
Not at all!! We understand that not everyone needs us in the summer! We send out an enrollment survey in the Spring to give families a chance to think about the following school year. This is your opportunity to notify us of any changes you’d like to make, if you’d like to withdraw OR if you would like to enroll a younger child. If we do NOT receive your enrollment survey back, we tend to hunt you down until you fill it in. However, if it is still not received, we automatically hold your spot for you until we are able to connect with you personally. It is important to notify us of changes because we tend to have long wait lists and we can’t offer other families spaces until we know we have them!
We offer on-site programs for children attending Randerson Ridge, Hammond Bay, Pleasant Valley, and Mountain View elementary schools. In addition to these programs, we offer before and after school care drop off and pick up at our Kidz Kompany Harbourside location to Cilaire, Departure Bay and Uplands Park elementary schools.
Our vans are EXTREMELY safe! They undergo semi-annual inspections by a very reputable car dealership in Nanaimo. Our drivers all hold valid class 4 drivers licenses and are extremely trustworthy individuals with safe driving records. We provide booster seats for all of our vans, so no need to worry about lugging those bulky things around, we got you covered!
