Dear families,

Welcome back to our first update for 2026! I hope everyone had a chance for a break over the holiday period and are returning for the year refreshed and ready to play and learn.

We have had some staff changes since last year, both new arrivals and team rearrangements. Please see below for an outline of our 2026 teaching teams, roles and responsibilities:

Heather Barton, Capel Sound Community Hub Board Secretary

Anna Black

Pat Barbieri

Melinda Travica

Sandi Kenny

Narelle

Lucy-Anne – Lead Educator

Megan – Educator

Pru – Educator

Piper – Educator

Di – regular volunteer

Kiera – Lead Educator

Jessica – Educator

Jaysun – Educator

Jackie – Educator

Ruth – Educator

Anna – Kinder Teacher

Amy – Educator

Layla – Educator

Ruth – Educator

Ash – Breaks cover educator

Meredith – Kinder Teacher

Kelly – Educator

Destiny – Educator

Neve – Literacy Specialist

Jess – Breaks cover educator

Desiree – Additional Assistant

Emma

Kate

Kiara

As part of our 2026 School Readiness funding, the Peninsula Health team will be presenting a parent information session on the topic of supporting your child through separation anxiety. The session will be on Tuesday March 17^th at 7pm, please see the attached flyer for a QR code to register. We have a number of information sessions scheduled for this year and I will send information and registration details as they occur.

As we are at the beginning of a new year, I thought I would go over some of some of our policies regarding when children need to stay away from kinder and daycare in addition to usual illnesses.

·      48 hours after the last incidence of vomiting or diarrhoea. This is calculated as two full days after the incident, which means if a child vomits at 10am on a Monday, they can return to Seawinds on Thursday, not 10am Wednesday.

·      24 hours after a fever has returned to normal without the aid of paracetamol or ibuprofen.

·      24 hours after discharge from hospital

·      24 hours after having had general anaesthetic

·      24 hours after vaccination

·      In addition, children may not be dropped off if they have had pain relief such as Panadol or Nurofen in the morning before care. Pain relief medication can mask more serious symptoms which puts the child and other children at risk of infection.

Here is the link for our updated Parent Handbook for further details and information:

We are very happy to announce that the community café is once again open, making delicious coffees and snacks/lunches. Opening hours are 8am-2pm. Come along and see Mel in Rusties café (as distinct from our Mel in the office!) and support our lovely Hub café. Spread the word!

I notice that some parents/carers are still calling the Hub phone line for the ELC. Capel Sound Community Hub and Seawinds ELC have different phone numbers and email addresses, it would be much appreciated if everyone could please use the ELC contact numbers and email address as it is the most reliable way to contact us.

5930 0054

0477 222 565

Thank you all, looking forward to a great 2026!

Anna and the Seawinds Team