A message from our CEO | COVID-19 Update

As the Chief Executive Officer of Hessel Group, I believe it is important to keep you informed about how we are addressing the ever evolving situation.

Your health and safety is of utmost importance to Hessel Group and I want to assure you that we are implementing and re-enforcing precautions to allow us to continue to provide our services as normal, as well as reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Preparing our Children’s Centre

Our staff members will ensure high hygiene practices are embedded to reduce the likelihood of your children becoming ill. This may at times require the need for exclusion of children from the Centre to minimise the risk of cross infection. Within the Hessel Children’s Centre, children will be encouraged to take a growing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing through Educators modelling and reinforcing health, nutrition and personal hygiene practices.

Routines and learning experiences will provide opportunities for children to learn about health and safety. Educators will discuss health and safety issues with children and involve them in developing guidelines to keep the environment safe for all.

As a general rule, your child should not be brought to the Centre unless they are able to cope with normal child care routines and experiences. If there is any doubt as to whether your child is fit to come to the Centre, and or displays any of the following, please keep your little one at home and call our Centre Director on 08 8246 1522:

• Has a temperature of 38°C or above
• Feel unwell and are showing symptoms of COVID-19
• Have returned from overseas or interstate in the past 14 days
• Have been in directly exposed to a known or suspected case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days

Support for our families

As the situation continuously and rapidly changes, we know that many individuals and families have been directly impacted with financial hardship. If you are experiencing this, I want to let you know that you may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy (Temporary Financial Hardship). If eligible, you will be provided with a short term payment from the Australian Government to continue child care for your children.

To apply for the Additional Child Care Subsidy (Temporary Financial Hardship), you can do this via myGov, or in person at your local Centrelink office.

Alternatively, you can contact our Care & Support team on 08 8462 0222 to discuss your options.

On behalf of Hessel Group, I wish you and your family good health and wellbeing.

Yours sincerely,

Tanya Cole, CEO, Hessel Group