Dear Biz – E – Kidz Families, Unfortunately, at this point it seems unlikely that restrictions will ease enough for Biz – E – Kidz to operate the Spring holiday program as usual. In line with current restrictions, we need to make the following changes:

• The holiday program will only be available to families who have been eligible for onsite school supervision (more information below) We will work with the school to determine eligibility and confirm bookings via smartcentral and email this week. Requested care should reflect the times and dates on authorised workers permits Families who are not eligible will receive an email informing them of this.
• All incursions will be cancelled. We will reissue an updated program plan before the holidays and will plan a range of fun and engaging activities to replace the incursions. However, families are urged to only book the care they absolutely need, rather than based around activities planned.
• If the restrictions change we will contact families ASAP with changes to our plans

Thank you to families for your understanding at this time, these measures help protect the community and keep our children and essential workers safe. Please get in touch if you have any questions or require any further information.

Children in the following categories were eligible for onsite supervision and so eligible for the holiday program:

A) Children where both parents and/or carers are considered authorised workers https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/authorised-provider-and-authorised-worker-permit who cannot work from home, work for an authorised provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made: o Where there are two parents/carers, both must be authorised workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision o For single parents/carers, the authorised worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision. An authorised worker permit is required for parents requesting on-site supervision for their child/ren under Category A as an authorised worker. These must be sent through to the school ASAP if they haven’t already been supplied.

B) Children experiencing vulnerability, including: o in out-of-home care o deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home o identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service) o Where a parent/carer indicates that a student with a disability is vulnerable because they cannot learn from home, and/or informs the school the student is vulnerable due to family stress, the school must provide on-site supervision for that student. This may apply to students enrolled in specialist schools and students with a disability enrolled in mainstream schools. An authorised worker permit is not required for accessing on-site supervision under Category B.