Our Centre
The St Francis Xavier Parish of Ballina took a very exciting step in January 2010 with the opening of this Early Childhood Education and Care Children’s Centre for the Ballina-Lennox Head community. The Centre, very appropriately, is named after the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the grandmother of Jesus. The Centre is licensed to accommodate up to 76 children each day, enrolling children from 6 weeks to 6 years of age. The Centre is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.30pm each week day throughout the year closing on Public Holidays and for approximately 1 week between Christmas and New Year.
As for all children’s centres, St Anne’s Long Day Care Centre is licensed under the Education and Care Services National Regulations and complies with the National Quality Standards which were implemented in January 2012 as part of the Federal Government’s new National Quality Framework for children’s services. These standards are in place to ensure we continue to aim for a high quality of early childhood education and care for all children attending St Anne’s.
Our Location
St Anne’s Long Day care centre is nestled between Ballina and Lennox Head in Skennars Head. Located at 42 Isabella Drive next to Holy Family Catholic Primary School and on the back end of Xavier Catholic College
St Francis Xavier Parish Ballina is part of the Diocese of Lismore.
Click here for more information about the Diocese, Our Bishop and other Parishes in our region.
Facilities
This welcoming and inclusive environment with five education and care learning rooms, was designed to support play-based learning and living for children from babies to toddlers, through to preschoolers. The environment not only supports the children’s learning program but also includes facilities that support the Educators to approach their work competently and professionally. The service was completed in December 2009 and opened on January 27, 2010.
Meals
St Anne’s has an on-site “chef” to prepare meals daily including morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea dependent upon the child’s age and nutritional requirements.
Serving fresh meals enables St Anne’s to provide a menu that is varied, nutritious, and delicious. Catering for a wide range of tastes, allergies and food intolerances the menu is planned to ensure individual children’s health needs are met. The menu is planned incorporating fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, and foods that are high in nutrition as advised by the Australian Guide to healthy eating.
We do ask that families provide prepared bottles for little ones and appropriately transport them to the Centre to transfer into the nursery fridges ready for the day.
