To make the transition as stress-free as possible, we recommend several short visits prior to the start date, where you stay with your child as they familiarise themselves with the new environment.

Our teachers will work together with you to ensure your child has a great experience right from the start. Each child is assigned a key caregiver who is responsible for their settling in, parent induction, routines, development updates and individual discovery projects. We find that having a key caregiver as a familiar point of contact helps to reduce stress and increase trust and excitement about starting with us.

Feel free to visit or phone the centre at any time to find out how your child is getting on – you might find this unnecessary once you see how much they love our centre!

Yes! To add a picture follow these simple steps:

1. Enter App Settings

2. Click the "Manage Questions" button

3. Click on the question you would like to attach a picture to

4. When editing your answer, click on the picture icon and then add an image from your library

The children at our centres are very busy which means there is often a need for parents to pack a few extra things. Most of our centres recommend packing the following named items:

Two or three complete changes of clothes, including underwear and socks

• Sunhat in summer

• Warm hat in winter

• Warm jacket in winter

• Appropriate footwear

• Nappies if necessary

• Certificate of Immunisation and birth certificate on their first day

Here is a reccomendation from Harvard's Healthy Lunchbox Guide:

• Choose any 1 fresh fruit. For example: grapes, apple slices or rings, any melon chunks (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), any berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries), or banana slices.

• Choose any 2 vegetables. For example: carrot coins or sticks, cucumber, broccoli, bell pepper strips, asparagus spears, summer squash ribbons, or grape tomatoes.

• Choose any 1 healthy protein. For example: Beans, edamame, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, hummus, veggie burger, roasted turkey or chicken slices, or a hardboiled egg.

• Choose any 1 whole grain. For example: whole grain pasta, bread, and crackers, brown rice, quinoa, steel-cut oats, and other minimally-processed whole grains.

• Incorporating dairy (if desired). For example: unflavored milk, plain Greek yogurt, small amounts of cheese like cottage cheese, and string cheese. For dairy-free options, try soy milk and soy yogurt, which contain similar amounts of calcium, protein, and vitamin D as dairy milk.

We love to build close relationships with all our families and use an online tool called Storypark to share your child’s learning with you. We also create profile books, which provide a hard copy for children to look through with their friends and family.

Staff and management are always available to discuss any matter regarding your child and centre. We recommend that you make an appointment so that teachers can be available without interruption.

Please phone the school and let us know (you can just leave a message if no one picks up the phone). Alternatively you can send an email to info@waterlooss.ca

We will phone you and/or your child’s caregiver and an ambulance if necessary. We will care for your child until you or the ambulance arrives.

We respect parent/caregiver choice around immunisation. If your child is immunised, please provide these details on enrolment so that we can photocopy their immunisation chart. If you have chosen not to immunise your child, please let us know on enrolment, so that you can be notified if there is ever an infectious disease/illness in the school.

Health and safety are a top priority at our centre, and our policies are continuously reinforced by our staff. These include (but are not limited to) regular safety checks of all equipment, identification of and mitigation of any hazards, the storage of chemicals and hazardous items in locked cupboards, and educating children on personal safety matters such as walking inside, staying seated while eating, not throwing equipment and encouraging respectful caring behaviour at all times.

At our centre we have at least one first aid trained staff member per 50 children onsite at all times.

The nut free policy is put into place because as a centre we take responsibility for the health and well being of our children, staff, families and visiting community. No person should be placed in a situation and/or environment that may endanger their life, therefore it is WISS Academy's role to notify and educate staff and parents about the dangers that peanuts and other nut products may inflict on those who may suffer from these products.

WISS Academy's first priority is to provide a safe and secure environment for all children, so we ask that you please adhere to the parking signs.

Because of the number of children entering our academy at the same time each day, please exercise extreme caution when entering the parking lot area. Please ensure that your child has a pair of clean indoor shoes available for use inside the facility so that we can keep common areas, carpets, and classrooms clean.

Outdoor shoes can be lined up against the wall underneath the child's coat rack located inside the main entrance on the right. Parents are also encouraged to include an extra set of clothes and a jacket appropriate for the day's weather in their child's backpack. An extra set of clothing will assist the teachers in dealing with unforeseen bathroom accidents or wet attire from exploring the water table.

Additionally, as the class occasionally visits the outdoor playground facility, a weather appropriate jacket will ensure that your child is comfortable each day. Your child’s name will appear beside one hook with their class, please hang their backpack and coats here each day.

We are following Ontario Provincial advice regarding our ongoing operations, and we will add new information as and when relevant.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-reopening-child-care-centres

There is a huge amount of uncertainty in our world at the moment but one thing is for certain WISS Academy is a place with a strong commitment to learning and teaching.

Please contact info@waterlooss.ca or call +1 (226) 647-8000

We try to make any cancellation decisions before 6 a.m.

We know that many WISS Academy parents need to start travelling early, so we do our best to make the decision and get information out about cancellations and closures by 6 a.m.

We will inform the school community on our school's social media pages. This includes Twitter, Facebook, and also by email.