Open Arms Community Child Care Centre

23/06/2025

Open Arms Community Child Care Centre at Birdwood are currently expanding their team. We are looking for a cook to work weekdays from 10am to 12:30pm daily with 1 or more extended shifts per week. No commercial experience needed, just a love of cooking and good time management skills. Additional responsibilities include food ordering and record keeping. Position will be paid under the Children's Services Award and will commence as soon as possible after interviews are held.
For more information, or to send in a resume and letter of application, please email us at [email protected]. Applications close 4th July, 2025, however interviews may be held before this date for early applications. Help to obtain relevant paperwork and training for the role will be provided.
We are hoping to employ someone from our broader community so feel free to tell a local friend or family member that might be suitable or interested.

27/06/2022

Open Arms are currently wanting to expand their team of staff. We are looking for a cook to work weekdays from 10am to 12:30 or 1pm; a cleaner to work 4-5 days a week for 2 - 2.5 hours per evening anytime after 6:30pm, and educators with (or working towards) a Certificate 3 or Diploma in Children's Services/Early Childhood Education and Care for a range of relief, short term funded positions, Parental leave contract and longer term contracts. These educator roles vary in hours, with the possibility of further work in 2023, so applicants are asked to indicate their availability when applying. We are happy to employ people from further away, but would love to employ people who are local where possible.

All positions will be paid under the relevant Children's Services Award .

For more information, or to send in a resume and letter of application, please email us at [email protected]
Feel free to tell a friend or family member that might be suitable or interested.

22/02/2022

POSITION VACANT - Administrative Support Officer required min 8- 10 hrs per week
Open Arms Community Child Care Centre in Birdwood is currently looking for an administrative support officer to join our team. The right applicant will be able to work independently, but also see themselves as part of a team, be reliable and show initiative, be quick to pick up new skills but not be afraid to ask questions and be willing to learn. Key responsibilities within the role will be to provide administrative duties to assist with the smooth running of the service in line with relevant regulations, policies and procedures under the direction of the Director; build and maintain positive relationships with children, families, educators, staff and management to deliver best outcomes for families and children; and provide support to the Director with regards to areas including enrolments, finance, Family Assistance Law compliance and Child Care Subsidy.
This will include but not be limited to administrative and financial tasks including timely payment and records of accounts payable, receipt of payments, sending invoice and statement information to families, reconciliation of payments and transactions, documentation of financial reports and records as requested, responding to emails, answering phones and providing assistance where necessary, assist with documentation and record keeping, assist with recruitment, induction and orientation documentation as required, & ordering and receipts of goods.

This job role is developing and so will undergo some changes as the role develops. Therefore it is possible that the responsibilities and hours may also increase over time, depending on the capabilities of the applicant.

The successful applicant will need to have some previous administrative and finance experience, and either have or be prepared to get: a working with children check, mandated reporting training and be double vaccinated before they commence the role. They will be employed as a Support worker under the Children’s Services Award, and work a minimum 2 hours per day, however the days and times are negotiable and may be spread between 2-4 days.

To get a copy of the full job description, more information or send a resume, please email [email protected]

Applications will close 5pm Friday 4th March, 2022.

23/09/2021

One of our wonderful cleaners is moving away from the Hills, so we are on the hunt for someone new! We are after someone 2-3 nights per week, for 2-2.5 hours, anytime after 6:30pm. No professional experience necessary, just someone who gets satisfaction from seeing something clean and tidy, is thorough and has a good attention to detail, can work without supervision and doesn't mind working alone. Training will be provided. Ideal for someone looking to get into or back into the workforce. If you are interested or know someone who might be suitable, please call the centre on 85685011, or email us at [email protected] as soon as possible.

01/09/2021

Help us find some new relief staff to add to our team! Please share to help us get the word out!

Casual/relief early childhood educators required for small community child care centre with contract/longer term job possibilities.

09/07/2020

We will be wearing our Pyjama's next Wednesday and Friday to support the Pyjama Foundation and children in foster care.
We would love to the all the children and educators in their PYJAMA's.
If you would like to donate please use the link below:

We are all about ensuring children have safe place to play and learn .We decided to participate in this special day (and have made it a 2 day event so more children are able to be involved) as a part of our school holiday program and look forward to raising much needed funds to support children who....

08/04/2020

To help families further with the AHPPC statement, we are using the following guidelines if you are in doubt as to whether or not to send your child....if the cough is persistent, or a nose needs to be wiped 4 or more times in an hour, stay home!

08/04/2020

The health and safety of our children is our highest priority. We are following the recommendations of the Health authorities in seeking to protect children from the risk of COVID -19. The relevant government committee AHPPC has recently released new recommendations and rules for centres such as ours. Open Arms will be following the recommendations and rules, with most of the recommendations are already in place. You will notice that the health authorities have decided that from 1 May, visitors will not be permitted to enter the Centre if they have not been vaccinated against influenza. Visitors includes parents and caregivers. If you haven’t been vaccinated by 1 May and wish to come into our centre, please speak to one of our staff and we will discuss with you alternative arrangements. Health authorities have also decided that visitors with fever or symptoms of acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath) symptoms are not permitted to enter the Centre. This applies immediately. Consistent with the recommendations, unwell children are not to attend the Centre. You will also notice that health authorities are recommending influenza vaccination for children and parents. If you have any questions about these requirements and recommendations, please do not hesitate to speak to staff.

A statement from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee about COVID-19 in children and early childhood and learning centres.

03/04/2020

Yesterday the government announced that there would be free childcare from Monday 6th April until 30th June.

As a centre we are looking at the finer details and how that will impact individual families and/or meet their needs. We will be contacting all families individually to discuss what this means for them hopefully today, but may need to add more information as we receive it. Our priority will be to address current needs and situations with existing families, before taking on new families, however it is possible that this may also occur.

We will keep everyone informed.

27/03/2020

For those wondering about whether child care is still open - yes we are, and we are continuing to work with families to support them to do whatever they need to do in their individual situations. We appreciate the needs of those self-isolating, and those who need us to offer consistency in the education and care of their children while they continue to work.

For those who have not already see it, this came out yesterday from the Minister for Education .......

MEDIA RELEASE 26 March 2020 Statement on child care

The current expert medical advice is that the child care sector should remain open except where individual services have been directed to close by health authorities. The Government is aware of the challenges facing the Child Care sector because of reduced attendance.
I am working with the sector to minimise the impact of COVID-19, and we already have implemented additional support arrangements.
To support the sector, we have increased the number of days, up to 62, that a child care service will continue to receive the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) when a child is absent from care. The CCS covers up to 85 per cent of the daily costs of a child’s care. Grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 are available for child care providers through the
Community Child Care Special Circumstances Fund to help cover business costs, including wages, to ensure services impacted by COVID-19 can continue to operate.
Families with financial difficulty can apply for funding through the ACCS (temporary financial hardship fund) to cover child care gap fees.
One of the key ways all governments can support the sector is through regulatory relief and this is on the agenda for Education Council tomorrow.
We continue to assess the issues facing the sector and we will continue to work with them to manage the impact of the coronavirus.
I will have more to say on this in the coming days.
THE HON DAN TEHAN MP
Minister for Education

24/02/2020

Open Arms is proud to be a part of this exciting pilot project since its inception in 2018. Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA) is a play-based digital learning program for children in preschool to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). ELSA allows children to play, experiment and make sense of the world around them – which is part of STEM, and also part of being a child. ELSA’s STEM Practices encourage children to ask questions, make predictions, experiment, and reflect on what happened and why.