OOSH (including vacation care)

Outside Of School Hours (OOSH) care and vacation care is for care for the periods outside of school hours to cater for school aged children.

Depending on your family situation you may find yourself seeking care for your child for before and/or after school times even during the school holidays.

Some schools offer this type of care. You may find that other centres/services offer it as well such as the long day care services, community sports centre, etc.

This type of care caters for school aged children aged 5 – 12 years and provides care for at least 8 hours per day for a minimum of 7 weeks per year.

OOSH and Vacation care programs follow the guidelines from ‘My Time Our Place’ the Framework for school aged care in Australia.

Children are generally required to supply their own lunch, morning and afternoon tea, drink and hat.

Generally accessing this type of care is out of necessity and there are few advantages and disadvantages past the obvious.

Advantages:

• Care available during school holidays while you are still working.
• They do fun activities and excursions.
• Offers the opportunity to be able to work longer hours by accessing before and after school hours.

Disadvantages:

• Can be hard to find a service and/or place in your area.
• May be costly.
• Travel time to and from in particular in the holidays when the school buses are not running.
• The hours may not suit your needs.
• They may be booked out well in advance.

There are many factors that influence the cost of the service for vacation care. This can include:

• The location
• Whether the excursions and activities costs are included or additional
• The hours of care accessed. Some services offer half days as well as full day options.
• Demand

The typical range for vacation care is $60- $95 per day per child + extras. Excursions can add an additional cost between $10-30+.

The general range for before and after school care is a set rate for either session. The actual rate will vary depending on the service provider. Typically it is $20-$40 per session.

You will find that late fees apply if you pick your child up after closing time. Late pick-up penalty fees can be $1 per minute (a minimum $10 fee applies).

Vacation care services are approved care.

A service will be classified as an approved care provider or registered care. You will need to register with Department of Human Services  www.humanservices.gov.au to establish your eligibility for Child Care Subsidy.