Yes all our programs including our full day programs for school age children are licensed by the Ministry of Education. At least once a year, the Ministry of Education inspects our child care programs to ensure we meet specific provincial health, safety and developmental standards.

Whitehills is very proud of the level of qualification and experience our educators possess and the number of our educators who are Registered Early Childhood Educators, that is those registered with the College of Early Childhood Educators, a regulating body that sets and monitors professional standards.

In our child care and Pre-Kindergarten Early Learning Programs, 90% of our educators are Registered Early Childhood Educators and in our school age programs the majority of educators are Registered Early Childhood Educators. Other educators have completed schooling such as Child and Youth Worker and Teaching and others are involved in apprenticeship programs with the goal of becoming Registered Early Childhood Educators. All bring a wealth of experience and expertise and are committed to ongoing learning and professional development.

As well, all staff must have current First Aid and CPR certification and a Vulnerable Police Check.

Absolutely! Our programs are licensed by the Ministry of Education and we embrace the Ministry’s document, “How Does Learning Happen,” as our framework to guide the important work we do in our programs on a daily basis. We focus on the four foundations for learning: Belonging, Well-Being, Engagement and Expression.

Educators engage with the children in their play and learning. Our indoor and outdoor environments invite children to safely learn through play and exploration and a wealth of natural, real and play materials support their interests and encourage creativity, curiosity and connection with the children’s natural world.

Visits from community members and excursions to local environments give children opportunities to engage with and learn about the people and places around them.
Educators document the learning taking place through photographs, dialogue and learning stories and make visible to you and your child the importance of their play.

Whitehills Childcare is very proud of the meals and snacks we provide your child. We know the importance of healthy food to fuel the children’s play and learning. Food is one of our top priorities in providing quality programs for our children and we are very cognizant about the fact that many of our children do not have enough food or enough healthy food at home. For that reason we maintain a very healthy food budget and helpings are plentiful! We completely revamped our menu in 2013 for children’s lunches and snacks and in doing so we collaborated with the health unit to ensure it met every requirement of the Food Guide and healthy eating. We added lots of fresh fish and poultry, took out processed foods and those high in sodium or unhealthy fat. We added even more fruit and vegetables on a daily basis to our menu. Meal and snack times are relaxed and enjoyable times.

We understand the importance of daily opportunities for physical outdoor play. Children in child care play outside for 2 hours per day, weather permitting and outdoor play is an important component of every day for school age children before and after school and during full day programs.

Ongoing engagement and communication between educators and families supports the well-being of the children and gives the families a sense of belonging. Communication takes many forms in order to support the diverse needs of families. Storypark, a web-based interactive communication tool, gives educators and families the opportunity to share in the children’s learning & daily experiences and the Storypark app is used to provide timely information to families such as inclement weather closures.