Junior Science Academy

$130 per day

Note: the Junior Science Academy is not registered for the Child Care Subsidy and no Government rebates are available.

See information on Creative Kids vouchers and our Widening Participation unit below to find out if your child is eligible for a free or discounted class.

• lunch, morning tea, afternoon tea and a water bottle
• any necessary medication, learning or support aids
• comfortable clothes and closed-in shoes (mandatory for safety reasons)
• a hat for outdoor play and walking around campus.

Please apply sunscreen to your child prior to their arrival, to protect them during outdoor activities. Sunscreen is also available for use at sign in and for application throughout the day.

Lessons run between 9.30am and 4.30pm.  Children may be dropped between 8:30am - 9:30am and picked up between 4:30pm - 5:30pm. Children are supervised by our staff at all times.

Note: classes for younger age groups (Kindergarten and Year 1) finish at 4pm. These children can be collected at any time between 4pm and 5.30pm.

Children will have a 45 minute lunch break and there will also be short morning and afternoon tea breaks. Please pack a lunch and snacks for your child or place a lunch order (see more information below).

Lunch orders are currently only available for the North Ryde campus program.

Lunch orders must be placed by 10am two business days prior to the day the lunch order is required. Order lunch (link will appear when bookings are available).

Changes or cancellations can only be made with three or more business days notice. Requests for changes or cancellations must be emailed to juniorscience@mq.edu.au.

Lunch includes a sandwich, one afternoon tea snack and a drink. Gluten and dairy-free choices are available. Food is delivered to classrooms around 11am and educators will store it safely until it is given to your child at lunchtime.

The morning tea break will usually occur prior to the lunch orders arriving. If you would like your child to have both an afternoon tea and morning tea snack, it is recommended that you provide one morning tea snack from home.

If the class your child would like to attend is full, you can join our waiting list.

Provide the information below to juniorscience@mq.edu.au and we will contact you if a place becomes available:

• your name
• your phone number
• your email address
• the name and date of the class you are interested in
• your child's year at school.

The Junior Science Academy is a registered Creative Kids provider.

The NSW government issues a $100 voucher per child for parents to use on approved activities for their children. We have a range of classes that have been approved by Service NSW as eligible for Creative Kids vouchers - not all of our classes are eligible for the voucher, only those specifically indicated on the timetable, class description or booking page. Eligible classes fit with a theme of Robotics, Coding or Architecture.

How to redeem your Creative Kids voucher when booking an eligible class:

1. Apply for a Creative Kids voucher through Service NSW.
2. Select a Creative Kids eligible class through our booking link.
3. Pay the full amount payable.
4. Contact us at juniorscience@mq.edu.au and provide the following information:
   • the name of the adult booking
   • your child’s name and date of birth
   • your Creative Kids voucher number.

Once verified by our team, you will receive a $100 refund to the account the booking was made with.

Vouchers will be processed in bulk on designated dates:

• 26 March
• 21 April

Important:

• You will only receive one Creative Kids voucher valued at $100 for each child, per year. Only one voucher code can be used per child, per year.
• All cancellations are subject to our cancellation policy, available below. Wherever possible, we will assist in transferring your booking to another class in the same school holiday period, however, this is subject to availability and whether the voucher may be used for that class.

Macquarie University’s Widening Participation Unit is working in collaboration with community service providers and LEAP partner schools to offer students who experience educational disadvantage the opportunity to participate free of charge in a Junior Science Academy school holiday class.

A limited number of placements, and only one workshop per student, is available via Widening Participation during school holiday sessions in 2021 for eligible families. Eligible families are those whose children are experiencing educational disadvantage, as measured by government financial measures.

Lunch will also be provided to participants at no charge.

For more information contact:

Carolina Morison
T: +61 (2) 9850 7398
E: carolina.morison@mq.edu.au

Macquarie University is committed to the welfare of children and staff in its care.

Children and staff who are unwell, including those with fever (37.5°C or higher), loss of taste, loss of smell, shortness of breath, cough, sore throat, or other symptoms of respiratory infection, should not attend Junior Science Academy. Staff will ask parents to immediately collect children who appear unwell while attending Junior Science Academy. Please see our updated refund policy below, to avoid sending your child if unwell.

The Junior Science Academy will be incorporating additional precautionary measures in our sign-in/out process and throughout the day, to ensure the health and hygiene of staff and students.

Refer to the NSW Health website and the Macquarie University COVID-19 webpage for more information.

The University remains open and operating as usual, albeit with a heightened awareness of the need for precautionary hygiene measures. We will continue to monitor the advice from both the Federal Government and NSW Health and will provide updates as necessary.

Read our COVID-19 Statement for additional advice and information. The Statement addresses concerns and questions you may have regarding Junior Science Academy and COVID-19.

Contact us if you have further questions or concerns.

We have updated our refund policy to support COVIDSafe practices.

COVIDSafe refund policy

Should the University need to cancel Junior Science Academy classes for children in the upcoming school holidays, a full refund will be provided.

To support COVIDSafe practices, full refunds will be provided for cancellations due to COVID related illness or in response to NSW Health guidelines, or where medical certificates or COVID test results are provided.

To receive a refund or a credit for a future class, written notice of cancellation including relevant supporting documentation (if applicable) must be provided by email to juniorscience@mq.edu.au before 7am on the day of the class.

Any cancellations after 7am on the day of the class are not eligible for a refund.

Cancellations for non-COVID related reasons will revert to the regular refund policy.

Regular refund policy

Our standard refund policy applies when the COVIDSafe refund policy is not applicable.

A 50 per cent refund of the ticket price is payable for cancellation by the parent or guardian if more than 24 hours’ notice is provided (ie before 9.30am the prior business day).

Alternatively, and subject to availability, the student may transfer to a different class during the same holiday period.

No refunds are payable for cancellation by the parent or guardian if less than 24 hours’ notice (ie from 9.30am the previous business day) is provided.

Campus Life is committed to the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of all children and young people engaging in our programs and to protect them from foreseeable harm.

Campus Life treats all allegations and complaints about the safety and wellbeing of children seriously and is committed to ensuring that its staff, volunteers and contractors understand the legal obligations to report child abuse and neglect to government authorities. Every Campus Life employee has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role they play, individually and collectively, to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people are at the forefront of all they do.

Your child’s safety is of paramount importance. We undertake risk assessments for every experience and experiment, and implement safe workplace practices to ensure a safe environment for all.

All of our staff have valid Working With Children Checks and we have comprehensive child protection, prevention of bullying, and behaviour management policies.

Children are supervised by First aid and CPR at each location, and all staff are trained in the management of asthma and anaphylaxis.

We require a medically approved action plan for medical conditions, and require parents to provide written instructions on how to administer medication to a child.

We ask to see photo identification of the person picking up the child for the day. The name on the identification must match the name we have been provided on the booking form as a parent or guardian or authorised person to pick up.

Please understand that for the safety of your child we cannot let you pick up a child without evidence of identity.