Your questions, answered

Our fee is $175 a day for every room, before the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). It includes meals, milk, nappies, wipes, sunscreen and bed linen. See Fees and CCS for details and an estimate of your out-of-pocket cost.

No. Instead, your account is charged two weeks in advance. This is processed at orientation, when we go through your statement with you. After that, your account is charged weekly every Monday by direct debit.

Once you give us your CRN and your child's CRN, we submit your child's enrolment. You then confirm the enrolment in your Centrelink online account through myGov, which links the two. CCS is paid to us and comes off your fees. Your percentage and hours are set by Services Australia, so please contact Centrelink on 136 150 with any questions about your entitlement.

Full fees apply until your CCS is in place, so we recommend claiming well before your start date.

Buds & Bees delivers the ACT Government's free three-year-old preschool program. Eligible three-year-olds receive 7.5 hours of free preschool every Monday (up to 300 hours a year), delivered by a degree-qualified early childhood teacher, with the free hours applied to your account after CCS. Your child needs to be enrolled on a Monday. Please ask us whether your child is eligible. More about free preschool

Two weeks' written notice to reduce your days or to finish at Buds & Bees.

Yes. Bookings are for at least three days a week, on the same days each week. We don't offer alternating-week bookings.

Yes. Your booked days are held for your child, so fees apply when your child is away sick, on holiday and on public holidays. CCS can be paid for up to 42 absence days per child each financial year; after that, CCS is paid only for some absences, such as illness with a medical certificate.

We are open Monday to Friday, 7.00 am to 6.00 pm, 51 weeks a year. We close on ACT public holidays and from 25 December to 1 January.

Please call us on (02) 6140 3211 as soon as you know. We close at 6.00 pm, and a late fee of $35 applies for each 5 minutes, or part of 5 minutes, after closing.

Yes. In the week before your child starts, you have two free orientation visits: about an hour first, then a longer visit that includes a mealtime and rest time. We can adjust the number and length of visits to suit your child. Please stay on site and contactable during orientation.

Over about three weeks, in small groups of friends. We email you first and invite you to visit the new room, then your child spends a little longer there each week until they're there full days. More about moving up

A water bottle, a SunSmart hat, a spare change of clothes with spare socks and underwear, enclosed shoes, any bottles and formula or expressed breast milk (labelled), nappy rash cream if needed, your child's comforter, and pull-ups if your child is toilet learning. Please label everything, and leave other toys at home. See our packing list.

Morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a late snack, freshly cooked on site by our chef from our seasonal two-week menu. We're an allergy-aware centre, so please don't bring food from home, including birthday cakes.

Yes. Children with medical, religious or cultural dietary needs receive a version of the menu tailored to them. Babies under 12 months are only offered foods already introduced at home. Tell us at enrolment and give us any medical management plan.

Educators share your child's day at pick-up, and we post daily snapshots, learning stories and the weekly menu on Storypark. You can message your child's room on Storypark at any time, and invite other family members to view your child's stories.

To protect every child's privacy and safety, families and visitors can't take photos or videos at the centre, including of their own child. You'll receive photos and stories of your child's learning on Storypark.

Please give us your child's Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register when you enrol, and again after each scheduled vaccination. If there's an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, a child who isn't vaccinated against it may need to stay home until ACT Health says they can return. More about immunisation

We'll call you and ask you to collect your child, and you'll be asked to sign an illness report. Some illnesses, such as fever or vomiting, have an exclusion period before your child can return. See illness and exclusion.

Yes, with your written authorisation on the medication record. Medication must be in its original container with the pharmacy label showing your child's name, dose and expiry date, and should be handed to an educator rather than left in your child's bag.

Parents and the authorised nominees named on your enrolment form. If someone else is collecting, tell your child's educator and give us written permission (an email is fine) beforehand. Educators check photo ID before your child leaves.