Starting your child at an early learning centre is one of the biggest decisions you will make as a family. It is filled with anticipation, questions, more questions, and if you are anything like most Moranbah parents — a mix of excitement and that deeply loving worry that only parents understand.

We know this, because we have been welcoming families into our community centre for many years. And every year, the same thing happens: within days of a child’s first morning at Simply Sunshine Early Education, those questions soften, the worry quietens, and something else takes over.

Relief. Connection. The quiet confidence that comes from knowing your child is exactly where they are meant to be.

This guide is for families who are just beginning that journey. Here is everything you need to know about enrolling at Simply Sunshine — and how to make those first days wonderful for your whole family.

First, a Little About Who We Are

Simply Sunshine Early Education is a not-for-profit community early learning centre in the heart of Moranbah, located at 19 Griffin Street. We cater for children from birth through to five years, including a Queensland Government Approved Kindergarten program — and we have been doing it in the spirit of this remarkable regional community for as long as we have called Moranbah home.

What makes us different from larger corporate childcare chains is exactly this: we are of Moranbah, not just in it. Our centre is governed by an Executive Committee of parents, in partnership with our staff and community members. The decisions made about our centre are made by the families who use it. That is not a tagline — it is the way we actually operate.

Our Director, Amanda Stephan, has called Moranbah home for over 18 years and has raised her own family here. She and her team of compassionate, qualified educators bring not just professional expertise but genuine personal investment to every family who walks through our doors.

We acknowledge that we work, learn and play on Barada Barna Land and weave respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives through everything we do.

Step 1: Join Our Waitlist Early

Moranbah is a growing, active community — and quality early learning places are in high demand. The first and most important thing new families can do is join our waitlist as early as possible, ideally even before your child is born if you are planning ahead.

You can join our waitlist by visiting our Enquire Today page, or by calling our friendly team directly.

📞 07 4941 8407 (Office hours: 7:30am–3pm)

Practical tip: When you enquire, let us know your child’s age, the room you are interested in, and your approximate start date. This helps us plan for your family and communicate availability as it becomes known.

Step 2: Come and See Us in Person

No brochure, website, or social media post can replace the experience of standing in a space and feeling whether it is right for your family. At Simply Sunshine, we strongly encourage prospective families to visit the centre before enrolment — to meet our educators, walk through our rooms, and experience the warmth of our environment firsthand.

Come and see our nature-inspired playgrounds, recently renovated with beautiful natural materials that blur the line between indoor and outdoor. Walk through our rooms — from the nurturing Nursery to the inquiry-rich Juniors space and into our vibrant Kindy. Notice the natural light, the child-led displays, the deliberate calm of our environments.

Our outdoor spaces are particularly special. We have sand, water, mud, trees, and an abundance of local wildlife. Our Kindy even has its own native beehive. Children here are trusted with the real world — and it shows in who they become.

Step 3: Understand Your Child’s Room

Simply Sunshine offers a beautifully structured pathway of rooms, each one designed to meet children exactly where they are developmentally:

🍼 Nursery (0–15 months) — A nurturing, home-like environment with responsive, devoted care for your youngest learner.

👣 Tots (15 months–2 years) — Indoor/outdoor program where children are viewed as capable constructors of their own learning, developing agency and strong daily routines.

🌱 Toddlers (18 months–2.5 years) — Discovery of individual capabilities, strengths, and interests, with emerging sensory, creative, literacy and numeracy experiences.

🌿 Juniors (2.5–3.5 years) — Inquiry-based learning, independence, creativity, and a rich provocation-based program supporting each child’s agency and curiosity.

🌳 Pre-Kindy (3–5 years) — Meaningful provocations for discovery, investigation, and problem-solving, developing confident and socially ready learners.

🎓 Kindergarten (3.5–5 years) — Queensland Government Approved program where interests guide the curriculum through literacy, science, maths, and a deep connection to country and community.

Practical tip: Speak to our team about which room is the best fit for your child’s age and developmental stage. Our educators can guide you — and room decisions are always made collaboratively.

Step 4: Make the Most of Orientation

Before your child’s first official day, Simply Sunshine offers orientation visits — gentle, low-pressure opportunities for your child to begin building familiarity with the space, the educators, and the routines that will shape their days.

Orientation visits are not just helpful for children. They are transformative for parents, too. The Raising Children Network — Australia’s evidence-based parenting resource — consistently highlights that parental confidence and calm directly influence how children experience new environments. When you feel settled, your child feels it.

Use orientation visits to:

Introduce your child to their primary educator at their own pace

Share the details that matter most: routines, comforters, dietary needs, any particular sensitivities

Ask every question you have — including the ones that feel too small to ask (there are none)

Notice the rhythms of the room and how your child begins to respond to them

Step 5: Share What You Know About Your Child

You are the world’s greatest expert on your child. Our educators are extraordinary early childhood professionals — but they have known your child for days, while you have known them for years. The best outcomes for children at Simply Sunshine happen when families and educators truly collaborate.

Our rooms display daily programs and routines so families can see exactly what is happening each day. We genuinely welcome family contribution and knowledge because we understand that the most powerful early learning happens through collaborative partnerships between educators and families — a principle at the core of the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF), Australia’s national framework for early childhood education.

Share your child’s home routine. Tell us about the books they love and the textures they find overwhelming. Let us know about cultural practices that are important to your family. Every piece of knowledge you give us helps us know your child better — and knowing a child well is the foundation of everything.

Step 6: Be Gentle With Yourself at Drop-Off

Even the most prepared, confident parent feels something at the drop-off door. That moment of handing your child to someone else — even someone wonderful — is genuinely hard. Expect it. Plan for it.

A few things that help:

Keep your goodbye brief and warm. Research consistently shows that a short, confident farewell (even a tearful one) is better for children than a prolonged goodbye. Say it, mean it, and go.

Trust the team. Our educators have decades of combined experience supporting children through settling. If your child cries, they are held, comforted, and known. Most children settle much faster than their parents expect.

Call us if you need to. Our team is always available during office hours and will never mind a parent checking in. Knowing your child is happy often makes all the difference.

Step 7: Lean Into the Community

One of the most meaningful things about choosing a community-run centre like Simply Sunshine is what exists beyond the room your child attends: a community of families who are in the same season of life, in the same remarkable town, navigating the same joys and challenges.

We network with local and broader communities, engage with local services and schools, attend community events, fundraise, celebrate, and renovate — all with our children and families at the centre of every decision.

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) from the Australian Government is available to eligible families attending Simply Sunshine, significantly reducing the out-of-pocket cost of quality early learning. If you are unsure about your eligibility, our team can guide you to the right resources.

We Cannot Wait to Meet Your Family

If you are a Moranbah family beginning the journey toward early learning — whether your child is weeks old or approaching their first birthday — we warmly invite you to reach out, come and visit, and discover what makes Simply Sunshine genuinely different.

📞 07 4941 8407 📍 19 Griffin Street, Moranbah QLD 4744 🌐 Enquire Today → 📘 Facebook → 📸 Instagram →

Play to learn. Learn to play. And know that you are always welcome here.

Sources: Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF) — Belong, Being and Becoming, Australian Government Department of Education (education.gov.au); Raising Children Network — Starting childcare and early learning (raisingchildren.net.au); Australian Government — Child Care Subsidy (servicesaustralia.gov.au); Queensland Department of Education — Early Childhood Education and Care (earlychildhood.qld.gov.au); Moranbah community profile, Barada Barna People — Traditional Custodians of the land.