Enrolling at Bright Buds, step by step
From your first enquiry to your child's first day, here is what happens and what you will need. If you have a question at any stage, call us on (02) 6111 2900.
Seven simple steps
Join the waitlist online
Fill in our online enrolment enquiry with your details and the days you need, to join the waitlist. Enrolments are managed through My Family Lounge. The form is easier to complete on a computer than on a phone.
Come for a tour
Visit with your child, see the rooms and playground, meet our educators and ask anything. Book a tour or call us.
Send a booking request
In My Family Lounge, choose Booking Request and select the days and start date you'd like. If you have more than one child, choose Add child. Your request comes straight to us, and we'll make you an offer based on availability or add you to the waitlist for those days.
Complete the booking form
Fill in every field marked with an asterisk, including your child's immunisation record, birth certificate and direct debit details, or the form won't submit.
Set up your Child Care Subsidy
Claim CCS through your Centrelink online account in myGov, and give us the Customer Reference Numbers (CRNs) for you and your child. How CCS works
Orientation
In the week before your child starts, you and your child visit for about an hour. Please stay on site and contactable during the visit. Your first two weeks of fees are charged at orientation, instead of a bond.
First day
Sign your child in, then confirm the enrolment in your Centrelink online account so your CCS can be paid. You'll see photos and stories of your child's day on Storypark.
Good to know
- Children from six weeks to school age
- No bond: two weeks' fees are charged in advance
- Two weeks' written notice to reduce days or leave
- Free preschool hours for eligible three-year-olds
What you'll need to enrol
Please have ready
- Your child's AIR Immunisation History Statement (see below)
- Your child's birth certificate
- Direct debit details for your fees
- Customer Reference Numbers (CRNs) for the parent claiming CCS and for your child
- Contact details for parents, emergency contacts and anyone authorised to collect your child
- Any medical management plans, for example for asthma, allergies or anaphylaxis
- Copies of any court orders or parenting plans about who may collect your child
We will send you
- An All About Me form for your child's age (0–2 years, toddler or preschool), so we can follow your child's routines and interests from day one
- Dietary requirement and permission forms, including photo and social media permission
- Our Family Handbook, settling-in guide and packing list
- Your orientation date
Keeping every child protected
Under the ACT's Public Health Regulation, we need a copy of your child's immunisation record when you enrol. The easiest record to give us is your child's Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Please give us an updated statement after each scheduled vaccination, and tell us if your child's immunisation status changes.
Immunisation isn't compulsory in the ACT, but if there's an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, a child who isn't fully immunised against it, or who has no record, may need to stay home until ACT Health says the risk has passed. If your child has a medical exemption, your doctor records it on the AIR and you give us a copy of the letter.
To receive the Child Care Subsidy, your child must also meet the Australian Government's immunisation requirements on the AIR.
Getting your child's statement
- Download it from your Medicare online account in myGov or the Express Plus Medicare app
- Or call the Australian Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809
- Vaccinations are available from your GP or a Canberra Health Services Early Childhood Immunisation Clinic: book through Community Health Intake on (02) 5124 9977
- Questions? Call the National Immunisation Information Line on 1800 671 811
More information: ACT baby and child vaccinations · Services Australia
Helping your child feel at home
Every child settles in their own way and their own time. These ideas help most children through the first few weeks.
Start with shorter days
Short days at first help your child learn that you always come back. Build up the hours gradually, and talk to us about what works with your job.
Practise time apart
If you can, let your child spend a little time with a relative or friend beforehand, so being cared for by other adults feels familiar.
Say a confident goodbye
Give your child time to say goodbye, keep it warm and brief, and tell them who will pick them up. Children take their cue from you.
Bring comforts from home
A favourite blanket, soft toy or dummy, or an activity your child loves, can help educators comfort your child.
Get to know the educators
Chat with your child's educators at drop-off. As your child sees you relaxed and friendly with them, they will feel safe too.
We'll keep in touch
If your child is upset for a long time, isn't eating or seems unwell, we will call you and agree a plan together.
Ready to take the next step?
Join the waitlist on My Family Lounge, or book a tour first.