McDowall OSHC Bookings
Despite our large licence, after school care permanent bookings are in high demand and we are at capacity for all afternoons except Fridays, with an extensive waiting list for permanent places for Tuesdays through Thursdays. Permanent spaces are available for all mornings, and vacation care bookings are available to be booked a few weeks prior to each school holidays.
Enrolling in OSHC
Please email our administration team to receive the links to enrol in McDowall OSHC.
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For before and after school care, we are only able to accept bookings from students enrolled in the current calendar year to attend McDowall State School.
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During Vacation Care, we may accept primary school-aged children enrolled to attend grades prep through to six in the current calendar year. All McDowall State School students receive priority bookings including during vacation care, therefore a place cannot be guaranteed for students enrolling from other schools.
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The McDowall OSHC program is designed for and only caters to primary-aged children. We are unable to accept any children prior to the calendar year they begin prep, or after they have commenced attending high school.
Permanent Bookings
Permanent bookings are available for term-time bookings only. All permanent bookings must be requested using our Request for Days form, which will be provided upon emailed request through our administration office.
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Request for Days forms can only be submitted for the following calendar year on or after 6:30am on the 1st of September the year prior. For example, any permanent days required to begin in 2026 may only be requested from the 1st of September 2025.
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Request for Days forms will be accepted any time throughout the year for requests pertaining to the current calendar year. If spaces are not available for your requested days, you will be added to the waiting list and notified when a space is available.
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Our Before School Care program currently has permanent places available each day.
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Our After School Care program currently has permanent places available for Friday afternoons only.
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Our waiting list can be extensive and it is not unusual for families to wait upward of a year for all of their required spaces to be allocated. We understand this is extremely difficult for many families and endeavour to help where possible with casual bookings.
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Families who have children that are in the priority one category, which includes children who are eligible for ACCS through Centrelink, may email our administration staff for information on applying for higher priority permanent bookings.​
Casual Bookings
​Casual places are available for families, whether care is needed sporadically or regularly while waiting for permanent places. Families enrolled in McDowall OSHC have access to our booking system to make casual bookings easier to manage for busy families.
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Before school care casual bookings may be booked at any time through the Xplor Home app.
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Vacation care only has casual bookings available. Bookings for vacation care can be made through the Xplor Home app in the weeks leading up to the vacation care period. Vacation care bookings open on a set date and time, which is communicated with families on our mailing list when the vacation care program is released.
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Please note that all excursion days are closed for online bookings. This is to ensure we have received the completed permission forms for children attending the excursion prior to the child being booked in. Any children wishing to attend the day but not the excursion may still book alternative care by following the instructions outlined in the vacation care program email.
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After school care casual places can be difficult to obtain due to high demand. Please ensure you follow the process outlined below when looking to obtain an after school care casual place:
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Casual bookings open Friday at 12pm for one week ahead. You can book automatically using the Xplor Home app from this time forward if space is available.
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The following Monday, automatic casual bookings will close for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after school care. This allows us to create and manage a wait list for after school care on these days.
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If casual bookings are needed after automatic bookings close, you can submit a request via the app the day before or the day of the required booking and you will be added to the waitlist.
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Casual bookings will be accepted when spaces become available based on first submitted requests.
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If notifications on your Xplor Home app are set to do so, you will receive a notification if your booking is accepted. If notifications are not set, you can check your app for an orange dot over your child's name on the booking calendar.
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Please contact admin if you have set all notifications both in your Xplor Home app and phone app notification settings and do not receive notifications.
Prep
Bookings
To ensure new prep families enrolling at the school are able to secure bookings, a priority system is in place for all new prep families who follow the guidelines to enrol in OSHC during the month of September prior to the year their child starts prep.
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To be added to the prep communication list, please email the OSHC administration team your name, email address, and best contact number. All families on the prep communication list will receive details on enrolling their child in the month prior to enrolments opening.