Program Overview

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Himawari Nursery School

Overview

Himawari Nursery School is a childcare facility located in the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus of Hiroshima University. The nursery school provides childcare services for the children of faculty, staff, and students of the university.

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for using the nursery school are as follows:

• Faculty, staff, and students of Hiroshima University are eligible to use the nursery school.
• Persons who cannot care for their baby at home due to work, school, illness, etc. are eligible to use the nursery school.

Usage Requirements

The usage requirements for the nursery school are as follows:

• The applicant must be an employee or student of the university.
• The applicant's spouse must be employed or a student, unless the spouse is job-seeking.
• The applicant must upload required documents, including a spouse's certificate of employment or student certificate, to apply for admission.

Qualifying Age for Childcare

The qualifying age for childcare at the nursery school is from 9 weeks old to pre-school age.

Quota

The nursery school has a quota of 30 children.

Open Hours

The nursery school is open from Monday to Friday, excluding national holidays and the year-end and New Year holidays (from December 29 to January 3).

Open Hours and Childcare Fee

The open hours and childcare fee for the nursery school are as follows:

• The closing hours for each day will be determined based on a plan for using the childcare facility.
• For monthly childcare fees for a second or subsequent child from the same household, a 10,000 yen discount from the price list will be applied.
• The childcare fee will be calculated based on the age of the child on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, which includes the entrance day.

Type of Service

The nursery school offers two types of services:

Regular Childcare Service

• The nursery school offers childcare services every day from the admission day to the end of the fiscal year.
• Closed days are excluded.
• If you want to use the service across the year, you must apply for each year.
• When there are many people who want to use the service, priorities are assigned. If your priority is low, you may not be able to use the service the following fiscal year.

Temporary Childcare Service

• The nursery school offers childcare services only for the date and time you designated when temporary childcare at home is difficult.
• Users of the regular childcare service are given priority, so it may not be accepted depending on the date and time.

About Application

Application Process

The application process for the nursery school is as follows:

• Applications for regular childcare services are accepted for the following year between October and November (regular recruitment).
• Details about the application process will be posted on the university's website and portal.
• If you wish to enroll your child mid-year, such as when returning from maternity leave, please make sure to apply in advance during the regular recruitment period.
• If you are a prospective employee of the university, please consult with the Gender Equality Promotion Office.
• After the regular recruitment deadline, enrollment will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Applying for Enrollment Outside the Regular Recruitment Period

If there are vacancies, the nursery school accepts applications for both regular and temporary childcare. Please contact the Gender Equality Promotion Office first.

Temporary Childcare

If you continuously use temporary childcare services, you need to apply for the service each month. Application may be made two months prior to the desired date of use and must be made at least two weeks prior to such date.

Flow of Procedures for Enrollment

The flow of procedures for enrollment is as follows:

1. Fill out the application form for using a childcare facility and upload required documents to apply.
2. After checking the documents, depending on availability, an interview between the nursery school's staff and the candidate child and their parent will be held.
3. After the child and parent interview, if acceptable, a notice of approval for using the childcare facility will be issued (i.e., the application for admission will be accepted).

Gradual Entry

Himawari Nursery School does not provide a gradual entry. However, if it is considered necessary by the nursery staff, they may take your child for a few days prior to their enrollment to see if they are fine with the nursery. In such cases, this service will be handled as a temporary childcare service, so please make sure to file an application for the temporary childcare service separately. The childcare fee will be calculated at the same rate as the temporary childcare service: 800 yen/hour x the number of hours used for gradual entry.

Forms

The required documents for admission application are as follows:

• Applicant: Required documents
  • Faculty and staff: Spouse's certificate of employment (no need to submit if the spouse is a faculty member of Hiroshima University)
  • Students: Spouse's certificate of employment or spouse's student certificate (if the spouse is a faculty member of Hiroshima University, you do not need to submit a certificate of employment; if the spouse is a student of the university, a copy of the student ID card is acceptable)
  • Other persons deemed necessary by the director: All of the following documents
    • (1) Spouse's certificate of employment
    • (2) A letter of any reason for needing childcare

Regarding the Elimination of Fees for Preschool Education and Childcare

Himawari Nursery School is an unlicensed childcare facility eligible for the elimination of fees for preschool education and childcare. To be eligible for free childcare, it is necessary to receive certification of need for childcare from the local government where you live. For details, please contact the Child Care Division at the local government where you live.