AFSA Approved Provider: Perfect Beginnings
At Perfect Beginnings Early Learning centre, our Bush Kindy program runs in every room in our service. Each age group participates once a week in a session at the Maisie Dixon Park which is a 10-minute walk from the centre. These days are rotated through the week meaning that all children attending the service will have a chance to attend the program. We are fortunate to have access to a minibus one day each week where we can venture out further to experience Beach Kindy or other nature immersion activities. Our Kindy program engages in a geologist program that come to the centre once a fortnight teaching the children about earths science i.e.: rocks, fossils.
We gather ever morning at the sandpit to say our acknowledgment to country. We feel it is important to embed this practice with the children as it is importance to pay respect to our fist nations people. We have a close relationship with the local indigenous community which we regularly contribute to with food and toy donations at special times of the years as well as our directors’ attending yarns with our local elders. We are also currently undergoing training with Raindrops of Diversity which is helping us embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture into our service.
Our Bush Kindy provides children with an unstructured program where children can explore the natural environment by climbing tree, playing in the dirt and mud, to observing the local flora and fauna. It is important for us that all children who attend our service participate in the program. We feel that it is a program that all children should participate in no matter their abilities. By participating in a Bush Kindy program, we hope the children build a sense of belonging and respect for our environment and country becoming imaginative, divergent creative thinkers.
Sustainability in embedded in all aspects of our program. From teaching children at Bush Kindy about only taking from that land what you need, caring for our native beehives, caring for all the flora and fauna to feeding our worm farm and composting bins or using the correct bins for your rubbish. We want to have a generation of children where sustainable practices are just part of their everyday lives.
Our Bush Kindy educators are fully qualified Forest School leaders receiving their qualification from the Forest School Learning Initiative. They undergo regular professional development which keeps them informed about current practices. They then share this and any other interesting articles they find with the educators in the service. Our service provides regular professional development for all educators in regard to Bush Kindy, most recently undergoing training with Wildlings on numeracy and literacy in Bush Kindy play.
