Weekly visits to a nearby forest, a vegetable garden and weekly sessions run by Physi Kids are all features of the curriculum at the newest Goodstart - Coorparoo Cavendish Road South.
The centre, which is well established in the community and has built a strong reputation among families for its high quality learning environments and extra-curricular activities for children.
Centre director Kellie Pidwarko encourages a strong focus on curriculum and offers families additional activities to support children’s development.
“We like to engage our children in the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten rooms with a broad range of opportunities to stimulate their learning,” Ms Pidwarko said.
“As part of our service to families we provide specialised sessions on gardening and recycling in our vegetable patch, as well as weekly sessions run by Physi Kids to help children develop motor skills and learn about their bodies.
“We also make weekly visits to a patch of forest in a nearby park where the children engage with nature. The natural elements encourage their curiosity and we often take questions and ideas from these excursions back to the centre where we’ll build on the learnings with some further research or activities.”
The centre is family and community-oriented, bringing people together and helping children understand compassion and learn about the different roles people play in their community.
“We’re very lucky to have a large shared playground in our centre which allows children of all ages to play together and learn about socialising with others of different ages and abilities.
“It allows siblings to play together, and our kindergarten children are always very keen to look after the younger ones and are very kind and gentle.
“We also contribute to charities once a month, like the Nappy Collective or the Pyjama Foundation and last week we raised over $500 to fund a pyjama angel to support a child in foster care.
“I believe it’s very important for children to learn at a young age about the world around them and the importance of giving back to those less fortunate.”
Ms Pidwarko is looking forward to continuing the growth of her centre with the help of Goodstart.
“Joining Goodstart will help us continue delivering positive outcomes for children and families.
“We’ve been warmly welcomed to the organisation and I’m excited about Goodstart’s genuine commitment to improving the lives of Australia’s children.”
The centre, which is well established in the community and has built a strong reputation among families for its high quality learning environments and extra-curricular activities for children.
Centre director Kellie Pidwarko encourages a strong focus on curriculum and offers families additional activities to support children’s development.
“We like to engage our children in the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten rooms with a broad range of opportunities to stimulate their learning,” Ms Pidwarko said.
“As part of our service to families we provide specialised sessions on gardening and recycling in our vegetable patch, as well as weekly sessions run by Physi Kids to help children develop motor skills and learn about their bodies.
“We also make weekly visits to a patch of forest in a nearby park where the children engage with nature. The natural elements encourage their curiosity and we often take questions and ideas from these excursions back to the centre where we’ll build on the learnings with some further research or activities.”
The centre is family and community-oriented, bringing people together and helping children understand compassion and learn about the different roles people play in their community.
“We’re very lucky to have a large shared playground in our centre which allows children of all ages to play together and learn about socialising with others of different ages and abilities.
“It allows siblings to play together, and our kindergarten children are always very keen to look after the younger ones and are very kind and gentle.
“We also contribute to charities once a month, like the Nappy Collective or the Pyjama Foundation and last week we raised over $500 to fund a pyjama angel to support a child in foster care.
“I believe it’s very important for children to learn at a young age about the world around them and the importance of giving back to those less fortunate.”
Ms Pidwarko is looking forward to continuing the growth of her centre with the help of Goodstart.
“Joining Goodstart will help us continue delivering positive outcomes for children and families.
“We’ve been warmly welcomed to the organisation and I’m excited about Goodstart’s genuine commitment to improving the lives of Australia’s children.”