Welcome to Wyralla Road Kindergarten!

Wyralla Road Kindergarten is a privately owned and operated service by award winning operator Anastasia Papadopoulos since 2013.  Our service operates between the hours of 7:30am and 5:30pm for 50 weeks of the year (closed on Public Holidays).  We cater for children between the ages of 2 – 5 years.  The service is licensed for 39 children and is accredited against the National Quality Framework and has received an MEETING rating.

Wyralla Road Kindergarten is a long standing establishment with in our local community.

Wyralla Road Kindergarten caters to the needs of children aged 2– 5 years .

The service operates with 6 staff including, 1 Early Childhood Teacher (University Trained), 2 Diploma and 2 CERT III.  We support continual education in the industry and have full time trainees and support staff. All staff are permanent and full time staff.
The centre Director is Melissa Robins, an award winning childcare Director, who has devoted her full time working schedule to make Wyralla Road Kindergarten , the place where all local families want their children to learn and develop. 

Melissa has established many close relationships with the community around her and has lead her wonderful team of childcare workers in this centre and sister centres to be finalists in the St George Leader Small Business Awards for 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. The Little Cottage (where Melissa was Director) was also recognized as ‘Best Childcare Centre' in the 2011 Rockdale City Council awards.

Wyralla Road Kindergarten has a very strong networking relationship with Yowie Bay Public School which is located nearby  to the service. Representatives from Yowie Bay Public School are strong influences in the creation and implementation of our school readiness program. This ensures that the school program that we deliver is as current, relevant and cutting edge as it can be. We also take the children on excursions to Yowie Bay Public School as we are so conveniently located nearby. This allows the children a fantastic opportunity to assist with the transition from Preschool to Kindergarten.

We promote the involvement of our families throughout all aspects of the service. We encourage all families to be as involved in kindy life as possible. We know parents may feel anxious about leaving their children in a new environment, so we invite parents to contact us via telephone or email to check on their children at any time of the day. We provide regular updates via email about the goings on in each room as well as updates on all aspects of the service. We value our families input, ideas and values and ensure these help shape our service.  We have strong bonds with our children and parents and are an extension of their family.

We would love to invite you to come in and have a look around our beautiful service as it is one we are very proud of! Come in and meet are friendly staff!  We look forward to welcoming you and your child/ren to our centre.

WHAT OUR PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM INCLUDES........

From January of each year, the children whom will possibly attending Kindergarten the following year will participate in a wide variety of activities, experiences, investigations and excursions to prepare for the next BIG step in their life........

The annual curriculum for the Preschool room includes:

• School Preparation program – this starts in Feb each year
• Daily recognition of PHONICS A- Z, singing the phonics song and recognising each letters unique sounds and letter land program
• Exploring the upper and lower case format of each letter in the alphabet, by teaching the children letter of the week – starts Feb each year. Activities, art/craft, food, experiences that start with each specific letter are introduced.
• Two library visits scheduled (at beginning & end of year) annually from the local librarian
• School visits to the local primary school- Yowie Bay Public School – Wyralla Schoolies have a close connection with this school, which allows many opportunities for the children to become exposed and familiar with the school environments and boundaries.
• School readiness meeting –  this introduces parents to their child is expected to know before they enter Kindergarten. The requirements of the child and the parents. This is held on an evening in AUGUST each year – all parents from the Preschoolers room are invited to attend the information evening. Guest from the local school attend to talk with parents.
• Graduation day – December each year, Wyralla hosts a special graduation day to say congratulations and good luck to the children that will be leaving for Kindergarten next year. Each child has a cape and graduation hat – and is awarded with a graduation certificate.

National Quality Framework
Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is the national body jointly governed by the Australian Government and state and territory governments. ACECQA guides and oversees the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF). Its website (www.acecqa.gov.au) is the primary source of information on the NQF, and contains the Education and Care National Regulations and a range of supporting documentation for the sector

Overview

The National Quality Framework took effect on 1 January 2012 and applies to most long day care, family day care, preschool (or kindergarten) and outside schools hours care services.

The National Quality Framework aims to raise the quality of education and care across Australian services through the National Quality Standard. Other changes include improved educator to child ratios, new qualification requirements, and a national assessment and rating process.

These changes provide families with information on the quality of care to help them make informed choices about which service will best meet their needs.

National Quality Standard

The National Quality Standard is divided into seven Quality Areas:
1.    Educational program and practice
2.    Children's health and safety
3.    Physical environment
4.    Staffing arrangements
5.    Relationships with children
6.    Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7.    Leadership and service management.

The National Quality Standard aims to promote:

•    the safety, health and wellbeing of children
•    a focus on achieving outcomes for children through high-quality educational programmes
•    families' understanding of what distinguishes a quality service.

National quality rating and assessment process

Services covered by the National Quality Framework are assessed and rated against each of the seven Quality Areas of the National Quality Standard and the National Regulations. They are also given an overall rating.

Assessment and rating of services commenced in mid-2012, and the ratings of those services that have been assessed are available on the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority and MyChild websites.

Rating levels

There are five ratings under the new system that a service could get against each Quality Area, as well as the overall rating. The rating levels are:

•    Exceeding National Quality Standard
•    Meeting National Quality Standard
•    Working Towards National Quality Standard
•    Significant Improvement Required

Services can apply to the  Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority for an Excellent rating.

Time-frame

The National Quality Framework took effect on 1 January 2012, but the changes are being phased in gradually over a period of time.
One of the key changes under the National Quality Standard is the inclusion of nationally consistent educator-to-child ratios. These ratios commenced nationally for 0-2 year olds on 1 January 2012, and will gradually be implemented for other age groups before becoming fully operational on 1 January 2016.

On 1 January 2014, ratio changes for family day care services and qualification requirements for centre-based services and family day care schemes will come into effect.

Nappy Drive

Our hands on approach to learning!

We are committed to protecting our environment to ensure a sustainable future for our children and through continuous improvement we strive to gather, learn and educate our children, families and wider community.

Learning about sustainability is embedded in our everyday practice.

• They may learn through song or rhyme as educators verbalise what they are doing.
• Through role modelling and involving children in practices, children can begin to reason why practices are needed and to understand the impact that their actions have on the planet. 

Our Children are our future and will be the caretakers of our environment.

Sustainable practices are embedded in the children's daily routine and in their day-to-day activities, these include:

• Using recyclable materials where possible.
• Encouraging children to use half flush on the toilets,
• Encouraging children to turn the water off when they have washed their hands,
• Encouraging children to recycle paper and rubbish within their rooms, at home and when in the wider community,
• Talking with the children about electricity and encouraging them to turn off lights,
• Educating children in the natural decomposition cycle through exposure and participation in worm farms and composting food scraps,
• Educating children and having them participate in ‘garden to plate’ activities i.e. seed sprouting, weeding, vegetable gardens, cooking amongst other activities,
• Educating children in how to care for pets and letting them actively participate in caring for the Centre pet,
• Educating children on caring for plants and our waterways i.e. recycling water etc

Our Families and wider community are the roll models of our most important assets.

Our families and the wider community are encouraged to adopt sustainable practices and share ideas as a commitment to our children and their future, these include:

• Accessing the displays and literature provided about environmental protection at our Centre,
• Promoting the use of environmentally friendly products in the home (where possible),
• Recycling to reinforce Centre practices around sustainability,
• Participation in Centre activities and events relating to conservation, sustainability and maintaining a healthy environment,
• Donating/Reusing materials where possible e.g. boxes for craft, scrap paper
• Building partnerships with our educators in teaching our children sustainable practices at home i.e. turn off taps when brushing teeth, having shorter showers, turning off lights, putting on a jumper instead of turning the heater on etc.

 Our educators are the scaffolding of our children’s learning and education in sustainabilites. Every day practises include:

• Using natural resources where possible (i.e drying washing on the line)
• Promoting awareness of the environment through ‘green housekeeping practices’ such as healthy eating, gardening, minimising waste, recycling and reducing water and energy consumption.
• Assist children in developing an understanding and respect for the environment and encourage critical thinking.
• Role modelling practices that encourage sustainability through recycling, water conservation, electricity usage etc, this includes:

o    Educators, educating children about caring for our environment.
o    Recycling water from water play into the gardens,
o    Emptying the children’s drinking bottles onto the garden,
o    Asking families to bring in recyclable items to use for arts and craft,
o    Utilising environmentally friendly products (where possible).
o    Using recyclable items to make indoor gardens

ECEEN- 2015

5 environmentally friendly goals we wish to achieve before December 2015

1. Further education and understanding for the children regarding

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Replant

2. Reuse more recyclable resources (i.e recycling paper, boxes for art and drawing)

3. Educate families and the community about ways to care for the environment and our world.