7 minute read
21st Century Childcare
21ST CENTURY CHILD CARE
By Ben Fitzpatrick
Director of Marketing and Community Relations
All Saints’ College has a term for the handful of students each year who graduate having completed their entire schooling at the College: commencing in either Kindergarten or Pre-Primary, these students graduate Year 12 as a ‘Collegian’ – only 28 students attained this title from the Class of 2021.
In the future, a new term may need to be applied, with the possibility of a student attending the College from six months old and going all the way through to graduate Year 12, spending close to 18 years of their life within our community.
This opportunity will be afforded to families, from 2024, as the integrated Childcare Centre comes online to welcome the first of hundreds of new and existing families.
According to Penelope Crane, Dean of Junior School, the Childcare Centre was a concept that Principal Belinda Provis mentioned in their first ever one-to-one meeting back in 2013.
“My first conversation with Belinda in my office, when we were talking about the Junior School and next steps, included: What about a childcare centre?”
The need for a Childcare Centre is borne partly from the need to be able to offer full-time Kindergarten to families and increase the capacity for Pre-Kindergarten from one day a week.
“About eight years ago, we started providing one day per week for our Pre-Kindergarten students. By having that one day, and four days of Kindergarten, those classrooms are used every day of the week.”
“At enrolment interviews, parents often ask if there’s any scope to have more Pre-Kindergarten days available for their child,” said Penelope. “There are several services currently offering full-time Pre-Kindergarten and, as a College with a strong reputation in the early years of education, the Childcare Centre seemed to be a very natural way of expanding what we do here.” When speaking to Penelope, it’s clear to see and hear the passion and enthusiasm she has for this project, which will be located at the far end of the Junior School carpark and will provide a new connection to the somewhat isolated Aquatic Centre.
“It’s around our philosophy of being connected to community and the real world. Often, childcare centres can be very closeted; they can become their own little world. Whereas we were very strategic in our proposal to make it part of the community,” Penelope said.
“Our vision is of a connected campus where the Childcare Centre, Early Learning Centre and Bush School will all be together in the same precinct. Parents will also have ready access to other facilities too, such as Wanju Café – all part of an inclusive community that you won’t find at any other childcare centre around!”
The Childcare Centre is to be the focus of a multimillion-dollar project that includes two separate but related capital works initiatives which will see the establishment of a new Grounds and Maintenance Facility and the addition of 52 new parking bays in the Junior School carpark.
The College’s Director of Business and Administration, Melanie Mason, said it was an easy decision to bring the three projects together.
“To satisfy the planning requirements dictated by the size of the new Childcare Centre, we had to be able to provide a certain number of car parking spaces. However, we also had to remove a handful of bays, due to the location of the Centre,” said Melanie.
“Our Feasibility Study provided only one suitable location for the new car park and that was on the current site of the now extremely old Grounds Facility. A need for a new facility had already been identified in the Campus Development Plan which was the catalyst we needed to bring the three projects together,” she said.
The College’s Grounds, Maintenance and Facilities team is currently situated in various locations around the 19-hectare campus which provides several complexities for the team and their interdependencies.
Said Melanie, “One of the major benefits of this new facility is that it will not only cater for the developing needs of the Maintenance, Grounds and Facilities team, it will also house a Theatre Workshop and a central receivals hub for vital support operations that are managed every day, such as goods and service contractors.
“It will see the bringing together of all the personnel and equipment from these areas, allowing for better collaboration, and improved storage efficiencies, whilst at the same time freeing up valuable teaching real estate on the campus.”
College families are likely to enjoy the expanded number of parking spaces available as a result of this project, with 52 additional bays to occupy the site of the current Facilities Workshop which will be demolished.
“Parking space is at a premium and we are luckier than most schools with the space we already have but these extra bays will certainly help during the peak drop off and pick up times,” said Melanie.
However, it is the Childcare Centre that will be the focal point of the project. Godden Projects, with architects Matthew Crawford and Tom Godden working in collaboration, have been selected to deliver a design which will be stunning, yet rooted firmly in the overarching ethos of the College and the land upon which it sits.
“I think one of the key points is around it being sympathetic to the landscape. It’s very much about acknowledging that we’re on Gabiljee, Whadjuk Noongar land. We need to be very thoughtful in the way we create this footprint,” said Penelope.
“We sought input from our students early on. We had several drawings and artistic impressions created by our Year 5s, as part of an inquiry. They met with the architects, and they talked to them about what is important to them.”
“The ASC philosophy of Early Childhood is strongly centred on play-based, child-centred learning that has a focus on nature and inquiry. The new building is very much about creating a welcoming space for families – a beautiful space – that will look impressive and inspire people to think “Wow! This College greatly values the education of our youngest,” she said.
The reception area will encourage child agency, a focus at the College, with a dedicated area for children to be able to speak with the adults and be listened to with respect as they get ready for another day.
Babies will take residence closest to the entry; a deliberate decision so that parents can go straight in to settle or feed their child.
As the children progress in age, they will gradually move through the rooms with the oldest children overlooking the wider campus from the highest point in the Centre.
“It’s going to be a beautiful space, and it’s also going to be practical because when it’s raining, or the sun is too hot, the children are still going to be able to play outdoors protected from the elements. It is very much around the needs of the children and their phases of development, the natural milestones.”
The first stage will be to build the new Grounds and Maintenance Facility, starting around August 2022. Once completed (around March 2023) the old grounds shed will then be demolished which will free up that location for the building of the new car park. The building of the Childcare Centre will be the last stage in the project and is still subject to final sign off by the College Board.
“We have proceeded with much caution, guided by our Quantity Surveyor, team of architects, and the College Building and Grounds Committee in relation to the effect of escalating costs in the construction market,” said Melanie.
“The design team is continuing to monitor this ever-changing situation with regular feedback being given to the College Board, who are ultimately the decision-making body on capital projects.”
Assuming a 2024 completion date for the new Childcare Centre, it is conceivable that the Class of 2039 could see the first ever students progress from childcare through to Year 12. Penelope understands that the College will have some children leave the College Childcare Centre to attend other schools. However, it is important to ASC that all families feel connected and a sense of belonging to the community.
“The Pre-Kindergarten students will become our transition year. Some will naturally move into Kindergarten at the College, and others will go elsewhere,” she said.
“Our aim is for our Childcare Centre children to feel they’ve experienced something very special, and if they do move on elsewhere that they leave with a good feeling about their time with us. Of course, we also hope to welcome them back if they decide to return later in their school life.”
