BLOOMING IN TG’S GARDENS THERE ARE LITTLE OASES OF JOY AND LOVE THAT ARE SPROUTING UP ACROSS OUR COMMUNITIES.
At TG’s, everyone really works at sustainability and it is a value that is very much embedded in their culture and flows through all that they do. It is a part of how they live, work and play. This is the TG’s Way. It is how children learn respect for each other and cultivate a love of learning that will take them through the school years and beyond as valuable and reliable members of their communities. The word “gardens” takes on a whole new meaning and feeling at TG’s. The outdoor learning environment is like a “Universe in Miniature” and it’s where educators foster values, attitudes, skills and behaviours that support sustainable development. Children are encouraged to explore nature as part of TG’s sustainability practices. TG’s gardens and outdoor learning spaces become a safe and secure place for independent and creative young minds to be developed, and where they are encouraged to participate in collective thinking with their peers.
ARMIDALE . URALLA . WAUCHOPE. URANGAN
ENROLL AT TG’S CHILD CARE
Step into any of the six TG’s Child Care and you will wish you were a child again and could stay there. Well-known for its award-winning gardens and philosophy of Playing is Learning for Life, what TG’s is doing every day is nurturing growth in the children, the communities and the environment. For the past 22 years, TG’s has been well-loved and recognised by their communities for their high quality of care, education and community engagements. There is clearly magic in the air when you step into TG’s and everything you see is a consequence of a conscious dedication to sustainability and growth.
COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY TG’s business model of sustainability looks at how they impact the environmental, social and economical aspects of each of their six locations. From the moment a child steps into TG’s, they experience the values, attitudes, skills and behaviours that can support them to become environmentally responsible from Day One to beyond. By building the consciousness that every little thing each person does can impact the environment, children learn
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that they too can make a difference. TG’s builds eco-intelligence in children when they learn how to care for their environment thus ensuring its sustainability and long term future. The environment also includes the communities. Children expand their consciousness of their world and learn to appreciate their communities as a valuable source of sustainable business and economic support. So what does sustainability look like at TG’s?
GARDENS OF JOY It looks like…FUN! Children use herbs, fruits and vegetables straight from their gardens to cook lunch. This is a miniature farm-to-fork process at TG’s, with children helming the caretaking of the gardens! And after meals, food scraps are given to the chooks and worm farms to make compost. No food is wasted from start to end. Educators also discuss with children the use and impact of plastic and how they can initiate litter-less lunches. Children are certainly capable of doing a lot for the environment, starting with right where they are.
TG’s gardens are not a random collection of plants, trees and rocks. They’ve been specially designed by Trevor Kee, cofounder of TG’s Child Care who put in his extensive landscaping and design experience to create these beautiful dynamic environments where children can learn and thrive with joy. TG’s gardens also go through the Panda Test which is TG’s way to ensure that their landscape design of the outdoor environment, gardens, creative play spaces, pathways and transition areas use natural materials and resources, making them beautiful and suitable for young children’s learning and discovery and also support children’s development of eco-intelligence and sustainability. This puts it in line with NQS (National Quality Standard) standards. TG’s actively participates in sustainability by having environmental sustainability practices in the centres (NQS standard 3.3). Educators and children also work together to learn about the environment and this knowledge is practiced through sustainable use of resources as well as developing and implementing sustainable practices (Element 3.3.1NQS). Children and educators embody ecointelligent actions such as the wise use of resources. Everyone has the responsibility to reduce waste, water, energy and toxins. At TG’s, taking care of the environment is done through fun, adventure and laughter as they become eco-intelligent through mud play, growing fruit and vegetables, gardening, recycling, worm farm and chook projects. Read more here about TG’s award-winning gardens.
MEALTIME IS FUN TIME At TG’s, a meal goes beyond something healthy you put into a body. Children see
