Member in the Spotlight: Perfect Beginnings Bush Kindy to the Beach Liz Pennings > Perfect Beginnings Eight Mile Plains
Perfect Beginnings Eight Mile Plains began their Bush Kindy adventure after the 2019 ACA Qld National Conference. Sharon Mumford (Centre Director) attended the Forest School Workshop and was inspired to extend our program to include “Bush kindy”. She believed visits to a local park area would be beneficial for the children in her care. After collaborating with her team, families, and the local community the Bush Kindy program was up and running. Our program started with our Kindergarten children at a council park across the road from the centre. After embedding our program and practices we extended the program through the centre and even had our Nursery children attending. In 2020 we felt confident to move the program down to a larger area in the community that had a running creek, higher trees and established flora and fauna to extend the children’s learning. It did not take long for the children to build fishing rods, crab traps, cubbies and enjoy exploring the natural water source and the treasures that come with it. The team critically reflected on the program and the children’s interests and approached a local business ‘Two Bent Rods’ to see if they could support us in taking the Bush Kindy program to the beach and extend the children’s interests in learning more about our waterways. The program is typically for
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EARLY EDITION > AUTUMN 2021
school age children; however, they were excited to give our Kindergarten children the experience. We spent the day pumping for yabbies, net fishing for bait, fishing, learning about the sea life in our area and how to keep them and ourselves safe. Bush Kindy is a fantastic way to educate children about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and customs. Our program always starts with a yarning circle to connect us with the land and acknowledge our first nations people. During our play we have meaningful conversations about the land and the different items and places as well as the people who had been here before us. Uncle Rob supports us by sharing his knowledge and stories of his people, allowing us to extend on this during our program. Bush Kindy is a program designed to promote holistic development of children, supporting their emerging resilience, wellbeing, and confidence. We believe that giving children the opportunity to engage in risky play and allowing the child to lead their learning via enquiry
