Building strong communities

Despite some uncertainty around its future funding, one preschool provider in the Central West is focused on its continued success in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage. By Camille Howard Continue Reading →

Inclusion zone

When Globe Wilkins Preschool was awarded an Exceeding Rating in 2012, it set staff, children and families on a path towards realising social justice and inclusion for all children. By Ingrid Maack and Camille Howard. Continue Reading →

Call of the wild

The word ‘Antarctica’ is not easy for a four-year-old to pronounce, but every single child at Barrack Heights Preschool in Shellharbour can say it! Thanks to technology, the preschoolers went on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Antarctica from the comfort of their Illawarra classroom. Ingrid Maack reports. Continue Reading →

Growing up in coal country

On the brink of a mining boom, the town of Mudgee is questioning how its fossil fuel-driven future will reshape the early childhood education landscape. Ingrid Maack visits Mudgee Preschool—one of the biggest early education and care services in NSW.

When I grow up I want to be a miner’, reads the text on a child’s artwork featuring a smiling stick figure with a miner’s lamp and a bag full of coal. The artwork hangs on the wall of a gallery in an exhibition, themed ‘Belonging, Being and Becoming’, organised by staff and children at Mudgee Preschool.

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Where emus run

A child’s drawing of an emu dances across the screen and a small finger points to Wilcannia on a map. Welcome to Barlu Kurli—a preschool where the fruits of two cultures blend. Ingrid Maack reports.

If an emu were to run from Broken Hill to Wilcannia it would take four hours to get there,’ says a child’s voice in the opening scenes of a film made by Wilcannia Central School students during the Wakakkiri Film festival.

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