Nido Early School Belair

Over the past 2 weeks, classroom 5 and 6 have been exploring chickens. We have watched them hatch, cared for them, cuddled them, drawn them, paint them, created our own chicks out of play dough.. plus so much more! 🐣🐥🐓 Now some of our wonderful families have adopted them and given them a place to call home 🥰

Today Classroom 6 made their way down to the Uniting Church Community Garden! We helped care for the garden by adding fertilizer to the pots, and then planted some spinach before enjoying a picnic for morning tea! 🪏

🚑🚒👮‍♀️ Today we celebrated First Responders Day at Nido Early School Belair!

The children came dressed as a variety of emergency service heroes and were lucky enough to be joined by one of our local paramedic heroes. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and learn about the incredible people who keep our communities safe.

A big thank you to all first responders for the important work you do every day!
🦸‍♀️

🐜 Our toddlers have been busy exploring bugs so we set out on an adventure to find our own!

Today I was joined by three of our incredible staff at the Reggio Emilia Art of the Atelier full-day conference, where we explored the role of the Atelier and unpacked concepts and dialogues to bring our learnings and knowledge back to our service as we continue investing into children’s learning and thinking.

Throughout the day, we reflected on how the Atelier is so much more than an art space. It is a place for research, creativity, communication, collaboration and meaning making. It challenged us to think deeply about how environments and materials can provoke curiosity, invite theories and support children to express themselves through the hundred languages of children.

While to some people these photos may simply look like loose parts and materials spread across paper, our group was tasked with bringing a mini Atelier to life using the concept of “traces.”

As we unpacked this concept together, we explored the many meanings behind traces. We explored how we leave traces of our identities all the time.. we leave marks behind, evidence of thinking, memories, identity and connection.

Together, we decided to create a space where children could explore who they are… their identities and leave traces of themselves through open ended materials and experiences.

Using light, textures, mark-making tools and symbolic materials, we imagined an environment where children could revisit their ideas, communicate their thinking and explore who they are. Rather than focusing on an end product, the intention was to create opportunities for children to leave traces of their learning, thinking and identity as educators scaffold alongside them.

Today was such a powerful reminder that the environment truly acts as the “third teacher,”. We were reminded some of the simplest of materials can bring so much joy and we are excited to continue reflecting on how we can strengthen our Atelier spaces at our service and create more meaningful opportunities for children’s voices, learnings and thinkings.

🖌️💡

👨‍🍳 WE’RE HIRING | Full Time Cook 👩‍🍳

Do you have a passion for cooking and creating meaningful connections with children, families, and educators? Our village at Nido Early School Belair is looking for a full time Cook to join our team!

✨ Monday–Friday
✨ Work life balance hours
✨ Supportive team culture
✨ Opportunity to create engaging cooking experiences with children
✨ Beautiful Reggio Emilia inspired service in the Adelaide Hills

At Nido Belair, food is more than just meals, it’s connection, culture, learning, and community. We are looking for someone who is passionate about creating nutritious meals while also bringing warmth, creativity, and collaboration into our learning environment.

If you’re looking to step away from late nights and weekend work while still doing what you love, we would love to hear from you!

📍 Nido Early School Belair
📩 Please send resumes and expressions of interest to [email protected]

Another milestone at Belair 🙌💐

A big congratulations to Casey who has just completed her certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care!! ✨

We are so proud of you 💐

I’m not sure who had more fun at this point… 😆 What a special adventure of learning to take the children on. With not just 1 visit to the station, but 3 visits 🚒