Mandalay Early Learning Centre

As a service we acknowledge the pain carried by the Stolen Generation and their families; yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We commit to listening, learning, and supporting healing in our community.

We promise to educate and guide, understanding, inclusive and knowledgeable children. We will provide them with endless opportunity to connect with country, it's traditional custodians and to understand the importance of acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions, stories and ways of living.

A reminder to 'Wear it yellow' as we acknowledge and explore reconciliation week throughout the service from May 27th- June 3rd.

The theme for National Reconciliation week this year is 'All in for Reconciliation'. This is a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.
All In makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.
The theme also reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long.

Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.

This reconciliation week we encourage our families, children, educators and wider community to make their own commitment as to how they will act upon being 'All in for reconciliation'.

What might this look like?

As a family:
We are All in for reconciliation as we teach our children about inclusion for all and where possible involve our children in experiences where they can learn from, understand and respect first nations peoples.

As an individual:
I am All in for reconciliation I'm all in for educating myself about treaty and truth-telling processes in our state

As a child:
I'm All in for reconciliation by caring for Country in my playground

Feel free to identify your All in statement below or fill in a leaflet to contribute to our community 'All in' installment. Leaflets will be available within the service hallway, Please fill in and return to in tray.

We thank you for contributing to our ongoing commitment to educating children and families on the importance of acknowledging and understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.

Team connection and building 🎨🖌

Creating an environment where our educators are supported to collaborate, connect and build relationships with one another is a key aspect of our service which makes Mandalay Early Learning Centre a unique, safe and welcoming environment.

Whilst our educators are regularly collaborating and connecting during our service walls we also enjoy gathering as a team outside of the service to strengthen these relationships.

Last Friday the educators of our service were invited to enjoy a Paint and Sip session. This was an opportunity for our team to relax, connect and explore their creative skills in a warm and inclusive environment.

Thank you to all of our wonderful educators who were able to attend and to our service provider and management team for organising this fun event.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our incredible mums, grandmothers, carers and special people the Mandalay ELC children’s lives 💐

Today we celebrate the love, strength and dedication you show each and every day. Thank you for trusting us to be a part of your child’s journey — it is a privilege to support, nurture and grow alongside your families.

To our wonderful educator mums, we see the care you give not only to your own children but to every child in our service. Your kindness, patience and commitment make such a difference.

Wishing you all a day filled with love, appreciation and special moments 💕

This is a friendly reminder that our Mother's Day afternoon Tea will be taking place this today at 3pm, we cannot wait to spoil all of the special mothers, grandmothers and guardians throughout our service.

In alignment with the national model code we remind families that NO PHOTOS ARE TO BE TAKEN ON PERSONAL DEVICES THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. The service will utilise company issued devices to capture photos of the event and they will be shared with you ASAP.

Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping children safe.

****** IN HOME SUPPORT*****
Practical Support • Genuine Compassion • Experienced Care
As a case manager and support worker I aim to provide practical, compassionate, and holistic support for children, adults, and elderly with medical, mental health, or complex needs. This service is designed to offer individuals and their carers reliable, respectful help that makes day-to-day living a little easier.
SERVICES:
• Guidance and support navigating health, community, and support services
• Advocacy
• Goal setting
• General home cleaning, chores, and tasks
• Companionship and wellbeing support
• Carer respite and wellbeing support
• Transport and support with appointments, activities, and essential errands
• Skill development

*Services are flexible and tailored to your individual needs

I understand the challenge of living with and caring for others with additional needs. My goal is to help individuals and families to feel less overwhelmed and more supported in their everyday life.

With a Diploma of Community Services in Case Management, over 10 years of experience as a paramedic, and as a mother of two, I bring both clinical expertise and genuine understanding to the support I provide.

Contact me for a free consultation to discuss how I can help.
Jody (she/her)
0430 972 683
[email protected]

We would like to congratulate our March educator of the month - Kerry!

Kerry was selected as educator of the month by all stakeholders of the service including children, families and educators.
We are so lucky to have Kerry as part of our wonderful team of educators here at Mandalay!
Kerry is a regular source of laughter, a walking karaoke machine and is always willing to help those around her.

Voting for April's Educator of the month will close this Friday May 1st, so please get your votes in to help us in identifying which of our incredible educators will be the recipient.

Thank you :)

What a beautiful week it has been at Mandalay ELC 🌈

As we wrap up our Rainbow Week, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our families, friends, staff, and members of our community for your incredible support and contributions. Your generosity and kindness truly made this week so special.

A special thank you to all of our classes for the beautiful baked goods that were a huge hit at our bake sale, and to our Pre-Preps for the amazing lemonade they proudly made and shared – you should all be so proud!

We are also so grateful to our wonderful sponsors – Charlie Horse Toys Whittlesea, Lady Seven Café Whittlesea, and Sweet Swirl Designs – for donating vouchers for our raffle hampers, as well as to all of our families who contributed such thoughtful donations to help make the hampers extra special.

We are incredibly proud to share that together we raised $1,135.20 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Cardiology Unit in memory of Mia 💛

Congratulations to our hamper winners, including one of our children, our team member Mae, and a member of our local community!

We hope that these funds will go towards supporting other families and children in their health journeys, just as you have all come together to support such a meaningful cause.

Thank you again for being part of such a wonderful and caring community 🌈

Tomorrow morning is your last chance to buy your raffle tickets for our rainbow week hampers! We have 3 huge hampers with some amazing prizes in them including vouchers from Sweet Swirl Designs and Charlie Horse Toys, crafting resources, books, perfumes, candles etc.
Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5 please see Emma in the morning if you are early and wish to purchase or Katie or myself in the office. Winners will be drawn at 1.30 tomorrow! We can’t wait to see who the lucky winners are!

https://www.facebook.com/share/18P11NKzVQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This morning the Pre Prep children experienced their first regular outing of the year!

Instilling a love for literacy and learning is so important to the educators of our service and what better way to encourage this than regular visits to our local library at the Beveridge community centre.

Each week 8 of the Pre Prep children will walk over to the library to explore all the books available to them before making a small selection to bring back to the service to enjoy throughout the week. As a group the children and their educators will work together to identify topics of interest, projects or celebrations that are currently being explored in the classroom. and identify books that relate to these topics.

this week our Pre Prep children are focused on all things bugs and insects! We were able to identify and borrow 4 books that sparked curiosity on this topic and we cannot wait to see how they enhance our classroom this week!