Johanna Street Early Learning Centre

Hundreds of trees have been planted throughout the grounds including Gum trees for future koala habitat. Nesting boxes for birds and possums have been placed in native trees. In 2012 the classrooms cared for tadpoles until they grew into baby frogs and were then released into the ponds.

Solar power has been connected to two buildings helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Each classroom has recycling bins, encouraging the children to recycle their empty lunch packaging and give their food scraps to the resident animals. The Centre uses only bio-degradable products for cleaning.

Administration is striving to reduce its environmental impact by reducing paper usage - emailing statements, notices and announcements and also utilising Facebook for announcements and reminders. Whenever possible, we reuse all or part of any paper without print, for notepaper, printing and classroom scribble paper.

Stingless native bees inhabit the trunk of a dead gum tree on the property. In 2017 Dr Toby Smith from Bee Aware Kids presented a workshop and installed a second native bee hive for future honey harvesting. Native bees help with the pollination of the crops in the veggie patches.

Playgrounds

Centre 1 (opened 2017) - The playground covers a top and bottom level. The top level has two playgrounds and both have sandpits. Seven large shade sails adjoin the wide verandahs to provide adequate shade during outdoor play. A bike track weaves around the large playground, passing our "forest" before dipping under one of the two tee-pees. The timber tee-pees can be accessed via a ramp or climbing net and are joined with a bridge. A viewing deck hangs over the bottom area of the playground capturing the view of our paddock, driveway and the street. To enter the bottom level the children can take one of three routes. Two slippery slides offer the fastest exit from the top level. A gate on one side of the yard allows the children to negotiate the grassy slope, trees and gardens down to the mud pit. The path on the other side of the yard offers a nature walk taking them past the first climbing walls, through a tunnel under the viewing deck. The children can then choose to either continue along the path to the second climbing wall or take a bush walk to the mud pit. A separate "quiet area" can be accessed by all age groups. Surrounded by gardens, the middle of this yard has a very large sandstone rock from our property and is great for climbing. It is also a lovely place to sit. This area will be called the "Dadirri Garden" (dadirri is an Aboriginal word for "deep listening"). The smaller yard also has a small bike track.

Centre 2 (renovated) - The "quiet area" overlooks the large nature paddock and boasts a beautiful Tipuana tree the children can climb. Logs and large sandstone blocks are often used as balancing beams but also make great seating for group classes. The Centre has several playgrounds all with trees and natural grass. The large playground has a vegetable garden with two mulberry trees which feed the silkworms each spring. There is a timber cubby-house with a rope bridge leading to the Bali Hut. A climbing fort with a fireman's pole, rock wall and slide is covered by a large shade sail and a second, larger slide is located near the bottom sandpit. The large sandpit on the hill also has challenging climbing equipment. The sandpits along with the bike yard, are fully covered from the hot summer sun and in wet weather the large bike yard is a valuable undercover play area.

Grounds - The large grounds are utilised for farming experiences, picnics, outdoor exploration, education, play and Bush Kindy.

Bush Kindy - Play, explore, discover & learn in nature.

· Playing and exploring outdoors leads children to ask questions, discover the answers or be guided to find them

· Risk taking teaches children to problem solve

· Learning about nature allows children to experience the world around them and teaches them to enjoy and respect it