Johanna Street Early Learning Centre

Bush Kindy at Johanna Street ELC

We are a privately owned long day care centre, providing care for children aged 3 months to 6 years. Location and Setting
Johanna Street Early Learning Centre is centrally located in the heart of Jimboomba; peacefully rural, situated on 28 acres with cows, ducks & chickens. Kangaroos are also occasional visitors. The Centres are surrounded by gardens & within the

property there are ponds & dams which encourage birdlife including wild ducks, pelicans, ibis, herons, cormorants & moorhens. Ecologically Conscious
Hundreds of trees have been planted throughout the grounds including Gum trees for future koala habitat. Nesting boxes for birds & possums have been placed in native trees. In 2012 the classrooms cared for tadpoles until they grew into baby frogs & were then released into the ponds. 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 & installed a second native beehive for future honey harvesting. Native bees help with the pollination of the crops in the veggie patches. Solar power has been connected to two buildings helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Centre food scraps are fed to the resident animals. The Centre uses only bio-degradable products for cleaning. Administration strives to reduce its environmental impact by reducing paper usage - emailing statements, notices & announcements. Whenever possible, we reuse all or part of any paper without print, for notepaper, printing & classroom scribble paper. Playgrounds

Centre 1 (opened 2017) - The playground covers a top & bottom level. The top level has two playgrounds, & 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 teepees. The timber teepees can be accessed via a ramp or climbing net & are joined with a bridge. A viewing deck hangs over the bottom area of the playground capturing the view of our paddock, driveway & 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 & 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. The smaller playground also has a small bike track & sandpit, this yard leads into a third area with a timber fort & very large sandstone rock the middle which is great for climbing. Surrounded by gardens, it is also a lovely place to sit. Centre 2 (renovated) - The "quiet area" overlooks the large nature paddock & boasts a beautiful Tipuana tree the children can climb. Logs & 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 & natural grass. The large playground has a vegetable garden with two mulberry trees which feed the silkworms each spring. There is a timber cubbyhouse with a rope bridge leading to the Bali Hut. A climbing fort with a fireman's pole, rock wall & slide are covered by a large shade sail & 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 & in wet weather the large bike yard is a valuable undercover play area. The smaller playground on the hill is also a natural playground with grass, trees and logs. It has a sandpit and leads into a third area with a bike track around a tree. It also has two swings for the younger children. Grounds - The large grounds are utilised for gardening experiences, picnics, outdoor exploration, education, play & Bush Kindy. It has an adventure playground, construction area, a dry creek bed with adjoining sun shelter (which also has a small waterfall to fill the creek for waterplay), 2 large covered areas, an outdoor area referred to as the "garden room" with yarning circle. Bush Kindy - Play, explore, discover & learn in nature.
· Playing & 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 & teaches them to enjoy & respect it.