Nido Early School Ferntree Gully

📚 Nido Ferntree Gully Book Club – August

Last month, in honour of NAIDOC Week, our Book Club explored Tiddas by acclaimed First Nations author Anita Heiss. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Aboriginal culture, storytelling and the importance of friendship, community and connection.

For August, we’re excited to introduce our next read…

🐙 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

This heartwarming debut novel explores friendship, grief, hope and the unexpected connections that can change our lives. It follows Tova Sullivan, who forms an extraordinary friendship with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus whose unique perspective helps uncover a decades-old mystery. Filled with humour, compassion and unforgettable characters, it’s a beautiful reminder that healing often comes from the most unexpected places.

📖 Our Virtual Book Club

Our Book Club is completely virtual, making it easy for everyone to take part.

There are no meetings, no pressure and no deadlines—just read whenever it suits you!

Whether you read a few pages each night or finish it in one weekend, we’d love to hear what resonated with you.

Happy reading, everyone! 📚💙

🍋✨ Citrus Potion Play at Nido Early School Ferntree Gully ✨🍋

Our little explorers became potion makers today, using a selection of citrus fruits, teabags and a variety of vessels to mix, pour and create their own magical concoctions.

As children squeezed the citrus to release the juice, they strengthened their fine motor skills and hand muscles while developing hand-eye coordination, concentration and control. They thoughtfully poured, transferred and combined ingredients, experimenting with different textures, scents and colours.

This open-ended sensory experience sparked creativity, curiosity and imaginative play while encouraging problem-solving and early scientific thinking through hands-on exploration.

At Nido Early School Ferntree Gully, every day is filled with opportunities for children to learn through play, explore with confidence and discover the joy of learning. 💛🍊🍋

🌿 Last night, Nido Ferntree Gully proudly hosted our very first Parent Advisory Committee meeting! 🌿

Held in our beautiful Piazza, this marks the beginning of a wonderful partnership with our families. Meeting bi-monthly, our Parent Advisory Committee provides an opportunity for families to have a genuine voice in shaping our service and ensuring we continue to grow together.

During our first meeting we:
🤝 Explored Child Safe Standards 5 & 6, discussing how we continue to create a culturally safe, inclusive environment where every child and family feels respected, valued and heard.
🎉 Invited families to help shape our upcoming calendar of events, sharing their ideas for celebrations including Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, Halloween, Diwali, and many other exciting events over the coming months.
💬 Received incredibly valuable feedback about our communication, what families love, and what they would like to see as we continue to strengthen our partnership.

A heartfelt thank you to the families who took the time to join us. Your ideas, feedback and collaboration are invaluable, and we look forward to bringing many of these wonderful suggestions to life.

Together, we’re building a stronger community where children, families and educators thrive. We can’t wait for our next meeting!

🌿 The right place changes everything. 🌿

Starting early education is a big milestone—not just for children, but for families too. At Nido Early School Ferntree Gully, we're here to make that transition as smooth, positive and reassuring as possible.

💚 Our 'Settle In' Offer is a thoughtful approach to welcoming every child, allowing time, space and flexibility for them to settle gently and confidently, while giving families peace of mind as they take this exciting next step.

As part of our Settle In Offer, you'll enjoy:
✨ No enrolment or administration fees
✨ As many orientation visits as your child needs
✨ Flexible days and hours to support your family's transition
✨ No notice periods during the settle-in period*
✨ Ongoing collaboration, communication and documentation throughout your child's transition

Every child is unique, and we believe they deserve the opportunity to build meaningful relationships, develop confidence, and discover a true sense of belonging at their own pace.

📞 Contact us today to book a tour and discover why the right place really does change everything.
https://nido.edu.au/early-schools/vic/ferntree-gully/

*Terms and conditions apply.

This week at Nido Ferntree Gully for NAIDOC Week, our Classroom 2 children have been learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through their favourite way to learn… sensory play! 🌿🖤💛❤️💚💙

Our sensory tough tray was filled with rice and invited the children to explore, discover, and create using their hands and imaginations. As they scooped, poured, searched, and investigated, they engaged in meaningful conversations about Country, nature, and the rich cultures of Australia’s First Nations Peoples.

Through open-ended sensory experiences, the children developed curiosity, fine motor skills, language, and a deeper appreciation for the world around them.

We look forward to continuing these learning experiences well beyond NAIDOC Week, embedding respect, curiosity, and connection to Country into our everyday program. 🌿

🌿🖤💛❤️ NAIDOC Week at Nido Ferntree Gully 💚💙🤍

This week, our classroom 5 children explored a beautiful native sensory tray filled with cloud dough, Australian animals, people figurines, and native plants found around our Nido community.

Using curiosity and wonder, the children carefully discovered each animal and person, explored the different textures of the cloud dough, and noticed the colours and details of the native leaves and flowers.

Through imaginative play, they created homes and habitats for the animals while building stories inspired by Country and the Wurundjeri people. These rich conversations encouraged a sense of belonging, respect, and connection to the First Nations Peoples of the land on which we learn and play.

Experiences like these help lay the foundations for children to develop an appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, and our shared responsibility to care for Country—not just during NAIDOC Week, but throughout the year.

🌟 Welcome to the Team, Nital! 🌟

Please join us in giving a very warm Nido Ferntree Gully welcome to Nital, who joins our team in Classroom 2, working alongside Gigi five days a week.

Nital brings over three years of experience in early childhood education and is passionate about creating meaningful relationships with children and their families. She also has a creative background as a fashion designer and beautician!

Here's a little more about Nital:

"Hello everyone, my name is Nital. I'm a young soul who loves to dance when no one's watching and always has food riding shotgun in my car! Apart from being an educator, I'm also a fashion designer and beautician—something most people don't know about me... until now!

I've been working in early childhood for the past three years, and I genuinely love what I do. Every day is different, and that's one of the things I enjoy most about working with children.

Children are the only people who can call you a potato one minute, ask you to be a dragon the next, and then tell you you're their best friend by lunchtime! Their energy, honesty and imagination make every day an adventure.

What means the most to me is the trust that families place in me to care for their children. It's a responsibility I never take for granted, and I love building strong relationships while watching children grow, learn and develop new skills."

We are so excited to have Nital as part of our Nido family. Be sure to say hello, introduce yourself, and make her feel right at home.

Welcome to the team, Nital! 💙🌿

At Nido, we're proud to celebrate NAIDOC Week across all our early schools. 💙💚🤍 💛🖤❤️
This week, our children will explore the rich histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through meaningful learning experiences, storytelling, art, music and connection.
By celebrating NAIDOC Week, we're helping nurture respect, curiosity and a deeper appreciation for the world's oldest continuing cultures - creating opportunities for children to learn from the past, connect with the present and help shape a more inclusive future.
We can't wait to share some of the wonderful moments from our celebrations throughout the week.