By Carolyn Hooker
My name is Carolyn Hooker and I am the 4- year-old kindergarten teacher at Nathalia Community Early Learning Centre. We applied for the 100 years of excellence grant to partially fund the Implementation of a Bush Kinder Program. With the money from the grant we were able to purchase a camping toilet, ensuite toilet tent, first aid kit with snake kit, collapsible fire pit and embers mat. While this didn’t cover our total expenses I was so thrilled to receive this grant as it was my first time ever to apply for a grant of any sort. I found the process easy and so wasn’t deterred because of time taken up. The grant and Bush Kinder program will benefit the children, families and community in a number of ways:
- The children will learn safety and risk assessment for natural bush settings
- We hope they will develop a love of the natural environment and hope they take an interest in caring for the bush.
- The children developed physical skills in a fun and natural environment.
- We hope that this time in nature will transfer to improved wellbeing.
- The service has collaborated with Parks Victoria and are hoping to connect with local First Nations people.
- The hope the families will develop an understanding of how children are able to learn without expensive resources or use of technology.
Finally, we would like to thank AGECS for supporting the Early Years.