Coleraine and District Kindergarten is a thriving and committed not-for-profit organization located in your
small, rural town. We provide and host essential services for both township
and district, being premises for a registered weekly Playgroup, three hour three-year old and fifteen hour funded four-year old kindergarten
sessions. Our premises provide the only
social and learning opportunities for these children to participate in together
within 30 kilometres. We also employ four people on a permanent part-time
basis, offer occasional teaching work and shop locally where possible: strengthening
the local economy.
A financial partnership with the Coleraine Branch of The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
has removed some of the financial burden of running the separate three year
old programme. This receives no government financial assistance and is paid for
entirely by fundraising. Very few other kindergartens run a separate programme for three
year olds. Our healthy numbers indicate toward its popularity and the impact it
has on drawing young families to our town for education. The four year-old programme receives government
subsidies to partially cover wages for the teacher and the compulsory assistant
and is also subsidized by our fundraising programme. All our Committee of Management are volunteers. All our outdoor and some indoor maintenance
is volunteer. Essential services (water, electricity), cleaning and equipment
are all paid for by fundraising.
We host a Family Night each term as part of our community orientation and try and support a different local business each time. We cater for local events as part of our fundraising programme and our kitchen has recently been updated with thanks to a Department of Education grant to enable us to do this and cook with the children in a safe, clean environment. Our grounds reflect the sustainable living focus of early years' teaching and have been recently updated with some thanks to a Sustainability Grant from the Southern Grampians Shire.
Our educational programme is on display near the sign-in book and documents the planned and emerging
experiences for the group. However, the children’s programme is not merely what
is written on a piece of paper out the front, it is what you see when you walk
into the room. It is reflected in individual children's portfolio through photos,
samples of work, records of conversations and other items, it’s all the
incidental happenings and spontaneous learning opportunities that the Educational Leader and Educators embrace and
facilitate every day.
