We recently received a lovely letter from a Grandmother of one of our children that we thought we'd share with our community. Feedback like this from a person with years of experience in the education industry is so valuable to the improvement and continuation of our programs. Experiences like these are what our teachers thrive to provide for every child at Kindaburra, creating a culture of learning and fun. 

Dear Miss Trish and the Kindaburra Team

For several months, I have been so impressed with the learning journey that Kindaburra has provided in the Transition To School  program. The guiding principle Children Always Come First, is so evident in the four years that Ryan Burton has been part of the Kindaburra family.  In caring for Ryan, I would often see the smile on his face when he talked about Kindy, his love of exploring, investigating, learning new things and building relationships with his peers. Ryan has attended Kindaburra since he was six months old.

The preschool program developed and implemented by Ryan’s teacher, Miss Lesley and supported by Mr Ben, directly links to The Early Years Learning Framework. On Kindaburra’s website the learning is systematically unpacked:  planning for individual and small group learning experiences, which are based on the child’s interests and developmental skills. The program is divided into learning areas, Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social/Emotional Development, Health and Wellbeing, Physical development. The learning environment developed by Miss Lesley, is creative, innovative, challenging, nurturing and a wonderful feature of the children’s learning journey. I immediately noticed the smart board in the Preschool room, catering for all kinds of learners, visual learners in particular. Contemporary learning is how I would describe the Transition to School program. The indoor learning spaces are inviting, colourful, organised, flexible, multi sensory and connect to outdoor learning.

 As a teacher for over 25 years, I am delighted by the data collected about Ryan’s progress particularly the link to the outcomes for learning taken from The Early Years Framework. Ryan’s learning journey shared with his parents is not only showing the importance of families to Kindaburra but shows the excellent preparation for “Big” school.  The observational data, the visual data, extension to learning and reflection of learning shows that the teachers are in tune with Early Childhood documents and the individual child. More importantly, the detailed preparation for school will enable the children from Kindaburra to be happy and confident learners, continuing a love of learning initiated and promoted by the Centre. The cohesive approach to pedagogy (the way a child learns), the practices and teacher beliefs are evident in all aspects of teaching and learning.  There is an obvious respect for diversity in learning spaces, relationships, behaviours, assessment practices, routines, roles and expectations.

It is no wonder that Kindaburra exceeds National Quality Standards. The one final comment is in the area of relationships. In building relationships where children are so young, requires collaboration, understanding, communication and the ability to nurture these relationships. It is evident that Kindaburra’s framework Children Come First permeates every aspect of planning and welcoming new families and supporting existing families. After all, each parent trusts that their child is protected, is happy and is safe.

I saw this quote and it is how I would describe Kindaburra:

                   With just a drop of imagination, the world can transform

                   into a magical place and anything is possible.

Thank you to the Kindaburra team and especially Miss Lesley for making Ryan’s learning a journey into wonder and imagination.

Martina Rotta  (Ryan’s grandmother and K-6 teacher)