Engaging with Our Community
We recognise that all children, their families and staff are part of a wider community. We place value on building connections between a child's home, their family and the Pre-School. Supporting these connections helps children develop a sense of belonging and self-worth if they know that their teachers and their families have a shared interest in what's happening in their world.
We believe that community and connections within that community are essential both individually and collectively and help contribute towards healthy personal development and a healthy society. We endeavour not only to nurture and foster a healthy community within, but also to look outwards and form connections with people and places outside the preschool.
We believe that it is important for children (and adults) to have an understanding of what it is to belong to a community and we endeavour to help children understand what it is to "belong" in a number of contexts. We believe that children are citizens in their own right and as such have the opportunity to participate, contribute and engage meaningfully within their various communities.
The Pre-School is proud of our links with our local community, and we value these relationships & initiatives. Some of these include:
Our partnership with Glencore Ravensworth Open Cut Mine. The children help care for seedlings which the mine later use for planting in their rehabilitation programs.
We are proud to have relationships with two Aboriginal Elders, one of whom created artworks and murals for the Pre-School, while another shares excursions ‘on Country’ with the children, visiting local sacred caves to explore ancient artworks. Both visit the service regularly.
A local retired woodworker visits the Pre-School, working with the children in the outdoor program to teach them woodworking skills.
As an extension of learning and interests, the children participate in excursions into the local community.
The Pre-School has been a proud entrant in the Singleton Tidy Towns annual Garden Competition for many years and in 2019 we were nominated as the Singleton representative in the Educational Facility section of their state application. We then went on to win the Keep Australia Beautiful’s Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns ‘School’s Environmental Achievement Award’ – Population Category E (Over 20,000). We are again proud to be nominated as the Singleton representative in the Educational Facility section of Singleton’s 2021 application.
Our children have regular visits with nursing homes in our community, including Alroy House and Cooinda Retirement Community. Residents also visit the Pre-School and participate in the daily program.
Our Director and a staff member are active members of the Heart in the Heights Action Group who are working to create a Singleton Heights Community Hub in our local area. This will provide services to local residents who would otherwise travel downtown to access support services.
We are privileged to have the St Catherine’s Catholic College Singleton’s Aboriginal Dance Group come to Pre-School and perform and engage the children in Traditional Aboriginal dance and movement.
The Pre-School maintains excellent relationships with local schools, supporting transitions to school through communication, visits to the Pre-School and attending transition visits with children.
The Pre-School maintains connections with local emergency services, supporting learning opportunities for the children.
Collaborative relationships with local child and family support services and visits to the Pre-School by specialist therapists, support improved learning outcomes for individual children.
We value relationships with a number of businesses and mines within our community.
The Pre-School have partnered with the Dyson Family Foundation to provide food packs to families requiring additional support.
Within the Pre-School, is a Food Pantry, providing non-perishable food for those in our Pre-School community that may need a helping hand.
The Pre-School has created a “Book Swap” initiative which encourages families to take books to share with their children and asks them to donate books back which are shared with other families.
The Pre-School provides families in need with fresh fruit and vegetables and groceries each week thanks to the funding received through the Singleton Community and Economic Development Fund 2022/23
