Ideas & Inspiration

Stories and ideas from our eight centres — what play-based learning actually looks like, where our children go, and what happens in the studio, the garden and the bush.

Children in high-visibility vests and sun hats exploring the wet sand and shallow water at the shoreline during a Beach Kindy session, with an educator alongside them
Latest

Beach Kinder at Southport: nature play by the Broadwater

Nature play · Southport  ·  4 min read

A block from the Broadwater, our Southport children have one of the Gold Coast's most beautiful classrooms on their doorstep. Here is what a session actually looks like — and why unstructured outdoor learning matters.

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Two children in dress-ups playing in the home corner, one at a table set with play food and plates and the other at a bench with a toy cash register, photographed from behind
Play-based learning

What is play-based learning in childcare? Real examples

What your child would be doing at half past nine on a Tuesday, and how our educators turn that into learning you can see.

Inside the atelier: our Reggio-inspired studio
Reggio Emilia

What is Reggio Emilia childcare? Inside the atelier

What an atelier is, what your child is doing when they come home with paint on a sleeve, and how our educators set the room up.

Beetroot, tomato and corn: what our gardens teach children
Sustainability

Sustainability in childcare: the garden and the chickens

What sustainability looks like on an ordinary day at our centres — so you can judge whether it is real practice or a word on a website.

Bush Kindy and Beach Kindy: what happens on the day
Nature play

Bush Kindy and Beach Kindy: what a session looks like

What a Bush Kindy or Beach Kindy session actually looks like, which centres run them, and how our educators keep children safe beyond the fence line.

Stay and Play: your first visit, with your child beside you
Starting care

Stay and Play: visit a childcare centre with your child

What a Stay and Play morning involves, what to look for while you are in the room, and what to ask before you commit to anything.

After drop-off: how you hear about your child's day
Families

How do I know what my child did at their early learning centre?

What reaches you during the day, what to expect and what not to, and how to ask for more.

Our Gold Coast excursions: where children go and why
Excursions

Gold Coast childcare excursions: where our children go

The library, HOTA, the Botanic Garden, Woolworths and the Broadwater — where our Gold Coast children have actually been.

Local excursions on the Capricorn Coast
Excursions

Capricorn Coast excursions: library, park and beach

The library visits, the walks to the local park, the state school and a beach clean-up, drawn from what our educators have written up.

Excursions at our Rockhampton centres
Excursions

Rockhampton excursions: the zoo, gallery and library

A zoo story time, a Darumbal story time at the art gallery, a supermarket tour in hair nets, and practice runs at big school.