Centre Tours
Cultural Tours
Cultural Tour 1: Warriparinga Cultural & Historical tour (two hours)
An Aboriginal tour guide from Southern Cultural Immersion will lead the group on this interactive tour of the stunning Warriparinga grounds and wetlands. Participants will learn about the history of the location and its traditional cultural significance.
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a warm jumper and long trousers, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cost: $70.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 9.00 am
Return: 11.00 am
Duration: Two hours
Max number: 30
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a warm jumper and long trousers, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cultural Tour 2: Walking tour of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (two hours)
Led by an Aboriginal tour guide from Southern Cultural Immersion, this tour will walk the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to learn some of its history from a First Nations perspective. Participants will take an in-depth look at Indigenous plants and their traditional uses, and explore the significant connection that Aboriginal people hold with Country.
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a warm jumper and long trousers, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cost: $70.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 2.00 pm
Return: 5.00 pm
Duration: Two hours
Max number: 30
Centre Tours
Tour 1: Diversity, inclusion and the rights of all children (full day) – SOLD OUT
How can we learn from the various lived experiences of children to ensure we facilitate a space that safeguards the rights for all to learn, develop and grow? On this tour we will explore some specific things we can seek and learn from children who bring experiences such as neurodiversity, trauma, and physical, social and psychological diversity.
- Ngutu College
Ngutu College operates with Aboriginal cultures as its ‘soul’, young people as its ‘heart’, and the Arts as its ‘spine’. Without the children and staff present, those touring will both see and feel this as they encounter Ngutu College’s ‘third educator’, the environment. To complement this backdrop, the beliefs and practices that embrace the cultural diversity and neurodiversity of the children will be shared. While set within a holistic philosophy, there will be practical takeaways for everyone.
- Nazareth Catholic Community Early Childhood Centre
Nazareth Catholic Community’s Early Childhood Centre is designed to allow children to develop naturally with their peers. The five rooms offer care and education programs that value play in children’s lives and incorporate Catholic social justice teachings, principles of Reggio Emilia, and respect for diversity, fairness and stewardship of the earth’s resources. Inquiry and research are key pillars of educators’ practice. The preschool rooms provide a kindergarten program for children aged three to five years, supported by the Preschool Reform Agreement. The preschool rooms operate during school terms and integrate with yearlong childcare services. Nazareth is currently the only long day care service in South Australia to hold the ACECQA Excellent Rating. All children aged birth to five are welcome.
- Gowrie SA Thebarton
Gowrie SA is a not-for-profit community-based service. Gowrie SA offers long day care and integrated preschool for children from six weeks to school age. Integrated infant and toddler programs provide children the opportunity to experience high levels of continuity by remaining in the same room for up to three years. A primary caregiving model underpinned by the Circle of Security and its principles of valuing diversity and inclusion guides practice from infancy until children transition to school. The rights, wellbeing and learning of children, families and educators are at the heart of Gowrie SA’s vision for early childhood. Gowrie SA prioritises cultural learning and reconciliation in the community with the belief that children’s voices will shape future generations. The spacious and natural gardens support all children to explore their world freely and feel accepted and respected intellectually, emotionally, physically and culturally.
- The Briars Special Early Learning Centre
Acknowledged as a centre of expertise, The Briars operates the only standalone specialised preschool in Australia with a focus on communication. It is a unique service dedicated to the education of children with additional rights who all have complex communication needs.
The preschool is engineered for communication and the development of communication skills is deeply embedded in the curriculum.
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cost: $145.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 9.15 am
Return: 4.15 pm
Duration: Full day tour
Max number: 24
Tour 2: Relationships and community connections (full day) – SOLD OUT
This tour will visit centres that have a strong focus on building connections with their communities and relationships within and around the settings.
- Great Beginnings Gilles Plains
Great Beginnings’ approach to early childhood education and care centralises the child as an active agent in their own learning, valuing the individual identity each child brings to the child care and early education centres. Great Beginnings recognises the significance of building meaningful relationships between families, carers and educators as fundamental in supporting the learning and development of all children.
- CURIOSITY Early Learning Centre, Good Shepherd Lutheran School
CURIOSITY Early Learning Centre is a place where children and their families are ‘Active, Connected and Growing for LIFE’. Its philosophy states the belief that children are active and informed citizens who desire to build strong connections with others. This thinking promotes the participation in school transition projects to lay a firm foundation for children into life at Good Shepherd Lutheran School (GSLS). Throughout the year, children participate in school-wide events at GSLS with the provision of opportunities to build strong attachments with allied health providers, specialist teachers and foundation years teachers. Children’s current research is informing project work around a community garden which is strengthening further connections between the school, families (past and current children), and the local community.
- Flinders University Child Care Centre
Flinders University Child Care Centre is a community-based, long day care centre situated on the grounds of Flinders University. Flinders is a purpose-built site with five self-contained houses: Baby House, Toddler House, May Mills House, Preschool House and Sturt House. Flinders is unique in many ways, especially in the design of the grounds. Each house is entirely separate from the others, with its own outdoor play space. The centre prides itself on its natural environments, play-based programs and educators, with documentation being an area of ongoing curiosity and research.
Flinders University Child Care Centre believes education and high-quality care involve an interaction between four key areas:
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- Learning through play.
- Children, families and communities.
- Educators
- Learning environments.
In placing an emphasis on these areas and the intentionality of the centre’s educators, the centre is able to develop and implement flexible and engaging play-based programs. It runs indoor-outdoor programs in each of the houses and children can access the gardens year-round regardless of the weather.
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cost: $145.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 10.00 am
Return: 4.30 pm
Duration: Full day tour
Max number: 25
Tour 3: Regional preschool services (full day tour) – SOLD OUT
This tour will visit government-funded preschool services situated in the Adelaide Hills regional area. In addition to providing kindergarten programs, these services also deliver other services like playgroups to their local communities. We will stop for lunch and the renowned Beerenberg Cafe.
- Tinyeri Children’s Centre
Tinyeri Children’s Centre brings together care, education, health, community development and family services for families and their children from birth to six years of age, and is located on site with Murray Bridge South Primary School. Originally the Murray Bridge South Kindergarten, the service moved to its current location in November 2010. Local Ngarrindjeri Elders approved the name change to Tinyeri Children’s Centre with Tinyeri meaning ‘baby/child/offspring belonging to their parents’, thus honouring the First Nations people of the area and the critical role of both family and belonging.
The rights of the child are central to the work at Tinyeri Children’s Centre, connecting practice and pedagogy and guiding collaborative partnerships with colleagues, families, service providers and the broader community. The centre upholds children’s right to play and provides an environment that invites and promotes discovery, imagination, curiosity and delight.
Responsive relationships guide the centre’s interactions with colleagues, children, families and the community.
Tinyeri Children’s Centre’s work honours and respects the cultural authority of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The centre is privileged and grateful to work closely with its First Nations peoples—the Ngarrindjeri—who are the keepers of Country and the bearers of knowledge and wisdom in this area.
- Callington Kindergarten and Occasional Care
Callington Kindergarten and Occasional Care recognises, values and respects every child and every family for the knowledge, culture and ideas they bring to the learning community. The kindergarten believes in the power of strong trusting relationships to enable children to grow and learn in the context of their family and community.
Callington Kindergarten and Occasional Care’s use of high-quality practice—including Marte Meo pedagogy—and its strengths-based approach enables each child’s learning to be holistic and inclusive of their individual and personal interests. It also supports each child’s unique way of learning—in their own way and at their own pace.
With its site-specific context-based pedagogy and skilled, knowledgeable and supported teachers and educators, Callington Kindergarten and Occasional Care ensures each child progresses in their learning and development. It strives to promote the best possible learning outcomes for children through a play-based curriculum and ensures the learning environment encourages all children to thrive and learn.
- The Willows Children’s Centre
The Willows Children’s Centre offers a safe, caring and supportive environment and values diversity and the uniqueness of each child. Children learn about the world around them through indoor and outdoor play.
There are many opportunities for families to connect with the centre and they are encouraged to get involved with the programs and services The Willows offer.
- Lobethal Community Kindergarten (Bushfire affected, Be You service)
Lobethal Community Kindergarten offers a high-quality learning environment that is built on the strong foundations of nurturing relationships, love and humour. The kindergarten is a place of learning which is child-focused, emergent and based around the thoughts and ideas of the children who attend.
Lobethal Community Kindergarten runs a play-based curriculum which is nature-inspired and which enables children to learn, explore, socialise, take risks and make mistakes in a safe and loving environment.
What to bring: Runners or walking shoes, a rain jacket, a sunhat and a water bottle.
Cost: $170.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 8.00 am
Return: 5.40 pm
Duration: Full day tour
Max number: 20
Tour 4: Ecological identity and sustainability (half day tour) – SOLD OUT
Growing children’s understanding of their natural world and their role within that world is an increasing priority within early childhood services. Encompassing education on ecology, environmental sustainability and nature pedagogy, this tour will visit centres where love for the outdoors and caring for the environment is embedded practice.
- Goodstart Ingle Farm
Goodstart Ingle Farm is a supportive and inclusive centre that welcomes all families within the community and strives to provide a sense of belonging for everyone within the centre.
Goodstart Ingle Farm believes in inspiring an enthusiasm for lifelong learning and encourages children to engage in learning with confidence and curiosity. The centre’s natural outdoor play setting allows children to foster a love of environment and nature play.
Goodstart Ingle Farm’s purpose-built early learning centre caters for up to 75 children per day across four rooms. Be welcomed by friendly, long-standing staff as well as existing families who, together, create a unique community that celebrates and learns from each other’s cultures.
Goodstart Ingle Farm also values reconciliation, by acknowledging and learning from the Kaurna people. The centre has an active Reconciliation Action Plan, created to pass this love and respect for Aboriginal culture on to the children.
Goodstart Ingle Farm takes pride in its room environments, believing children need to be inspired and excited by their spaces as they engage in play.
- Waite Campus Childrens Centre
Waite Campus Childrens Centre has been growing and learning in a journey towards Education for Sustainability (EfS) since 2006. EfS is embedded in the centre’s philosophy, pedagogy and practice, and is integrated throughout the curriculum. Educators use intentional teaching at group times and during play to explore and enhance children’s understanding and interests. An EfS teacher works with all children across the centre, to embed the practices of caring for Mother Earth into the everyday.
Centre values:
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- Children are the focus of our service.
- Genuine relationships with children and families are essential.
- We guide children to discover and celebrate the uniqueness of themselves and each other.
- Diversity and inclusion are embraced.
- We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the land we learn and grow upon.
- We actively share respect for Connection to Country.
- We explore opportunities to sow the seeds for Education for Sustainability.
- We value and embed the learning that the natural world offers.
- Learning through play is the foundation of our day.
- The rights of the child are paramount.
- We offer opportunities for children to see themselves as confident and capable.
- We support children to flourish by recognising strengths.
Cost: $99.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 8.00 am
Return: 1.00 pm
Duration: Half day tour
Max number: 20
Tour 5: Moving forward; standing strong (half day tour) – SOLD OUT
At the Hobart 2019 Conference, Rachel Robertson said that leadership is not a position or a role but rather seeing that something needs to be done and doing it. We all need to be leaders in the early childhood sector. In the ECA Code of Ethics, we acknowledge that strong pedagogical and courageous leadership is essential to support and promote the rights and voice of children. How do we grow and nurture leadership in our sector? What are the most effective ways? This tour will visit centres exploring leadership and growth, and the importance of self-care and self-compassion.
- Halifax Street Children’s Centre & Preschool
Halifax Street Children’s Centre & Preschool is entering an exciting stage of transformative practice through co-researching and re-imagining a philosophy that authentically represents all participants of the community. Relational pedagogy is at the heart of the centre’s journey as it welcomes brave conversations, meaningful reflection and deep listening to identify and articulate its values as a Reggio Emilia-influenced community residing on Kaurna land.
Weaving in the principles of Reggio Emilia and its Reconciliation Action Plan, Halifax Street Children’s Centre & Preschool is working with Uncle John, Kate Mount, Barbara Murray, Green Adelaide and community to contextualise its philosophy. The concept of ‘Ngaityalya’ (respect) has been pivotal in its research, requiring staff to deeply re-think and reflect on the rights and image of the child, the educator, the families, and connection to Country.
- C.a.F.E. Enfield Children’s Centre
C.a.F.E. Enfield Children’s Centre is an integrated site including community-managed child care, Department for Education preschool, playgroups, child and family health services, ‘Learning Together’, parenting support programs, and adult education. These services work together to support health, social, emotional and educational outcomes for children and their families.
C.a.F.E. is an acronym for ‘children and families everywhere’, a name instigated by founding community members in 2022, and represents the belief that families have a critical role in the early development of children’s learning. C.a.F.E. Enfield Children’s Centre believes young children are happier and achieve more when early years educators work together with families to share insights, aspirations and documentation to support and extend children’s learning and development. The centre provides a safe, welcoming place for all children and their families to foster a strong sense of belonging and community.
Cost: $99.00
Date: Wednesday 4 October
Depart: 9.00 am
Return: 1.00 pm
Duration: Half day tour
Max number: 20