Caroline Gawargy
Director
As the Centre Director, I believe that the early years are the most influential in extending and enriching children’s development and education. I believe in a program that has a foundation of learning through play, both indoors and outdoors, in which children are encouraged to make choices and extend their own learning. I also recognise the importance of families, being the primary influence in a child’s life. I aim to continually develop and maintain collaborative and open partnerships with all families and as such promote an open-door policy. At Kids Jungle I have a passionate and dedicated team of educators who are invested in each child’s wellbeing. Their constant positivity and hard work makes Kids Jungle an incredible working environment. We work together to form a team who respect, value each other and share knowledge and skills to provide an environment where children feel safe but are also challenged.
Belinda Lindley
Nominated Supervisor (Diploma)
I believe that all children are all individuals. Each have their own personality that grows from their home life and experiences. I endeavor to support each and everyone of them to achieve their goals and meet their challenges in life with positivity and resilience. I believe the care and respect that we give a child in the environment of childcare is an extremely important one and that it should reflect the wants and needs of their families.
“It is vital that when educating our children’s brains that we do not neglect to educate their hearts, a key element of which has to be the nurturing of our compassionate nature.”
Dalai Lama
Megan Bennett
ECT
Experiences within early childhood lay the foundation for future educational achievements. Creating enriched learning experiences are vital to maximise a child’s potential. As an early childhood teacher, I believe that it’s my role to provide quality learning and developmentally appropriate experiences where children become successful, build confidence, allow for creativity and children are active participants in their learning.To achieve quality teaching in early childhood education, I believe that opportunities for play-based learning are essential as it allows children to make sense of the world. This occurs through children engaging, processing, exploring, discovering, investigating and experimenting in learning and within the environment.
As an Early childhood teacher, it’s my role to look at children holistically and be responsive to their needs and interests. Providing opportunities for families and the community involvement will enable children to feel connected, secure, builds confidence and sense of identity.
Rachelle Schoeffel
ECT
I have been a teacher now for over twenty years and have taught in both primary school and preschool settings. I am a proud mum of two grown children, Bailey (22) and Danielle (18). As a family, we enjoy going fishing together, going to the beach, taking long walks together and doing puzzles.
As a teacher I am patient, kind and caring. I take the time to listen to the children I teach and get to know them on an individual level. I believe all children are unique individuals with different learning styles, interests, personalities and capabilities. Therefore, in order for them to reach their full potential, it is important to cater for their individual needs through a caring and secure learning environment. By creating a sense of belonging for the children I teach, they are able to thrive and learn in an environment where they feel happy and safe.
As a member of the Kid’s Jungle team, I aim to provide this caring, safe environment for your child along with the educators I work with to ensure your child is happy, safe and well cared for while being able to develop and learn new things as they create friendships with others and have fun in their preschool environment. We offer the chance for them to gain knowledge and skills through play based learning and activities based on their own interests.
Samantha Priestland
Working Towards ECT
I strongly feel that the earliest years of a persons life are the most important. At this critical time in their life, children are building the foundations of who they are and who they will become. I believe that every child needs to be able to show their independence through the support of educators and through taking charge of their own learning. This being done through play-based experiences and through activities that require all children to use their communication, creativity, problem solving, social and critical thinking skills. I also believe that the environment plays a key role in a child’s development. I believe that the environment in which a child is in should be thoughtfully considered. I highly regard the outdoors as being really important because it allows children to gain knowledge on how to respect and appreciate the outdoor surroundings. Nature can also allow children to learn how to be environmentally responsible. As an Early Childhood Educator, my role is to view children in a holistic lens, to cater for their needs and to ensure I provide learning experiences that stem from their interests and their passions.
Amanda Gibbs
Dolphin Room Leader (Diploma)
Each child is a unique individual and as an early childhood educator, I strive to provide activities that encourage excitement and exploration for the children in my care.It is important to me that I provide a variety of planned and structured activities, focused on the children’s current interests, strengths and developmental milestones, while also allowing the opportunity for free play and children’s guidance in their own learning.
At each developmental milestone children are learning the skills they need for life and as an educator it is my belief that I am here to guide them on their journey.I endeavour to foster strong relationships with the families of the children in my care to ensure that I am meeting their expectations in regards to their children’s growth and development. As an educator it is important that I continue to grow and as such I am constantly furthering my skills and knowledge through experiences and study.
Jessica Vawdon
Turtles Room Leader (Diploma)
As an early childhood educator I believe that every child is a unique individual who needs a stable, loving and stimulating environment in which to develop and mature emotionally, mentally, physically and socially.As an educator, my aim is to create a fun filled, caring, playful multicultural and interesting environment for all children to feel comfortable to be in and to have fun learning at the same time. Creative arts has always been a big part of my life and career Like gardeners theories I feel as though the arts and creativity play major roles in children’s learning.
I believe that it is important that each family feel safe and secure when leaving their child in my care, this is why I strive to build strong and lasting relationships with the families within the service. These relationships help me to ensure that each child and their family are included in the programming cycle.
Jorja Houghton
Diploma
As an Early Childhood Educator, I believe that the early years of a child’s life are very important as these help to shape their future, so it is important that they are in a nurturing and caring environment. I believe that children learn best through play based learning as this provides an environment for children to be themselves while feeling comfortable and supported. Building strong bonds with children and their families is very important to me, as through this I am able to understand a child’s individual needs, values and beliefs as well as being able to work closely with families to ensure the best for each child. I will always strive to provide equal opportunities for all children to help them flourish and strengthen their knowledge. As an educator it is important to me that I continue to learn and grow and I strive to do this daily through learning from the educators around me and the children themselves.
Flora Weatherall
Cert lll
I believe that each child is a unique individual,and that all children develop through their own pattern of growth and development. I believe that supporting children’s self confidence and self esteem is important in reaching development milestones for children. And as Educate i guide children in their social well being as well as their emotional and physical welling. Children develop a range of skills whilst being happy and inviting environment with adults and peers who accept the “whole” Child as unique individual. I believe all children are unique and should be all treated equal. It is important to communicate with parents and carers, sharing Knowledge, events and concerns enables the development of trust and ensure the best possible care for their precious child.
Ash-Lee Pritchard
Cert lll
As an early childhood educator, I strive to provide a nurturing, caring, loving, and fun environment for the children to thrive in. These early years in a child’s life are so important as it sets a foundation for their future, so I strongly value each child’s interests, beliefs, ideas, and opinions. I have a passionate belief that learning through play benefits children’s development and encourages them to their fullest potential. I’m am also passionate in the belief that getting outside and being active can have amazing effects of a child’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills and love a great game of soccer. I believe building strong bonds with the children and their families is also important to understanding a child’s needs as well as providing care that the families can trust.
Alexandra Gough
Working towards Diploma
As an early childhood educator, I believe that the early stages of a child’s development are the most crucial for further education and life. I strive to provide educational program and practice that is child-centred, play-based, stimulating and maximise opportunities for enhancing and extending each child’s learning and development. Our jobs as educators is to nurture the development of life skills and complement children’s experiences, relationships at school, at home and in the community. I believe in open communication with parents and building strong bonds with children and families as to understand each child’s individual needs, value’s and beliefs. Act in an inclusive manner that embraces diversity on all forms and always endeavour to further my own personal growth by learning through daily activities with educators and the children around me.
Gemma Tonna
Working towards Diploma
As an early childhood educator I see so many little personalities, each different and unique. To help these personalities flourish to their fullest potential I aim to provide children with a safe, fun and nurturing environment. I believe in the importance of providing children with enriched learning experiences and opportunities to help broaden their understanding of the world around them. I believe family and children’s input play a vital role in these experiences and through positive and meaningful interactions with children and families I am able to incorporate their voices. An as early childhood educator I love helping the children learn new things through these hands on experiences.
Kids Jungle is now taking enrolments.
Please contact the centre to see our special offer.
To ensure the system of allocating vacant places is fair, the Australian Government has “Priority of Access Guidelines”. These are used when there is a waiting list for a child care service or when a number of parents are applying for a limited number of vacant places.
The Guidelines are:
Priority 1 – A child at risk of serious abuse or neglect.
Priority 2 – A child of single parents who satisfies, or of two parents who both satisfy the work/training/study test under section 14 of the Family Assistance Act.
Priority 3 – Any other child.
Within each category, the following children are to be given priority:
• Children in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders families.
• Children in families which include a disabled person.
• Children in families with a non-English speaking background.
• Children in socially isolated families.
• Children of single parents.
Under these guidelines, we may require a Priority 3 child to vacate a place for a higher priority child. If this is required, we will give you 14 days notice however we will attempt to accommodate all families as best we can. When a vacancy arises at the centre, working families will be given priority for that vacancy.
Please contact the centre for availabilities.