About Us
At Blackwood Kindergarten, our community values relationships, confidence, resilience, diversity, play, enjoyment of learning and being explorers of the world.
Kindy Philosophy
Our mission - To support all our families in the education of their children, while maintaining a strong sense of community and a connection to our local natural environment.
Our vision statement - We are a supportive and inclusive community kindergarten inspiring an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. We encourage children to approach new challenges with confidence and creativity. We love our Natural Environment and understand the responsibility that we all share by living within it. We will observe what it does and learn from it, we will care for it and give back to it when we can. We will play with it and we will take only what we truly need from it.
For more information please download our Statement of Philosophy.
- Blackwood Kindergarten Statement of Philosophy (PDF, 220KB)
Our Train Lookout
Staff Overview
| Jade Pudney Director Bachelor of Early Childhood |
Deb
Hodgson Teacher Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) Bachelor of Special Education Advanced Skills Teacher |
| Leanne
Clare ECW 1 Certificate 3 - Children's Services Early Childhood Worker Preschool Support Worker Lunch Care Worker |
Cathy Round 0.2/0.4 Teacher Bachelor of Early Childhood |
| Cheryl Linn Play Group Coordinator ECW 1 , CERT 3 Childrens services |
Curriculum Overview
Our kindergarten offers a comprehensive play based program using The Early Years Learning Framework “Belonging, Being, Becoming” which is a national curriculum framework.
For more detailed information about our Curriculum, please visit our Curriculum Overview page.
Nature Kindy
At Blackwood kindy we have a lovely outdoor environment with natural loose parts for children to play with. The staff have all read research, and attended Training and Professional Development sessions on Nature Play. We are strong advocates for the benefits of Nature Play to children, and we encourage outdoor play every day. In addition we are lucky enough to live in an area which is close to some wilder nature that we can easily access.
In 2014 Governing Council approved the proposal that we regularly attend Belair National Park for “Nature Kindy” sessions. The head ranger agreed to this proposal and agreed to waive the usual hire fees as well as waive the entry fees for parents driving in. We currently access the park on alternate Wednesdays in Terms 2 and 3, with children being dropped off and picked up from the park rather than our centre in the even numbered weeks of these terms. We meet in an area called Joseph Fisher, with toilets and a shelter for our own use.
For more detailed information about our Nature Kindy, please visit our Nature Kindy Page.
