Eco, fun and friendly practices
At Yarraville Community Centre’s Child Care Centre, we work closely with our children and families to develop a sense of responsibility and care for our environment.
Sustainability practices guide and drive everything from our curriculum to the way we design and manage our Child Care Centre. Our learning programs provide opportunities for children to explore our natural world, gather knowledge about the environment and how their actions have an impact.
In our veggie garden we explore the importance of sustainable practices, the concept of paddock to plate is put into action where the vegetables that are planted and tended by the children and then eaten by them. We also use a worm farm to reduce our food waste. The children are involved in maintaining the worm farm and compost bin. We encourage the children to place food scraps into separate containers for use in the worm farm or composting bin.
Educators also help the children interact with the worms and teach them which scraps worms can eat and which foods can be composted. ‘Children can see the food cycle in action and participate in growth and outcomes’ said Narelle Rufus, Child Care Program Coordinator.
We believe that it is our responsibility to encourage our future generations to connect with our natural environments and contribute to the solutions for the challenges that our environments face.