Posted September 2019

The children at KU Heathcote Preschool have been busy playing, exploring and learning in their new outdoor environment.

The playground at the preschool was recently renovated by The Gardenmakers and now features new soft fall grass, a creek and a water play area.

“The children love exploring the new water play area and they take part in investigative play through trial and error and experimenting with how the water flows and moves,” said KU Heathcote Director, Nadine Cronan.

“Our new playground upgrade supports our centre philosophy of playing in natural environments and caring for our natural resources.”

The new outdoor space provides opportunities for the children to interact with living creatures and supports the educators as they teach the children about important issues such as sustainability and the environment.

“With NSW currently being in a drought, the new creek and water play areas have allowed us to discuss and incorporate the responsible use of water throughout the day, which the children are now developing an understanding of,” said Nadine.

The preschool received funding for the upgrade through the Quality Learning Environments program grant from the NSW Government, as well as a contribution from KU, and while the upgrade has been successful, the educators are still looking for ways to add to the space to enhance the children’s learning.

“We plan to further improve our outdoor space by adding garden beds to grow more herbs and vegetables for both the preschool and as a food source for our guinea pigs,” said Nadine.

KU Heathcote provides quality early childhood education for children aged 3 - 5 years and is currently taking enrolments. For more information, contact the Director, Nadine Cronan on 9520 5402.