YWCA CANBERRA

Conder Early Childhood Service

A nurturing service in the heart of the Lanyon community

Conder is a 47-place centre located in the Lanyon Valley. We have called the Lanyon Valley home since 1994 and are deeply connected to our local community. We provide education and care for children age six weeks to five years.

The centre has a strong relationship with nearby Charles Conder Primary School. Not only do we offer before and after school care arrangements for children attending the pre-school, but we foster the smooth transition to school by participating in regular visits to the school throughout the year.

The team at Conder provide warm, nurturing, high-quality experiences for the children in their service through collaborative partnerships with their families and community.

When you use any of our YWCA Canberra children’s services programs, you help to support our community activities such as our housing programs, community development, youth engagement, and education to prevent domestic and family violence.

Learn more about what we provide and how fees are paid. To enrol, please complete the YWCA Canberra Conder Child Care Centre 2024 Enrolment Form.

Fees

The Conder team is committed to providing quality education and care. They are a diverse team, with educators from a range of backgrounds. One of the team’s strengths is the ability to role-model and mentor each other, with more experienced educators working alongside trainees to offer guidance and support.

Director: Juliana

Originally from Brazil, Juliana has worked in the early childhood education and care Sector since 2007. She moved to Australia in 2014 and has lived in Canberra since 2016. She holds a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and is now studying for a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education.

Juliana’s personal philosophy is based around supporting children to develop their holistic self, acknowledging their strengths and empowering them to achieve their full potential. Juliana aims to provide children with a nurturing and supportive environment and develop strong partnerships with families.

Conder’s rich educational program offers indoor and outdoor play in a natural home-like environment. Sibling and family connections are supported through mixed-age play.

We have three rooms:

• Earth Room is the junior nursery
• Water Room is the senior nursery
• Sky room is for preschool-age children.

Our learning environments are designed to be welcoming and inviting, so that every child feels comfortable, safe and secure to explore, discover and make choices and decisions. They reflect and enrich the lives and identities of children and families while being responsive to their interests and needs.

The physical aspects of our environments support each child’s physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive needs.

At Conder, we focus on meaningful relationships with our children and their families, promoting a strong sense of belonging. These relationships are supported through the continuity of long-term educators and small group sizes in our educational spaces.

The educational setup of our service provides opportunities for children to engage in structured mixed-aged learning experiences.

 

Mixed-age learning and play has significant benefits for children. It allows siblings to interact and gives children opportunities to play and learn from those outside their age group. Older children develop supporting and nurturing behaviours, while the younger ones learn social skills and language, and develop further confidence.

We believe children are capable and competent learners that construct their meaning of the world around them. We believe that children learn through play and that play can take many forms.

We also believe that the environment is the third teacher. We provide resources to reflect the children’s interests and strengths and are inclusive of all children regardless of cultural background or ability.

We believe that establishing effective partnerships with families will better inform our practice, as families are the first educators of their children.

We always strive to engage positively with our families and the wider Conder community. We know that nothing occurs in isolation, and the community in which we live and work has an important impact on our lives and those of the families and children. 

The educators at Conder engage in conversation with families every day to share information about their children’s day and participation in our educational program.

We offer families a range of opportunities to engage with our centre. At the beginning of each year, we hold a ‘Meet and greet’ event for families to become familiar with the educators, and we host picnics and afternoon teas for families throughout the year.

A nurturing service in the heart of the Lanyon community

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