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: Haijing

Hello, my name is Haijing and I bring a rich and diverse cultural background to my role as an Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Centre manager. I was born in China and moved to Australia in 2013, eventually settling in Canberra in 2021. My educational qualifications include a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care and a Bachelor of Business Management. As an ECEC educator, I believe that the environment acts as the “third teacher,” providing children with a safe, secure, and nurturing space where they can develop a strong sense of belonging and agency. I am passionate about creating engaging setups and a child-led curriculum that values children’s interests, voices, and thought processes. By encouraging children to take ownership of their learning, I aim to inspire them to persist, develop new skills, and grow into capable, confident individuals.

Having grown up with a multicultural background, I deeply value inclusiveness and cultural diversity. I enjoy celebrating various festivals and events within the service to create a rich, welcoming community for children, families, and educators alike. I also strongly advocate for open and effective communication with families, which I believe is key to building trust and meaningful connections. By involving families in their child’s learning journey, supporting their decision-making, and offering assistance when needed, I strive to create a collaborative and supportive environment for everyone involved. I am excited to work with children, families, and the community to foster a positive and enriching educational experience.

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.

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