YWCA CANBERRA

Conder Early Childhood Service

A nurturing service in the heart of the Lanyon community

Conder is a 67-place early childhood education and care centre nestled in the heart of the Lanyon Valley, where we have proudly served our community since 1994. We provide high-quality education and care for children aged six weeks to five years, fostering a nurturing environment that supports their growth and development.

We are proud of our close partnership with Charles Conder Primary School, which helps ensure a seamless transition to school for our children. This relationship includes regular visits to the school throughout the year, creating familiarity and confidence for children entering primary education. Additionally, we are the trusted provider of before and after school care for Charles Conder Primary School, extending our commitment to families in our community.

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.

To enrol your child, please click the ‘Request to Enrol’ button. 
Learn more about what we provide and how fees are paid.

Quality rating issued: December 2025

Fees

  • $146.86 per session (permanent booking)
  • $150.12 per session (casual booking)
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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.

Waitlist Application

A nurturing service in the heart of the Lanyon community

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Chiara Will

Chiara is Director of School Age Care at YWCA Canberra, bringing a wealth of knowledge and a diverse range of leadership and management experience across the Early Childhood Education sector. Having held roles from Administration Officer to Centre Director, she brings a holistic skill base and a strength in solution-based approaches to learning. 

Prior to joining YWCA Canberra, Chiara led a team of over 25 educators, driving policy development, professional training and development, and contributing to Quality Improvement, Sustainability, Reconciliation, and Strategic Inclusion Action Plans. 

In her current role, Chiara leads the strategic development of processes and systems that ensure high-quality, safe, and inclusive environments for children. She mentors and empowers managers, leaders, and educators to deliver best-practice programs aligned with regulatory standards, fosters strong stakeholder partnerships, and guides the Quality Support Team in managing compliance and quality assurance across services. 

Shane McAlpine

Shane is Director of Children’s Services (ECEC) at YWCA Canberra, overseeing eight early learning services with 24 years of experience in the early childhood sector. He brings an extensive understanding of education and care, current practices, and regulatory requirements, with a robust approach to developing high-quality practitioners. 

Shane supports the day-to-day operation of educational practices and curriculum across all our early learning centres, with quality and pedagogical practice at the forefront. He plays a critical role in providing escalation support and mentorship to centre directors and educators alike. 

His professional passions include children’s rights, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion and teaching perspectives, and advocacy for the early childhood profession. He is an active representative on the ACT committee of Early Childhood Australia. 

As a father of two children who have experienced the early years system firsthand, Shane brings a deeply personal understanding of the challenges families face in balancing work and parenting. This perspective shapes his inclusive, stakeholder-centred approach to service delivery across every centre he works with. 

Katherine Hellwig

Katherine is the Executive Director of Children’s Services at YWCA Canberra, bringing over 23 years of extensive experience in delivering education and care in ACT and the surrounding areas of the city. Her career spans both not-for-profit and commercial providers, highlighting her versatile and adaptable nature. 

For over 11 years, Katherine has held an executive role within a not-for-profit organisation that experienced significant growth in its early education and care portfolio. Her responsibilities included managing programs and initiatives that fostered engagement within the local community. 

Katherine began her career as an educator, and this hands-on experience has given her a profound understanding of the critical role educators play in the lives of children and families. Her qualifications include an Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services, an Undergraduate Certificate in Service Management, and a Diploma of Leadership and Management. In 2018, Katherine was honoured with the Community for Children’s Award by the ACT Children’s Week Committee, recognising her dedication and impact on the community.  

Katherine is driven by a strong pedagogical belief that all children have the right to access quality early learning in their first five years of life. She focuses on delivering high-quality education and care in both early education and after school care programs, ensuring children receive the best start in life.  

Frances Crimmins

Frances Crimmins is the Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Canberra and has led the organisation since 2013, driving significant growth, high-quality integrated service delivery, and stronger corporate efficiency. Under her leadership, the non-profit organisation has become a courageous community advocate, ensuring the needs of vulnerable communities are seen, heard, and addressed locally and nationally. 

Frances brings a diverse background spanning the private and not-for-profit sectors across business, hospitality, healthcare, and community services. She remains a passionate advocate for policy initiatives addressing the root causes of women’s housing insecurity, homelessness, gender inequality, and gender-based violence. 

Frances also currently serves as Chair of Homelessness Australia and sits on the ACT Work Health Safety Advisory Council. Her former board roles include ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), WESNET, the ACT Ministerial Advisory Committee for Women, and Co-Chair of Anti-Poverty Week in the ACT. 

Her leadership has been recognised with an Edna Ryan Award (2015), ACT Leader of the Year at the Australian Leadership Excellence Awards (2016), and selection into the inaugural Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA) program (2021). Frances regularly represents YWCA Canberra at the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women in New York. 

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