YWCA CANBERRA

Fairley Early Childhood Service

A welcoming hub in the heart of our community

YWCA Canberra’s Fairley Early Childhood Service is a 115-place, family-focused centre that provides quality services for our community. We provide education and care for children age six weeks to five years.

With a central location in Murrumbateman town centre, we offer state-of-the-art facilities in a picturesque rural setting, with stimulating learning environments that will spark your child’s imagination and development. We will help your child connect with our community through a range of activities, and they can make friends with nearby children at a local service.

As a regional early childhood service, our programs have a strong connection to the natural world, and we love nurturing your child’s love of sustainability through recycling and composting initiatives.

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 2023

 

Fees

  • $163.18 per session (permanent booking)
  • $166.44 per session (casual booking)
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Our professional educators are proud to be part of the local Murrumbateman community, and incorporate our natural environment and farming community background into the educational programming. They work to build safe and trusting relationships with each child and family at Fairley.

We are passionate about providing high-quality early childhood education to give your child the best start in life and develop their life-long love of learning.

Director: Jamie

image of jamie, director of fairleyJamie’s personal philosophy is based around forming and maintaining trusting and respectful relationships with children and creating strong partnerships with families, to provide high-quality education and care. Her biggest passion is providing each child with the individual support they need to grow and develop to their full potential.

Jamie holds a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care and has worked in the early childhood sector since 2014.

She joined YWCA Canberra in 2021 and is grateful to have the opportunity to work with so many amazing children.

Our flexible learning environments have been designed to promote children’s inherent curiosity and develop their learning skills and autonomy.

Based on early education theory, we work with children to provide opportunities to consolidate their learning and reorganise their understanding of the world around them as they develop and gain knowledge. We focus on creating relationships, making connections, and establishing a dialogue with and between children. Our educators respect and embrace children’s different points of views, ideas, theories and suggestions. We listen to, document, and work alongside children as co-researchers.

We have areas dedicated to specific fields of learning and experience and flexible learning spaces with room to tinker, explore, and inquire. We provide a range of creative resources and use the elements of repurposing, rethinking, and recycling with them.

We have five learning spaces at Fairley, for children age:

  • six weeks to one year
  • one to two years
  • two to three years
  • three to four years
  • four to five years.

We have expansive outdoor spaces where your child can play and connect with the natural environment. As a regional centre, we love the natural world around us and recognise our local farming heritage and have designed these spaces to connect with our community.

We recognise our children as future caretakers of our land and provide opportunities for them to expand their knowledge, including nurturing your child’s love of sustainability through recycling and composting initiatives.

We know that children are particularly curious. At Fairley, we are dedicated to giving them an avenue to find answers to help their unique growth and develop a lifelong love of learning.

Our educational program is based around school readiness and preparedness for real-life experiences, with a focus on developing independence, autonomy and resilience. This includes a dedicated school readiness program to help children in our service transition to primary education.

Our team of educators take a holistic approach to children’s learning and provide a wide range of child-led and interest-based learning opportunities. We respect that each child’s learning journey is different, equally meaningful and may not appear predictable or linear. We document each child’s individual learning journey, and provide an ongoing group inquiry project throughout each year.

We believe that the environment is the third teacher. We use our wonderful spaces and natural resources to challenge and enrich each child’s experience and help them develop an understanding and appreciation of sustainability. This also helps children develop connections to culture and their local community.

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.

Located in the heart of Murrumbateman town centre, we have strong links with our local community. Our families value that their children can make friendships with neighbours.

We believe that children are active and involved young people, and encourage this by connecting your child with their local community through a range of local activities.

We have a strong focus on reconciliation and acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which Fairley stands. We recognise not only their connection to this land but to the community and children.

Waitlist Application

A welcoming hub in the heart of our 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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