Dunkeld Bush Kindergarten

Even farm kids in the bush need Bush Kinder.

Dunkeld is at the foot of the Grampians in rural Victoria. Dunkeld kindergarten now run a very successsful Bush Kinder program. My colleague Ben Goodes and I happily supported the forward thinking educators and parent community at Dunkeld get started with a Bush Kinder to suit their specific needs. Congratulations Dunkeld! 

Click image to watch ABC Video of Dunkeld Bush Kinder

Click image for the Dunkeld Bush Kinder story

Bush Kinder and Regulations

Bush Kinder has challenged many educators view on what early childhood education should look like.
Over the past fortnight I have been fortunate to make conference presentations and engage in discussion with many inspired educators at the City of Yarra and Wyndham City. These Councils see the benefits that engaging children in nature will have on their community.
Too often as educators we do not follow through with great ideas in fear of regulations. Sadly we do this even when we know our ideas are good for children.
As advocates for children we need to question and read more deeply. Australian law and regulations can and does support good curriculum ideas. The Australian National Quality Framework certainly supports educators providing meaningful learning experiences to children. When offering great ideas like Bush Kinder, educators will be challenged to justify why they are offering it. It is important to recognise and articulate why and how Bush Kinder benefits children, their community and the wider world.

With Claire Warden at Wyndham's educators conference.

Bush Gathering 2

The beach was the location of the second bush gathering. The fortunate children of Balnarring Kindergarten use this space as their learning environment. Awarded educator, Karen Anderson and her community have embraced the opportunities their natural environment offers them.
The Mornington Peninsula appears to be a hot spot of passionate educators and families offering programs where being outdoors in nature is an integral part of their curriculum.
A small and growing number of services all over Victoria are beginning to successfully offer Bush Kinder and similar programs.
Fran Hughes joined us from Randwick TAFE, NSW. Fran is developing a training package she hopes will support current and future educators in Australia. I am very happy to have been asked, along with others in the field, to have input and wish Fran every success.

If you are offering children a program that is outdoors in nature and are interested in joining our informal bush gatherings please get in touch with me and I will pass your details onto the group bushkinder@gmail.com

Greening Australia at Melbourne Museum

Together my colleague Annie Jenkins and I had the pleasure of sharing Bush Kinder stories at the Melbourne Museum.
It was fantastic to see interested representatives from the Children's Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne, the Werribee Open Range Zoo, Merri Creek  and rangers from parks within the City of Melbourne. These forward thinking people are all looking at ways of providing appropriate wild play spaces for children.
Educators working in early childhood, primary and outside school hours care were also participants in our workshop. They saw clear educational benefit in spending more time teaching their students outdoors in nature.

Sustainability Living Festival

Victorian Child and Nature Connection has organised a panel discussion 

Cecile van der Burgh - VCNC 

Doug Fargher - Bush Kinder

Stephen Parker - Muddy Boots and Sandy Hands

Gio Fitzpatrick and Neil Blake - Port Phillip Ecocentre

Bush Gathering

Educating outdoors in nature is increasingly happening at locations all over Australia. Sue Elliott and I invited a group of Victorian educators to meet and share some of the great work they are doing.

Today we met at the Darebin Parklands environment centre. 

I loved hearing how strong and different philosophical belief shaped pedagogical practice. Passionate educators articulated that it was essential to maintain the vibrant educational community we are in. How we educate must be shaped by the context in which we work. We have a lot we can learn from each other. There is not, and should not be a one size fits all approach to educating in the outdoors. 

Bush Kinder Evaluation Report

Click image to open report

Thank you Sue and Barbara a beautifully written report.