Thursday, 19 October 2023

 Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (17:24): (396) My adjournment is to the Minister for Children, and I ask the minister to join me in my electorate of Northcote to see and experience the bush kinder program run by Alfred Nuttall Memorial Kindergarten in the Darebin Parklands. Bush kinder has been pioneered in the inner north, and over the years more and more of our kinders have embraced this wonderful way of learning. Children from kinders right across my community are pulling on their gumboots and heading out with their educators to explore the natural beauty of our creeks and parklands. There is no playground equipment and no formal toys or seating, just the trees, the grass, the rocks, the mud, the water and their endless imaginations. In this open-ended environment children’s creativity explodes. We see them challenge their abilities, taking healthy risks and using problem-solving skills. Their senses are heightened, and the benefits for mental health are immense. At the same time as we embed and elevate sustainability in Victoria, this next generation of children are gaining a direct and tactile appreciation and respect for the natural world, fostering a sense of environmental guardianship from an early age. In Northcote kinders like Westgarth, Yarralea and Alfred Nuttall use the Darebin Parklands, a magical place which is immersed in Wurundjeri history, and this cultural learning forms part of the children’s experience too.

In Victoria we are investing $3.6 million over the next four years to expand bush kinder programs, something I was very proud to announce at Westgarth Kindergarten last year. The first round of these grants closed just last month and will give 150 kinders across Victoria the opportunity to set up or expand bush kinder programs. Bush kinder should be a fixture of our early learning system. The benefits to children’s wellbeing and development are simply too good to pass up. In recent months I have had numerous discussions with our local early childhood network and their passionate parent committees. Many have shared with me their aspirations and vision for growing innovative bush kinder programs in our early education system while we do the transformational work of delivering free kinder and a full pre-prep year of play-based learning. I would absolutely welcome the opportunity for the minister to join me to witness the wonder of bush kinder in my community and speak with the outstanding people who are championing the magic of nature-based learning.