Buninyong Uniting Kindergarten

Our town is home to beautiful natural surroundings, this beauty extending past the doors of Buninyong Preschool. Children express themselves through fun games and activities in our indoor and outdoor environments. We have a large outdoor area with trees, gardening beds, and a worm farm to help children get in touch with nature.

Our kindergarten features:

• Planned and intentional indoor spaces
• Large outdoor space
• Sandpit
• Trees and natural shade
• Gardening beds including vegetables and herbs
• Pergola
• Shade sail
• Play area with climbing equipment
• Swings
• Recycling area to encourage sustainability and caring for the environment
• Gross motor play equipment for activities such as climbing, skipping, throwing and catching
• Worm farm

Our educators encourage children to play in an inclusive and respectful manner. Children at our preschool develop empathy for others, and we have a strong focus on developing their skills in problem-solving, negotiation and conflict resolution. We also teach the importance of caring for the natural environment.

This includes activities such as:

• We encourage recycling
• We promote sustainable living and encourage children to develop everyday sustainable practises
• We have a worm farm and encourage composting
• We take excursions that encourage children to care for the environment around them

We love to take the children out into the community to explore the world around them.

Excursions include trips to:

• Scotsburn farm - a local, community farm
• Gym Sports
• The local botanical gardens
• The library

We have a strong relationship with our local school and take our children there to help them prepare for their transition to primary. We also invite the prep students to come and visit our centre and interact with the children. Other incursions include:

• Mik Macs
• Emergency service providers
• Pet owners
• Musicians

We know the importance of teaching healthy eating habits to children from a young age. We go the extra mile to make sure your child is receiving a fresh and nutritional diet using our homegrown and locally sourced produce. We also work closely with families to help them make healthy food choices for their children.

At our kindergarten:

• We grow our own produce in our garden including herbs, vegetables, fruit)
• We practise and emphasise food safety
• We offer progressive snack and lunchtime to empower children to ask for what they want and when
• We educate children and their families about healthy eating and nutrition

We live in a small, tight-knit community. Imparting our shared values on the children is an important part of developing their sense of belonging which we believe is vital for children’s happiness. We encourage parents to be actively involved in their children’s development.

• Parents can participate when:
• We celebrate significant cultural festivals and days together
• We invite them to talk to the children about their job, hobbies and other interesting topics
• They volunteer their time to provide support and resources for our programs
• They assist with fundraising
• We have a Parent Advisory Committee (positions are elected at the annual meeting of our kindergarten parents)

Various people, groups or services within our community we engage with regularly include:

• Local primary schools
• Local library
• Museums
• Local emergency service providers and medical professionals
• Wellbeing practitioners
• Indigenous community members or groups
• Animal trainers or handlers
• Farms or farmers

We can have all forms of communication translated for families who speak languages other than English. We currently have a French educator who speaks French to all our children.

4 year old kindergarten

$445.00 per term

Red Group - Mon, Tues, Thurs 9am to 2pm

Yellow Group - Tues, Wed 8:30am to 4pm

Blue Group - Thurs, Fri 8:30am to 4pm

3 year old kindergarten

$148 per term (funded for 5 hours)

$483.61 per term for 6 hour sessions

Purple Group - Mon 9:30am to 2:30pm

Green Group - Wed 9am to 2pm

Orange Group - Fri 9:30am to 2:30pm