Skye Children's Co-operative

About Us

Skye Children's Co-operative is a community based not-for-profit service with all profits reinvested back into the centre for the benefit of the children and the community. We believe that families are an integral part of which shapes as a co-operative, but also as a shared child-centred, reflective, respectful practise with each of our staff members and the Board of Management. We aim to achieve, for each child, the foundation for a love of lifelong learning in a culturally rich, stimulating, kind, sustainable and playful environment built on respectful relationships. We value Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, specifically the Wurundjeri Wilam people as the custodians of the land we work and learn, as Australia's first people and committed to maintaining an environment that reflects these values of respect for the land, waterways, fauna and flora and people.

Skye is a 44 place centre which runs three rooms based on children's ages and stage of development. Each of the three rooms is named after a native animal from our local Gresswell Reserve which is also the location of our Bush Kinder program. The Sugar Gliders room is for our youngest children, The Swift Parrot for our toddlers/ pre-kinder children and the Eastern Grey Kangaroos room which includes our Kindergarten program.The Co-operative operates from 7:00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday.

At Skye Children's Co-operative we use Storypark, a private online space that ensures your child receives the best support possible and that you are involved and up to date with your child's development. Storypark provides each child with an online community, which their parent/guardian own and control who has access to.

We go above and beyond the standard curriculum of childcare and kindergartens inclusive of programs:

Bush Kinder- Bush Kinder is an approach to providing Early Education. Educators take children into a natural space to spend long and regular periods of time in unstructured play to discover, investigate and invent with open-ended materials and resources. It has been well researched and documented the advantages of outside and nature play for children. We are very privileged to be located a short stroll from Gresswell State Forest to take advantage of this bush playground and use it to deliver some of our program. This is a very exciting venture, and children get much enjoyment and learning from the experience.

Music & Movement - The centre engages an independent, internationally recognised early childhood music and movement program for children from baby to toddlers, to preschoolers to kindergarteners. Our music program includes an artistically conceived flow of songs, nursery rhymes, instrumental jam sessions, fingerplays, and movement activities. The combination and types of activities are research-based and support children's developing competence in tonality and rhythm. In addition, activities evolve from the child's world and include vocal play, animal sounds, rhythm play, language play, and a good bit of genuine, silly fun!

LOTE - We offer a LOTE program in our kindergarten room. With community networking, collecting data from local schools and parent suggestion we have an independent AUSLAN teacher who attends one day a week running fun and interactive sessions for both the three and four year olds.

Meals - Menus are created seasonally which meets our values at Skye, a healthy, multicultural menu that includes our families and children's input. We are guided by the Australian Diaetary Guide Australian, Guide to Healthy eating and the Australian Government's Get up & grow: healthy eating and physical activity for early childhood and NQS 2: Children's Health and Safety. We provide for all dietary preferences, wither they be due to allergy, intolerance, religious, cultural or ethics.

Tours- Tours have now recomenced! Please book your tour via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2022-service-tours-tickets-216036790857

Tours are capped at 5 people. If you are unwell with cold/flu like symptoms please do not attend the service. Please contact us for a virtual tour if these times/dates do not suit or you are unwell.