Going Green

Awareness about climate change and the need to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, has grown rapidly in the recent years. At Erina Kindergarten we have adopted ‘green principles’ as part of a broader sustainability movement. At Erina Kindergarten we aim to develop your child’s understanding of their impact on the environment. We value this as the first step towards providing your child with the necessary skills to be a part of the sustainable changes.

At Erina Kindergarten we teach your child about caring for their natural environment through a range of rich opportunities, hands on learning experiences about nature and the environment.

At Erina Kindergarten we utilise the space we have to its maximum capabilities. We are seeing children as active participants in their learning who are responsible for maintaining the beauty of our spaces, they are encouraged to look after our green spaces, helping to maintain the garden and the plants. They can use the hose or our gardening tools.

We love connecting with nature and creating herb gardens that we can use in our kitchen! The children are always very excited to observe our garden growing and this instils a sense of responsibility and maturity in them. Our centre has also started a worm farm to use as a fertiliser for our soil. Gardening is also relaxing and fun!

We only have one world, and as the population grows our world needs help to keep going and providing for humanity. If we educate and model green practices to our children, they will grow up into a world where the environment is highly respected.

These green practices and changes we implement now will be apart of your child’s daily routine. At Erina Kindergarten we aim to encourage all our children to move greenly through their future.

Going green is easy and unbelievably beneficial for our environment, some of these benefits include.

• We save energy by turning lights and unwanted electrical off which in the long run saves resources and money
• We save our health and well-being when we chose to walk or ride a bike and by eating organic
• We are minimizing landfill, by reducing, reusing and recycling
• We are saving and supporting our local suppliers/producers
• We are saving money by using recycled materials
• We are ultimately saving ourselves!

Firstly, we educate your child about the environment. Environmental education is a part of our Erina Kindergarten Education for Life Program encouraging your child to take part in green movements daily.

We have developed a sustainability management plan, whereby we manage the following

• Energy and water consumption
• A recycling programs
• Waste management
• Non-toxic cleaning chemicals
• Garden and vegetable patches
• Communicate with local communities sharing advice and input
• Conservation activities

With the children we discuss their understandings of current environmental issues, we also communicate with families, seeking their input and suggestions on how we can become “greener”. A lot of brain storming is done at Erina Kindergarten as we are constantly trying to reduce reuse and recycle.

At Erina Kindergarten we are always making green changes and we love to hear from our communities and families as to how they think we can better our green practices.