This month we are pleased to introduce you to Narrelle Cahill, Director of the Phoenix Street Children's Centre in North Sunshine, VIC and Director of the Year (national) in the recent Australian Family Early Education and Care Awards.
Narrelle's extensive experience in early childhood education and her commitment to teaching about environmental awareness and sustainability make for inspirational reading.
Narrelle Cahill
Phoenix Street Children's Centre
North Sunshine VIC
Narrelle's extensive experience in early childhood education and her commitment to teaching about environmental awareness and sustainability make for inspirational reading.
This month's profile is with Narrelle Cahill, Director of the Phoenix Street Children's Centre in North Sunshine, VIC and Director of the Year (national) in the recent Australian Family Early Education and Care Awards. Narrelle's extensive experience in early childhood education and her commitment to teaching about environmental awareness and sustainability make for inspirational reading.
My name is Narrelle Cahill, I am 41 years old, and I am the Director and Education leader at Phoenix St Children's Centre in North Sunshine.
I work at the Phoenix Street Children's Centre which is a part of the BPA child care and kindergarten cluster, we are a long day care centre which also runs a funded kindergarten program. Phoenix Street is located west of Melbourne in the low socio economical area of Sunshine.
Phoenix Street currently caters for 85 families from many different cultural backgrounds including Vietnamese, Indian, Greek, Maltese and Iranian. The diversity that we cater for allows for us to incorporate a variety of multicultural experiences into our program that the children are able to connect with and learn from. At Phoenix Street we have many bilingual educators speaking a variety of different languages such as Vietnamese, Greek, Maltese and Dari to name a few.
I have worked in the early childhood industry for 21 years, and have done various roles within that time. I have studied many different qualifications including my Certificate III in Children's Services, Diploma in Children's Services, Advanced Diploma in Children's Services and completed my Trainer and Assessor Certificate. I am part of Brimbank's Environmental Leadership Group,and more recently won the title of Director of the Year, and now I have the chance to pass on my knowledge to others.
This is more than a job for me. It's an opportunity for me to share my passion for life while inspiring, engaging and awakening the wonder inside each and every child.
I have always been passionate and committed to increasing awareness and knowledge in the area of sustainability and environmental education in early childhood, that in 2010 I developed "Little Green Hand Prints" a not for profit training and consulting organisation to build a sustainable community. Through this I inspire services and educators to keep up to date with new developments and further their knowledge, skills and confidence. I am amazed with the wisdom of our early learners who see, imagine, wonder and are in awe about their world. They enrich my life as much as I aspire to enrich theirs.
I work with the Holistic approach based on the premise that each child finds identity, meaning and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace.
I have been given the opportunity to inspire and educated others through my little green hand prints training; I am passionate about working alongside educators at a time when there are many changes, challenges and enthusiasm to reflect on practices.
Passing by our building it appears no different to many other services in varying suburbs, however entering the front door immediately gives you an insight as to how we consider the environment and sustainable gardening to be high on our priority list. Educators work tirelessly to create an environment the children will thrive in eager to attend and to learn more about what many take for granted.
A warm season turf forms a great base for the children to play on and the resident pets, such as chickens, ducks and guinea pigs, to roam.
The chickens help dig up the soil in the garden beds and provide a ready supply of manure while the guinea pigs are moved around to keep the lawn tidy in between council visits to mow the grass. The animals are happy to graze on food scraps making waste management easier.
Raised vegetable gardens include things such as broccoli, carrots, snow peas and beetroot – all of which can be used in the kitchen to create healthy meals for the children. Native trees attract the local wildlife, a cherry tree provides excited children with fruit during its harvest season and a newly introduced Japanese garden adorns the corner nearest to the 2-3 year old children's room.
Local businesses recognise the great work being done at the centre and are occasionally able to add to the happy environment by donating items such as raised garden beds, garden products and even timber tee pees for the children to play in. The centre has adopted the owl as its mascot and it features throughout the building and outdoors.
The good ideas have not come to an end yet with thoughts for a new river pebble garden in the back corner being considered along with plans to seek out funding grants to assist with water tank installation and eventually solar panelling to combat energy costs.
Our environmental program teaches the children the value of recycling, reusing and reducing, through effective practise, which we hope will lay the foundations for a greener future.
The Environmental Education Program began three years ago and continues to grow. Our service is now so popular in the area that we regularly welcome groups of Vic uni students and personnel from other early childhood facilities to share our philosophy and practices. "Our new play and learning area ignites the child's natural sense of adventure, while teaching life-long lessons in environmental and sustainable behaviours.
I place the security and well being of the children in my care at the highest priority. I work with the Holistic approach based on the premise that each child finds identity, meaning and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace. I ensure our program involves quality, diverse, long life learning opportunities in an encouraging environment. I believe I form strong partnerships with the children and families and provide an extensive range of outdoor facilities and purposeful activities.
At Phoenix Street I have been ensuring that my professional knowledge as a Director is filtered throughout the educators and that I create a team orientated approach where we collaborate, share ideas and work together to provide the best learning environment and outcomes possible. I am committed to advocating and encouraging the implementation of sustainability and environmental awareness in our low socio-economic community. Building sustainability into care settings is something I have been passionate about sustainability for many years, as it is an opportunity to engage in innovative practices that will carry benefits into the future.
I was part of Brimbank Council's Environmental Leadership Program in 2010. I have been extremely passionate about sustainability from a young age and have always strived to educate and influence the children, educators and families on sustainable practices.
Our incorporation of sustainable practices within our service has had a positive impact on our families especially those from culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds. This allows families to be able to participate in the service without the pressure that communication difficulties may bring (i.e., no need for reading a book to the children). Our sustainability program also allows families that have come from backgrounds where farming and gardening are skills they have learnt from a young age to teach and being involved in their child's learning and the learning of others. Demonstrating growing appreciation and care for natural and constructed environments that are responsive and reflect diversity.
At Phoenix Street we hold great value to the natural environment incorporating this in both our play spaces and values. Phoenix Street runs an indoor/outdoor program as often as possible allowing the children the choice to interact with their peers through individual and group interests. When an indoor/outdoor program isn't possible due to extreme weather the educators bring little pieces of the outdoors in by creating play spaces and experiences such as an indoor mud kitchen, grass heads or sand table. Our indoor play spaces continually reflect our love of the outdoors as our indoor play spaces utilise natural materials sourced from our community.
If you or someone you know deserves to be featured in this section drop us a line at editor@careforkids.com.au.Each child care person we profile will receive a selection of DVD's for their service courtesy of Roadshow Entertainment.
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