A Natural Setting for Learning at KU Maidstone Children❜s Centre

KU Maidstone Children’s Centre opened its doors in January 2022 offering a modern purpose-built centre to families and continues to provide high-quality education, superb care and nutritious meals to the little minds of inner-west Melbourne.

A Natural Setting for Learning at KU Maidstone Children's Centre

As soon as you step through the doors you’ll see that KU Maidstone Children’s Centre is a warm, welcoming and nurturing space. They take delight in being a place where children are supported to be their own, unique selves, growing and developing a sense of belonging and empowerment.

KU Children’s Services goes beyond childcare delivering the highest quality early childhood education in the sector championed by their experienced and caring educators and teachers.

Learning in Their Own Backyard

Located just south of the Maribyrnong River, the centre is nested into the natural environment, encouraging children to explore as they would in their own backyard (which for many inner-city children, may be their first backyard experience!). The centre uses as many natural elements as possible, think: sand, water, grass, mud, leaves, stones and twigs for hands-on play and they encourage gross-motor experiences such as climbing, jumping, swinging and, of course, natural clowning around.

But it’s not all just fun and games, they have a strong approach to learning and children are put into small groups within each room, meaning they have a dedicated teacher or educator to guide them each step of the way. They stay in these rooms and age groups until they move through to the next age group at the start of each calendar year. This not only prepares them for their transition to school but it means they are able to build strong connections to their peer groups and to their teachers.

The centre has its very own on-site chef who provides a seasonal menu with freshly cooked food, including morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a late snack.

KU Maidstone Children’s Centre Area of Focus

All KU Children’s Services centres are encouraged to develop an area of focus, which could be anything from sustainability, languages or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. At KU Maidstone their focus is on the development of strong, respectful and reciprocal relationships with children and their families. This means that KU will work with you to find out the strengths and interests of your unique child and use these as teaching opportunities to support engagement and relationship building. This also helps you as a parent to establish the consistency of care between home and the centre. Furthermore, it supports your child in building trust and positive engagement within the learning experience.

How this plays out is through their enriching play-based program, where children are presented with experiences such as gardening, arts and crafts, music and movement, physical play, block building, sand and water play, and exciting science experiments. Education is at the forefront of all play, so as your child is having fun, woven into this are early numeracy activities such as counting and measurement, and early literacy activities such as reading, drawing and writing.

At the helm is Director Rose Callick who has a Bachelor of Early Years Studies and has been working in the field since 2012. Rose has a passion for early literacy and will do her absolute best to encourage a love of reading in your little one.

Acknowledging Australia’s First Peoples

KU Maidstone Children’s Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which the centre is built, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. They incorporate this into the learning experiences and are committed to providing culturally safe environments.

Find out more and book a tour at KU Maidstone Children’s Centre.

Location: 7-9 Hampstead Road, Maidstone Victoria.

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